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Hydrate induced clogging of sand-control screen and its implication on hydrate

production operation

Yanong Li, Nengyou Wu, Fulong Ning, Deli Gao, Xiluo Hao, Qiang Chen, Changling
Liu, Jianye Sun

PII: S0360-5442(20)31137-3
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.118030
Reference: EGY 118030

To appear in: Energy

Received Date: 23 October 2019

Revised Date: 22 April 2020
Accepted Date: 31 May 2020

Please cite this article as: Li Y, Wu N, Ning F, Gao D, Hao X, Chen Q, Liu C, Sun J, Hydrate induced
clogging of sand-control screen and its implication on hydrate production operation, Energy (2020), doi:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.118030.

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Hydrate Induced Clogging of Sand-control Screen and Its Implication
on Hydrate Production Operation
Yanong Li1, 2, 3, Nengyou Wu2, 3*, Fulong Ning1, 3*, Deli Gao1, 4, Xiluo Hao2, 3, Qiang Chen2, 3, Changling
Liu2, 3, Jianye Sun2, 3
1. Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, China
2. Laboratory for Marine Mineral Resource, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology
(Qingdao), Qingdao 266071, China
3. Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology,
Qingdao 266071, China
4. MOE Key Laboratory of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China.
*
Corresponding author: wuny@ms.giec.ac.cn (N. Wu); nflzx@cug.edu.cn (F Ning).
Abstract: Blockage of sand-control media is one of the main obstacles that affect gas
production efficiency from hydrate-bearing sediment. Hydrate reformation is a potential
plugging inducer of sand-control media. In this study, we conduct a series of experiments
using steel-wired screen mesh to examine the hydrate induced clogging of sand-control screen.
The screen mesh sample was installed into a closed-circuit circulating system under gas-water
two-phase flow condition to simulate bottomhole multiphase production processes. The
results indicate that hydrate formation within the screen would causes permeability loss of the
screen up to 98%. The pseudo-permeability of the screen sample shows dual-gradient
decreasing characteristics during hydrate clogging. Therefore, we speculate that hydrate
accumulating and hydrate particle bridging are the two main mechanisms causing screen
plugging. The hydrate accumulating sub-process is mainly controlled by the degree of
subcooling, while the hydrate particle-bridging sub-process is affected by fluid flow rate.
Furthermore, the “J-shape” coiling of pressure-temperature relationship can be used as an
indicator in diagnosing possible bottomhole screen plug during hydrate exploitation. Artificial
interference of downhole temperature is strongly recommended to mitigate screen plugging
induced by hydrate reformation.

Keywords: Gas hydrate; Hydrate clogging; Sand control; Sand-control screen; Field
Operation; Screen plugging

