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The critical factor to assessing the risk of sand production from a particular well is whether
or not the production of load bearing particles can be maintained below an acceptable level
at the anticipated flow rates and producing conditions which will make the well production
acceptable.
The following list summarizes many of the factors that influence the tendency of a well to
produce sand:
Degree of consolidation
Reduction in pore pressure throughout the life of a well
Production rate
Reservoir fluid viscosity
Increasing water production throughout the life of a well.
Degree of Consolidation. The ability to maintain open perforation tunnels is closely tied
to how strongly the individual sand grains are bound together. The cementation of a
sandstone is typically a secondary geological process and as a general rule, older sediments
tend to be more consolidated than newer sediments. This indicates that sand production is
normally a problem when producing from shallow, geologically younger Tertiary
sedimentary formations. Young Tertiary formations often have little matrix material
(cementation material) bonding the sand grains together and these formations are
generally referred to as being “poorly consolidated” or “unconsolidated”. A mechanical
characteristic of rock that is related to the degree of consolidation is called “compressive
strength”. Additionally, even well consolidated sandstone formations may be changed by
degrading the matrix material, which would allow sand production. This can be the result
of acid stimulation treatments or high temperature steam flood enhanced recovery
techniques.
Reduction of Pore Pressure. The pressure in the reservoir supports some of the weight of
the overlying rock. As the reservoir pressure is depleted throughout the producing life of a
well, some of the support for the overlying rock is removed. Lowering the reservoir
pressure creates an increasing amount of stress on the formation sand itself. At some point
the formation sand grains may break loose from the matrix, or may be crushed, creating
fines that are produced along with the well fluids. Compaction of the reservoir rock due to a
reduction in pore pressure can result in surface subsidence.
Production Rate. The production of reservoir fluids creates pressure differential and
frictional drag forces that can combine to exceed the formation compressive strength. This
indicates that there is a critical flow rate for most wells below which pressure differential
and frictional drag forces are not great enough to exceed the formation compressive
strength and cause sand production. The critical flow rate of a well may be determined by
slowly increasing the production rate until sand production is detected.
One technique used to minimize the production of sand is to choke the flow rate down
to the critical flow rate where sand production does not occur or has an acceptable level. In
many cases, this flow rate is significantly below the acceptable production rate for the well.
Reservoir Fluid Viscosity. The frictional drag force exerted on the formation sand grains
is created by the flow of reservoir fluid. This frictional drag force is directly related to the
velocity of fluid flow and the viscosity of the reservoir fluid being produced. High reservoir
fluid viscosity will apply a greater frictional drag force to the formation sand grains than
will a reservoir fluid with a low viscosity. The influence of viscous drag causes sand to be
produced from heavy oil reservoirs which contain low gravity, high viscosity oils even at
low flow velocities.
Increasing Water Production. Sand production may increase or begin as water begins to
be produced or as water cut increases. Two possibilities may explain many of these
occurrences.
First, for a typical water-wet sandstone formation, some grain-to-grain
cohesiveness is provided by the surface tension of the connate water surrounding each
sand grain. At the onset of water production, the connate water tends to cohere to the
produced water, resulting in a reduction of the surface tension forces and subsequent
reduction in the grain-to-grain cohesiveness. Water production has been shown to severely
limit the stability of the sand arch around a perforation resulting in the initiation of sand
production.
A second mechanism by which water production affects sand production is
related to the effects of relative permeability. As the water cut increases, the relative
permeability to oil decreases. This results in an increasing pressure differential being
required to produce oil at the same rate. An increase in pressure differential near the
wellbore creates a greater shear force across the formation sand grains. Once again, the
higher stresses can lead to instability of the sand arch around each perforation and
subsequent sand production.
The effects of sand production are nearly always detrimental to the short and/or
long term productivity of the well.These problems often compound, jeopardizing future
remedial well interventions and long-term wellbore viability. Leaks, production delays, low
hydrocarbon recovery factors or loss of well control may occur if sand erodes wellbore
equipment or surface wellheads, pipes and facilities. In a catastrophic failure, access to
reserves can be lost if costs to sidetrack or drill a new well are prohibitive.
Although some wells routinely experience “manageable” sand production,
these wells are the exception, not the rule. In most cases, attempting to manage the effects
of severe sand production over the life of the well is not an economically attractive or
prudent operating alternative.