1. Introduction
Natural gas hydrate (NGH) is a promising substitute fossil energy and occurs in great
abundance worldwide (Chong et al., 2016; Alberto et al., 2019). In recent years, major
breakthroughs on hydrate production developments lay in the field flow tests both in the
permafrost and oceanic areas (Li et al., 2016). The marine hydrate production tests in Nankai
Trough (Konno et al., 2017; Tao et al., 2019) and Shenhu area (Li et al., 2018) released the
possibility and prospective future of producing natural gas from both sandy and clayey-silt
hydrate bearing sediments(HBS) in the oceanic area. However, current hydrate production
tests are too far to reach the commercial exploration requirements (Koh et al., 2016; Li et al.,
2018). In order to increase gas productivity, previous researchers have provided many hydrate
production and stimulation methods such as horizontal well (Chong et al., 2017), multi-lateral
horizontal well (Li et al., 2019a) and other complicated wellbore structures (Liu et al., 2020b).
The vertical wellbore structure is the only field-utilized production method so far due to
operational difficulties of complicated wellbore structures. However, the vertical wellbore
suffers from severe sand production problems that are caused by the metastable characteristics
of gas hydrate-bearing sediment (Uchida et al., 2016; Zhu et al., 2020). Identifying proper
well completion method (Li et al., 2019c) and optimum depressurization strategies (Han et al.,
2018) are urgently required to tackle sand-production issues during hydrate exploitation. The
open-hole well completion method was excluded by engineers and scientists since 2002,
when the world’s first hydrate production test (e.g. Mallik 5L-38) was terminated by
excessive sand production (Tomaru et al., 2007; Yu et al., 2018). Sand-control well
completion, in which sand-control media are equipped downhole, is essential to prolong
hydrate production (Li et al., 2019b; Murphy et al., 2020). Acting as the solely connection
between hydrate-bearing reservoir and wellbore, any blockage of sand control media (Han et
al., 2019; Liu et al., 2019a), would affect gas productivity. Hence, the sand control media
need to be kept clear to avoid high well-completion skin effect and to increase productivity.
Blockage of the sand-control media tends to be triggered by high clay content both in
conventional oil-gas production wells (Feia et al., 2015; Davood et al., 2019) and hydrate
production wells (Chen et al., 2020). Clayey materials induced clogging of sand control media
in the hydrate production wells has been discussed by Cao et al. (2018) and Han et al. (2019).
They suggested that the pore size of sand-control media is crucial in avoiding possible
clay-induced screen blockage. A compromise between particle containment and clogging of
sand-control media should be reached while optimizing pore size of the sand-control media
(Li et al., 2020; Ding et al., 2019). A sand-control gravel sizing method called ‘Holding
Coarse Expelling Fine Particles (HCEFP)’ was proposed in our previous work to tackle the
problems caused by possible screen clogging (Li et al., 2017; 2018) in hydrate production
wells. This method was modified to meet the demand of multistage stand-alone screen well
completion operation under the condition of severe longitudinal heterogeneity in the particle
size distributions (Li et al., 2020).
Another possible inducement of blockage of the sand-control media could be the
reformation of hydrate. Numerical simulations indicated possible hydrate reformation in the
near-wellbore strata (Sun et al., 2019; Li et al., 2019d) due to Joule-Thomson effect. The
permeability of the reservoir would plummet once large amount of hydrate is generated
during hydrate production (Zhang et al., 2020). As a result, gas production process will be
affected. Actually, hydrate reformation would occur at any time and any part of the production
system in case of an unprofitable depressurization schedule (Yang et al., 2019; Fu et al., 2019).
Prime experimental results revealed that the gas production process becomes intermittent
because of plugging caused by hydrate reformation and accumulation in the sand-control
screen (Liu et al., 2020). It seems possible that hydrate reformation within the sand-control
media would suspend the continuous gas production process. However, one might be curious
that to what extent we can avoid hydrate accumulation within the sand-control media.
To find a solution to the hydrate induced clogging of sand-control media, we developed
an experimental system to simulate hydrate formation process in sand-control screen. In this
paper, we conducts a series of experiments to investigate the hydrate induced clogging
process of sand-control screen mesh. Screen plugging mechanisms are discussed according to
the changes in pseudo-permeability of the screen mesh samples. Moreover, possible factors
that dominate the hydrate clogging process are discussed. Finally, field operational
suggestions are provided based on the experimental results.

2. Materials and methods

2.1 Basic model and experimental device
Under the condition of sand-control completion, sand-control media is settled at the
hydrate production layer. The sand-control media can be either standalone screen or gravel
packing layers. As shown in Fig. 1, the entire production system is composed of sand-control
media, annuals between wellbore and reservoir, hydrate decomposed area, transitional area,
and original hydrate bearing area.
A sand-control screen is usually composed of base pipe, protective cover, conductive
mesh, and screen mesh. The screen mesh, usually made of steel wire, plays a principal role in
preventing sand particles from flowing into the wellbore. However, the screen mesh could
also acts as profitable media to deposit hydrate due to its complex structure and large specific
surface.
① ② ③ ④ ⑤
Wellbore

① Sand-control screen ③ Hydrate-dissociated zone

② Annulus ④ Transition zone ⑤ Hydrate zone
Water Gas Sand Hydrate Flow direction
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of hydrate production well with sand control screen
Hydrate reformation and deposition on the screen induces shrinkage of the effective
mesh aperture size, hence, increases the sand-control skin effect. Song et al., (2015) suggested
that hydrate reformation depends largely on the gas-water flowing state. Numerical
simulations indicated that most methane is produced indirectly in aqueous phase rather than
directly in gas phase (Yu et al., 2019). Therefore, we have to develop a similar working
condition to simulate the screen clogging process.
In this study, we developed a device to evaluate the clogging process of screen mesh
induced by hydrate accumulation. Fig.2 shows the schematic diagram of the experimental
apparatus. The system consists of a high pressure vessel, a temperature control cabinet, a
constant-power displacement pump, a vacuum pump, several pressure sensors, a differential
pressure sensor, a thermometer, a data acquisition module, a water/gas supply module, and a
closed-circuit flow pipe line.
 Fig. 2 Diagram of the hydrate-plugging device for sand-control media
The high-pressure vessel is made of polymethyl methacrylate with a maximum pressure
capacity of 10 MPa and an inner diameter of 50mm. A round screen mesh is fixed in the
middle of the high-pressure vessel by ring buckles. The number of slices and the aperture size
of the screen mesh can be adjusted according to experimental requirements. Inside the high
pressure vessel, the pressure at the upstream side (Pup) and downstream side (Pdown) of the
screen mesh are acquired by two Rosemount SMART pressure transmitters (±100 kPa). A
thermometer (±0.1℃) is adhered to the screen mesh at the upstream side to monitor hydrate
formation, a exothermic process. A differential pressure sensor (±10 kPa) is also connected
next to the screen mesh sample to measure the real-time pressure-drop consumed by the
screen mesh.
Water is automatically imbibed after the system is vacuumized by the vacuum pump,
whereas gas is injected by a syringe pump through the ball valve 4. The system becomes
closed-circuit loop once the valves No. 1 and No. 4~6 are turned off. The gas-water mixture
circulation is initiated and maintained by a displacement pump (Sohrzinger Pump Technology,
Germany). The maximum flow rate of the displacement pump is 5000mL/min. A two-phase
flowmeter is installed on the flow loop to obtain the apparent fluid flow rate. The temperature
of the circulating system is controlled by the thermostatic water cabinet. Data acquisition
module supplied by Qingdao ZRT software & Control Technology Co., Ltd is integrated with
LabView software to record pressure, temperature, and flow rate.

2.2 Materials and experimental procedures

Methane gas (99.99% purity) and deionized water were used to form hydrate. The screen
mesh sample was supplied by Dongying Ruifeng Petrotech Co. Ltd. The aperture size of the
screen mesh sample is chosen according to the particle size distribution characteristics of the
hydrate-bearing sediments collected from Shenhu area, the South China Sea. The medium
grain size of the sediment samples ranges from 15μm to 20μm (Bu et al., 2019; Liu et al.,
2015, 2017). Therefore, the screen mesh with aperture size of 10μm and 30μm were used in
this experiment (Fig.3).

Fig. 3 Sand-retaining filter for experiment

In field operational system, possible accumulation of hydrate within the screen is caused
by hydrate reformation process. However, owing to the difficulties in experimental simulation,
hydrate formation process rather than reformation process is studied. Furthermore, compared
with hydrate formation process, the hydrate reformation is probably much easier due to
memory effect (Ripmeester et al., 2016). Therefore, it is reasonable for us to describe hydrate
induced sand-control clogging process using hydrate formation process instead of reformation.
The experiments are conducted by the following procedures.
(1) The screen mesh sample, with aperture size of either 10μm or 30μm, is equipped into
the high-pressure vessel. The high-pressure vessel is placed into the flow path to form a
closed-circuit circulating system. The system is then pressurized by nitrogen gas to 10MPa at
8~10℃ through valve No. 6. The internal pressure of the system is maintained for more than
4 hours aiming to assure that the flow loop is absolutely sealed under experimental pressure
conditions.
(2) The pressure is released through valve No. 6. Valves No. 1, No. 4, No. 6 are turned
off while valves No. 2, No. 3, and No.5 are turned on. The system is vacuumized through
valve No. 5 to an internal pressure of 10kPa. Then valve No.5 is turned off. The water
supplier is fulfilled with deionized water.
(3) The step is followed by turn on valve No. 1 to intake water spontaneously into the
flow loop, as well as into the high-pressure vessel. When the flow path and the vessel are
full-filled with deionized water, valve No.1 is turned off. In case that the high-pressure vessel
is failed to full-filled with water in this step, a second round of evacuation operation is
needed.
(4) Methane gas is pump into the flow path though valve No. 4 until the pressure of the
system reaches the targeted value. This pressurization process creates a working condition
that methane is mixed with aqueous phase. The volume of injected methane gas is monitored
by the syringe pump to control the average water-gas ratio, which is around 30~50 STm3/m3
in all experiments.
(5) The thermostatic water cabinet is switched on to cool the system. Set the apparent
flow rate of the two-phase displacement pump and initiate circulation. During this process, all
the data acquired from pressure sensors, flowmeter, thermometer, and differential-pressure
sensor are collected by the data acquisition module.
Several artificial uncertainties may occur in the above experimental steps. For example,
when the deionized water is imbibed into the vessel in the second step, the vacuum degree
determines the amount of water imbibed into the vessel. The amount of water and gas added
into the system need to be strictly controlled to minimize any artificial uncertainties. Several
repeated experiments also need to be conducted to prove the repeatability of the results.