Accumulation Downhole. If the production velocity is not great enough to carry sand to
the surface, the sand may bridge off in the tubing or fall and begin to fill the inside of the
casing. Eventually, the producing interval may be completely covered with sand. In either
case, the production rate will decline until the well becomes "sanded up" and production
ceases. In situations like this, remedial operations are required to clean-out the well and
restore production. clean-out operations may be required on a routine basis, as often as
monthly or even weekly. This will result in lost production and increased well maintenance
cost.
Erosion of Downhole and Surface Equipment. In highly productive wells, fluids flowing
at high velocity and carrying sand can produce excessive erosion of both downhole and
surface equipment leading to frequent maintenance to replace the damaged equipment.
Post equipment failures, a rig assisted workover may be required to repair the damage,
which will add up to the cost of producing the well.
Collapse of the Formation. Large volumes of sand may be carried out of the formation
with produced fluid. If the rate of sand production is great enough and continues for a
sufficient period of time, an empty area or void will develop behind the casing that will
continue to grow larger as more sand is produced. When the void becomes large enough,
the overlying shale or formation sand above the void may collapse into the void due to a
lack of material to provide support. When this collapse occurs, the sand grains rearrange
themselves to create a lower permeability than originally existed. This will be especially
true for a formation sand with a high clay content or wide range of grain sizes. For a
formation sand with a narrow grain size distribution and/or very little clay, the
rearrangement of formation sand will cause a change in permeability that may be probable.
In most cases, continued long term production of formation sand will usually decrease the
well’s productivity and ultimate recovery.
The collapse of the formation is particularly important if the formation material fills or
partially fills the perforation tunnels. Even a small amount of formation material filling the
perforation tunnels will lead to a significant increase in pressure drop across the formation
near the well bore for a given flow rate.
Screenless method of Sand control
Gravel packing or frac packing is widely used in wells all over the world formations
that produce sand as a measure for controlling sand. It’s the most widely accepted method
of sand control. These two methods rely on the particle-bridging characteristics and filter
mechanisms of sand-exclusion screens in open hole or inside casing with annular gravel
packs and also propped hydraulic fractures in the case of frac packs.
In case of heterogeneous formation where there are several interval of varying formation
strength. The weaker sand intervals could be left unperforated but allow production from
these intervals to enter via the stronger rocks.
In some cases, this strategy can be made to work (thin discrete weak intervals
surrounded and connected by stronger rock). Where high-permeability zones are likely to
act as thief zones in water flooded reservoirs, there might also be an advantage in leaving
these intervals unperforated.
There are some further disadvantages with selective perforating for sand control:
The weakest sands are generally the most productive, thus productivity will be
lowered.
Lowering productivity will increase drawdowns, exacerbating the sand production
potential.
Turbulence and rate-dependent skin will increase as production is forced through
lower permeability intervals.
There is no guarantee that the stronger intervals are physically connected to the
more productive intervals.
Thin, but weak intervals, may be missing from the strength log and therefore
Inadvertently perforated.
Initiating hydraulic fractures from a strong, stable zone delays or prevents the
onset of sand production resulting from pressure depletion. The IVF technique requires
detailed formation lithology and in-situ stress data, but is effective when applied
judiciously.
Figure - Early screen less completion in the North Sea. Technique was used by Statoil in the
Gullfaks field to control sand in reservoirs with relatively thick, interbedded sandstones
and shale layers. Hydraulic fracture treatments designed to propagate into a nearby
hydrocarbon bearing Formation is initiated by perforating a shale or stronger zone.
Fracture height and length grow rapidly through the weaker producing interval, with the
initial fracture section in the more competent layer acting to exclude formation sand from
the wellbore.
The Wireline Oriented Perforating Tool can be run in near-vertical and high-angle wells
with inclination angles from 0.3 to about 60° (left). Developed initially for oriented
fracturing, the WOPT is also used for sand prevention and screenless completions.
This tool orients standard hollow-steel carrier guns with charges at optimal 0 or
180° phasing in a predetermined direction.
Propped fractures extend past near-wellbore drilling and completion damage that
reduces permeability to create a conductive, linear flow path to the well. Like produced
sand, proppant flowback is detrimental to well productivity and producing operations, and
also fracture stability. Screenless completions lack internal annular gravel packs and
mechanical screens inside the casing to stop sand from entering the wellbore with
produced fluids. It is imperative that proppants remain inside hydraulic fractures,
especially when formations must be chemically consolidated.