3. Results and discussion

3.1 Pressure-temperature mode

Fig.4 shows the pressure-temperature (P-T) change behaviors during the experiments
conducted with different initial system pressure. The targeted temperature of the thermostatic
water cabinet is 5℃. The initial temperature of the experiment is around 8.5℃, which is
higher than the critical hydrate nucleation temperature. A screen mesh sample with aperture
size of 10μm is used. The initial fluid velocity of the displacement pump is 3000 mL/min. The
initial system pressure for this repeated experiment is 5.2MPa, 5.0MPa, and 4.8MPa,
respectively.
(a) Upstream side
Pinitial=5.16 at 8.5
8
Pinitial=4.96 at 8.5
Temperature /

Pinitial=4.76 at 8.5
Ch
6

4
4.3 4.5 4.7 4.9 5.1 5.3
Pressure /MPa
 (b) Downstream side
8 Pinitial=5.16 at 8.5

Temperature /
Pinitial=4.96 at 8.5
Pinitial=4.76 at 8.5
Ch
6

4
4.2 4.4 4.6 4.8 5.0 5.2
Pressure /MPa

Fig.4 Pressure-temperature change behaviors under different initial pressure conditions at (a)
the upstream side of the screen mesh sample; (b) the downstream side of the screen mesh sample. Ch
represents the phase equilibrium curve of methane hydrate
It is shown that there is a slight pressure decline caused by temperature decrease at the
beginning of the fluid circulation. After the temperature in the vessel is lower than the critical
hydrate nucleation temperature, the upstream side and downstream side of the screen mesh
undergo completely different P-T evolution modes. At the upstream side, there is a sudden
pressure increase, followed by a slight temperature rebound. The pressure increase and
temperature rebound form a counter clock-wise “O-shape” circle on the P-T diagram.
Afterward, the P-T curves change in a way that almost parallel with the hydrate phase
equilibrium line until the temperature reaches the targeted temperature set by the thermostatic
water cabinet.
Contrastively, there is a pressure plummet, followed by a slight temperature rebound at
the downstream side of the screen mesh sample. This process forms a left-directional “J-shape”
coiling on the P-T diagram. Finally, the temperature in the vessel reduces in a way that almost
parallel to the hydrate phase equilibrium curve (Ch) and reaches the targeted temperature set
by the thermostatic water cabinet. All the left-directional “J-shape” coiling curves at the
downstream side are almost paralleled with each other under different initial pressure
conditions, indicating that the P-T evolution behaviors are similar with each other under
different operational conditions during hydrate formation within sand control media.
However, the P-T curves might be affected somehow by experimental conditions. There
is great need to validate the repeatability under the same initial conditions. Three repeated
experiments with the same screen mesh sample, temperature control procedures, and apparent
pump rate were conducted to study the data reliability at initial system pressure of 5.2MPa.
The results are marked as Circle 1~3 in Fig.5, showing similar change behaviors, which
indicate the reproducibility of the experiments.
 Fig.4 Pressure-temperature (P-T) change behaviors under the same initial pressure condition
The counter clock-wise “O-shape” circle at the upstream side of the screen mesh sample
and the “J-shape” coiling at the downstream side would somehow reflect unique screen
blockage behaviors caused by hydrate formation/reformation. Such unique P-T changing
characteristics in Fig.4 and Fig.5 can be theorized briefly as in Fig.6.
The “O-shape” circle showed in Fig.6a can be attributed to the formation and
accumulation of hydrate on the screen mesh. With the increase in the amount of hydrate
accumulated on the upstream side of the screen mesh, the effective aperture for fluid bypass
decreases. Hence, much greater counterforce will be applied to the flowing fluid, resulting in
an increase in the measured pressure. The followed slight temperature rebound is a direct
proof for exothermal hydrate formation process.

Fig.6 Theoretical P-T evolution pathways during screen plugging at (a) the upstream side of the
screen mesh sample; (b) the downstream side of the screen mesh sample
As a contrast, no barriers exist at the downstream side of the screen mesh sample. Little
hydrate would accumulate at this side. The pressure at the downstream side would decrease
continuously with the depletion in both water and gas. The temperature rebound at the
downstream side occurs simultaneously with that at the upstream side of the screen, as the
result of hydrate formation at the other side of the screen.

3.2 Parameters evolutionary behaviors

To assure the replicability of the experimental results under different initial conditions. A
10μm screen mesh sample and a 30μm screen mesh sample are used to discuss parameter
evolutionary behaviors under different initial P-T conditions. The initial temperature and
pressure for the 10μm screen mesh sample are 8.5℃ and 5.2MPa, whereas those for the
30μm screen mesh sample are 6.5℃ and 4.2MPa.
Changes in flow rate reveal the changes in flow resistance along the entire flow path.
The experimental process can be divided into three stages according to the changes in flow
rate. During the cooling process (t1 in Fig.7), both the flow rate and pressure-drop between the
upstream and downstream sides of the screen mesh sample remain constant. This process is
followed by a rapid fluctuation both in flow rate and pressure-drop (t2 in Fig.7). The obvious
temperature rebounds (around 920s in Fig.7a and 850s in Fig.7b, respectively) could be
recognized as a direct evidence for hydrate formation. Whereas the fluctuation in
pressure-drop is a symbol of hydrate accumulation on the upstream side of the screen mesh
sample. Hydrate formation and accumulation cause an increase in flow resistance.
Consequently, the flow rate decreases to a relatively low level and the pressure-drop reaches
peak.
During the early period of the third stage (t3 in Fig.7), the flow rate remains fluctuating
greatly even though the fluctuation amplitude decreases gradually, indicating a dynamic
balancing trends of screen plugging (e.g. hydrate formation and accumulation) and blockage
removal (e.g. hydrate detachment). With the consumption of methane gas, the hydrate
forming rate decreases and the temperature inside the vessel decrease gradually under the
control of thermostatic cabinet. Finally, the pressure-drop and flow rate become almost
constant, which implies the hydrate accumulation and detachment processes reach a dynamic
balance.
t1 t2 t3
350 9.0 4000
(a) 10μm
280 8.1 3200
Flow rate/ [mL/min]
Pressure drop /kPa

Temperature /

210 7.2 2400

140 6.3 1600

dP
T
70 q 5.4 800

0 4.5 0
0 600 1200 1800 2400 3000 3600
Duration /s
 t1 t2 t3
480 6.4 4800
(b) 30 μm

384 5.6 3840

Pressure drop /kPa

Flow rate/ [mL/min]

Temperature /
288 4.8 2880

192 4.0 1920

96 dP 3.2 960
T
q
0 2.4 0
0 400 800 1200 1600 2000 2400 2800
Duration /s

Fig.7 Changes in pressure-drop, temperature, and flow rate during screen plugging. dP is the
pressure-drop consumed by screen mesh, T is the temperature in the vessel, and q is the flow rate
measured by the flowmeter

3.3 Pseudo-permeability and its normalization

The pseudo-permeability, the ratio of flow rate and pressure-drop, is defined to
quantitatively evaluate hydrate induced screen clogging process (Eq.1).
= (1)

Where, q is the apparent flow rate in mL/min. d is the pressure-drop between

upstream and downstream side of the screen, kPa. kp is the pseudo-permeability,
mL/[min ·kPa].
The pseudo-permeability change behaviors of the two screen mesh samples under the
same experimental conditions is shown in Fig. 8. At early stage of the experiments, the
pseudo-permeability of both screen mesh samples decreases gradually, and followed by a
sudden plummet. Finally, the pseudo-permeability fluctuates in a very low level, indicating
that the aperture of the screen samples are severely plugged by hydrate. Although the initial
pseudo-permeability of the 30μm screen mesh sample is much higher than that of the 10μm
screen mesh sample, the residual pseudo-permeability for 30μm and 10μm screen samples
range at the same level once the screen mesh samples are plugged completely.
Therefore, we could conclude that hydrate accumulation would cause great permeability
loss of the sand control screen. Because the original permeability is different for different
screens, the pseudo-permeability needs to be normalized before making direct comparisons
among different experiments. Furthermore, hydrate clogging would occur only if the P-T
states reach the hydrate phase equilibrium condition. The cooling duration (before reaching
critical hydrate nucleation temperature) should be removed from the time series during data
normalization. Therefore, the normalized pseudo-permeability can be written as Eq.2.

= (2)
 Where, is the average value of pseudo-permeability during cooling process. kph
represents the real-time pseudo-permeability during hydrate clogging. kpn is the normalized
pseudo-permeability.
Therefore, we recalculate the time series and normalize all the pseudo-permeability
values according to Eq.2. The normalized result is shown in Fig.8b. Evolutionary trends of the
normalized pseudo-permeability show obvious dual-gradient decreasing characteristics. The
hydrate accumulating sub-process leads to a gradual permeability loss of around 10%. While
the hydrate bridging sub-process causes a plummet in permeability of more than 85%. Finally,
the normalized pseudo-permeability fluctuates within a range of less than 2%. Permeability
loss caused by hydrate clogging could reach up to 98%. However, the duration before
normalized pseudo-permeability plummet of the 30μm screen mesh sample is much shorter
than that of the 10μm screen mesh sample.

Fig.8 Screen pseudo-permeability change behaviors during experiments. (a) Before normalization. (b)
Normalized pseudo-permeability

3.4 Hydrate clogging mechanisms

The distinct dual-gradient decreasing characteristics in pseudo-permeability reveal
micro-mechanisms of hydrate induced screen clogging (Fig.9a). During cooling process when
temperature is higher than the hydrate nucleation temperature, gas-water mixture is pumped
passing through the screen mesh sample. The measured pseudo-permeability fluctuates
slightly because the turbulence effect of gas shrinkage and inflation. When the temperature
reaches hydrate forming requirement, hydrate start to form. The steel wire of the mesh screen
acts as profitable media for hydrate nucleation. Hydrate form around the steel wire and stretch
outwards gradually. Therefore, the effective aperture size of the mesh decreases, hence, the
pseudo-permeability of the screen decreases.
At the same time, the flowing fluid keeps stirring the screen sample on the upstream side,
as well as the hydrate that adhered on the screen. Part of the hydrate would be cut into small
particles and detach from the steel wire. If the hydrate particle size is larger than the current
effective aperture size, they would accumulate at the upstream side of the screen sample.
 On the other hand, hydrate particles deviated from the downstream side of the screen
would circulate in the flow path until reaches the upstream of the screen. These hydrate
particles continue to be rearranged and form a particle-bridge, which is similar to sand-bridge
during the screen controlling fine sand (Deng et al., 2019). With the consumption of gas, the
stirring effect of flowing fluid weakened. The relatively stable-state flow would push the
particle-bridge towards and adheres on the screen sample. The aperture size would be blocked
completely, leading to a plummet in the pseudo-permeability.

Fig.9 Micro-mechanisms of pseudo-permeability decrease and normalized parameter definition

To summarize, hydrate induced screen clogging is caused by the following basic
mechanisms. (1) Under interactions between hydrate and mental screen, hydrate adheres on
the steel wire, and causes a gradual permeability loss (tA in Fig9b). We define this sub-process
as hydrate accumulating process. (2) Hydrate particles accumulate and form a particle-bridge.
Adherence of the particle-bridge causes severe screen plugging, hence, a plummet in
permeability (tB in Fig9b). This sub-process can be defined as hydrate bridging process.
The hydrate accumulating rate is defined as the decreasing rate of normalized
pseudo-permeability during hydrate accumulating process (Eq.3). While the hydrate
particle-bridging rate is defined as the decreasing rate of normalized pseudo-permeability
during hydrate bridging process (Eq.4). Therefore, the screen clogging rate caused by hydrate
formation could be characterized by the combination of hydrate accumulating rate and
hydrate particle-bridging rate.

∆ 1 ,
= = (3)

∆ , ,
= = (4)

Where, ∆ ∆ =1 , is the hydrate accumulating rate; is the hydrate

particle-bridging rate; , and , are normalized pseudo-permeability at the end of
hydrate accumulating process and hydrate bridging process, respectively. and
represent the time consumed during hydrate accumulating process and hydrate bridging
process. ∆ and ∆ are total loss in pseudo-permeability during hydrate accumulating
process and hydrate bridging process. represents the residual value of normalized
pseudo-permeability when the screen is plugged completely by hydrate.
The following sections will discuss the influence of fluid flow rate, screen aperture size,
and the degree of subcooling on the hydrate induced screen clogging rate.

3.5 Influencing factors analyses

3.5.1 Influences of subcooling degree
The degree of subcooling is one of the most important driving forces for hydrate
nucleation. Here the degree of subcooling is defined as the difference between the critical
hydrate nucleation temperature and the targeted temperature controlled by the thermostatic
water cabinet. We evaluate the influence of subcooling degree on hydrate accumulating rate
and hydrate bridging rate, respectively. The results for 10μm and 30μm screen mesh samples
are shown in Fig.10.

Fig.10 Influence of the degree of subcooling on the screen plugging rate. (a) The hydrate
accumulating rate. (b) The hydrate particle-bridging rate.
It is commonly thought that a higher subcooling temperature tends to promote the
hydrate nucleation rate (Shi et al., 2019), hence, the hydrate accumulation induced screen
clogging rate should be increase with the increase in subcooling temperature. However,
Fig.10a indicates a decrease in the screen clogging rate with the increase in subcooling degree
during hydrate accumulating process. It is a very interesting trends which implies that hydrate
induced screen clogging process not only depends on hydrate nucleation rate, but also
determined by the interactions between hydrate particle and steel wire of the mesh. It is
possible that lower temperature (e.g. higher degree of subcooling) might weaken the
interfacial bonding force between hydrate particles and steel wires, making it easier to detach
from the skeleton (Fu et al., 2019). Therefore, high subcooling degree may have some
significance on decreasing hydrate accumulation rate on the screen.
However, we did not see relatively regular relationships between the subcooling degrees
and hydrate particle-bridging rate in all experiments in Fig.10b. For the screen mesh samples
with aperture size of 10μm
 . This, again, highlights the micro-mechanism of hydrate induced screen plugging.
During hydrate particle-bridging process, the plug is caused by particle bridging, rather than
further hydrate nucleation. Therefore, under the condition that the temperature is controlled
below the hydrate nucleation standard, the influence of temperature on the hydrate bridging
process is quite weak.

3.5.2 Influences of fluid flow rate

During hydrate bridging process，the particle bridge is pushed towards the screen and
finally adhere on the screen. Therefore, the fluid flow rate may affect the clogging rate. Fig.11
compares the influence of fluid flow rate and screen aperture size on the clogging rate during
hydrate bridging process. The fluid flow rate is set around 1000~2000mL/min and
3000~4000mL/min respectively.

Fig.11 Influence of fluid flow rate on the screen plugging rate during hydrate bridging process
The flowing fluid may exert stirring effect on the hydrate particle bridge. The higher the
flow rate, the stronger the stirring effect would be. Thus, higher fluid rate may lower the
stability of the particle bridge until all the hydrate particles are pushed and adhered on the
screen. Therefore, higher flow rate would decrease screen plugging rate during hydrate
bridging process. This speculation can be proven by Fig.11, in which the screen plugging rate
decreases with the increase in fluid flow rate for both the 10μm and 30μm screen mesh
samples.

3.5.3 Influences of aperture size

Generally, the hydrate accumulating rate on the 10μm screen mesh during hydrate
accumulating process is higher than that for 30μm screen mesh (Fig.10a). This is because the
specific area of 10μm screen is larger, hence, contact surface between hydrate particle and
steel wire enlarged. Hydrate particles are easier to adhere on the mesh with an aperture size of
10μm.
However, it can be concluded from Fig.11 that the particle-bridging rate for 10μm mesh
is lower than that for 30μm mesh. The mesh surface was already covered by hydrate during
hydrate accumulating process. The difference in specific surface of the screen no longer
influences the plugging process during hydrate bridging process. The difference in hydrate
particle-bridging rate may be caused by the reactive force between screen and flowing fluid.

4. Implications on field operation

4.1 Platform diagnose of downhole screen clogging

Section 3.1 revealed the unique P-T evolution behaviors during the screen mesh is
plugged by the formation and accumulation of hydrate. The upstream side of the screen mesh
sample in this experiment is equivalent to the annulus between sand control screen and
hydrate production layer. A sudden rebound in both the temperature and pressure (e.g.
“O-shape” whirling) outside the sand-control screen is quite an obvious symbol for possible
hydrate induced clogging of the sand-control media. However, it difficult to obtain the
real-time pressure values outside the well completion pipelines.
The downstream side of the screen mesh sample is equivalent to the wellbore in a
hydrate production well. It is much easier to get the real-time downhole parameters than that
outside the sand control media. The real-time temperature in the wellbore can be obtained via
distributed temperature sensors (DTS), which was applied both in the field test in the Shenhu
area and Nankai Trough. The real-time downhole flow pressure can be obtained from the
pressure sensor at the inlet of electrical submersible pump. Therefore, we speculate that the
“J-shape” coiling P-T curves can be used as a symbol to diagnose hydrate-induced
sand-control media clogging during field operation.
However, there also exist other factors that may leads possible fluctuation in downhole
P-T relationships. For example, influx of relatively warm water or injection of possible
hydrate inhibitor would increase the temperature. An increase in the pumping rate would
causes sudden decrease of downhole flow pressure. When diagnosing plugging trend of sand
control media, these influencing factors should be considered carefully.

4.2 Avoiding complete hydrate clogging of sand control screen

The process of hydrate induced clogging of sand-control screen can be divided into
hydrate accumulating sub-process and hydrate bridging sub-process. Hydrate accumulating
sub-process is a gradual process, which causes a gradual and relatively slight decrease in
pseudo-permeability. Once the hydrate accumulating process reaches some certain level,
hydrate bridging process appears and causes a plummet in pseudo-permeability.
The experiments results indicate that the hydrate accumulating process would cause
permeability losses of the sand-control screen for up to 98%. However, the permeability loss
during hydrate bridging process is over 85%, and even reaches 92% in some extreme cases.
Therefore, ways to prolong hydrate accumulating process or avoid hydrate bridging process
should be applied in field operation.
 Influencing factors analyses reveal that the hydrate accumulating process is mainly
controlled by the subcooling temperature, while the hydrate bridging process is affected by
fluid flow rate. Hence, downhole temperature control would be the most effective way to
mitigate screen plugging. Artificial temperature interference should be applied before the
clogging state reaches hydrate bridging process.
The clogging of sand-control screen is also influenced by the aperture size of the screen
mesh. The hydrate accumulating rate decrease with the increase in aperture size, while the
hydrate bridging rate increase with the increase in aperture size. However, we couldn’t
consider the hydrate reformation into the screen sizing procedures. Because the sand-control
screen is installed to control the sand production process rather than hydrate plugging itself.
What should be done is to optimize possible new materials for screen mesh. Our future work
will focus on these issues.

5. Conclusions and suggestions

In this study, we developed a closed-circuit system to investigate the plugging behaviors
induced by hydrate formation and accumulation. A series of experiments were conducted
using wired-steel screen mesh samples with aperture sizes of 10μm and 30μm. The
experiments undertaken yield the following results.
(1) During hydrate formation and accumulation on the screen, the P-T change behaviors
at the upstream side of the screen mesh showed counter clock-wise “O-shape” characteristics.
While that at the downstream side showed “J-shape” coiling characteristics. Since the
downstream side of the screen mesh can represent the condition of wellbore during field
operation, the “J-shape” coiling in P-T curves can be used as an indicator in diagnosing
possible bottomhole screen plug caused by hydrate accumulation.
(2) Hydrate clogging would cause distinct dual-gradient decreasing characteristics of
pseudo-permeability of sand-control screen. There are two processes involved in hydrate
clogging of the sand-control screen. The hydrate accumulating sub-process leads to a gradual
permeability loss of around 10%. While the hydrate bridging sub-process causes a plummet in
permeability of more than 85%. As a result, hydrate clogging induced permeability loss of
sand-control screen would reach up to 98%. Artificial interference of downhole temperature
should be the best way to mitigate screen plugging induced by hydrate reformation.
Besides hydrate induced clogging, the sand-control screen is also tortured by severe
blockage caused by clay content. Further work in diagnosing downhole sand control blockage
should consider the coupling effect of clay induced plugging and hydrate reformation induced
clogging.

Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant
No. 41976074), the Taishan Scholar Special Experts Project (Grant No. ts201712079), and the
China Geological Survey special fund (DD20190231). Prof. Changying Dong and Dr. Qiehai
Yan from China University of Petroleum are appreciated for their distinguished suggestions to
structure the experiments. The authors are also indebted to the anonymous reviewers their
thorough reviews.

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Highlights

1. Hydrate clogging causes permeability loss of sand-control screen up to 98%.

2. Hydrate accumulation causes dual-gradient decrease in the permeability of
sand-control screen
3. The “J-shape” coiling of P-T curve is a indicator to diagnose downhole
hydrate-induced screen clogging.
4. Artificial temperature interference is recommended to mitigate hydrate induced
screen clogging.
 Declaration of Interest Statement

All study participants provided informed consent. There are no conflicts of

interest to declare.