156 Mitigating Sand Production Without Screens

Velocity

Solids slippage
velocity

Figure 3.20 Solids production and ¢ll.

Solids will build up and start covering the base of the perforations. The velocity
through the fill will be negligible, even if the fill permeability is large, as the flow
area is small. This will progressively cut off production. It can progress until the
entire perforation area is full of sand. In reality, flow concentration through the
remaining upper perforations can sometimes maintain a flow path with enough
velocity to lift solids. Routine solids removal from the wellbore will likely be
required. A large sump can reduce the frequency of interventions. Coiled tubing is
frequently used to clean out solids whilst the well is flowing (often aided by gas lift,
nitrogen circulation, foam or viscous sweeps). Where safety concerns and
regulations are met, reverse circulation of solids with coiled tubing or a workstring
can be efficient (as routinely used for the removal of proppant). Specialised
equipment can be deployed such as concentric coiled tubing (CCT) – one string of
coiled tubing inside another (Putra et al., 2007). Alternatively, simple bailing or
venturi junk baskets can be used if time is not pressing. Monobore completions will
reduce solids settling and assisting in clean-outs. Some completions in the Caspian
Sea use a small diameter, permanent, concentric tubing string to allow periodic
circulation of debris from the well without a well intervention.
With conventional surface facilities, sand will find its way to the separator, where
the majority of the sand will settle out. As fill increases, fluid residence time will
decrease, thus reducing separation efficiency. The settled solids can also exacerbate
corrosion through the formation of a habitat for sulphate-reducing bacteria. Smaller
solids (0.0004–0.0012 in.) can linger around the water–oil interface (Rawlins and
Hewett, 2007) where they stabilise emulsions and further reduce separator
efficiency. Some sand can be carried through the separator to both the oil and
water lines. Here they can cause further erosion, destroy pump seals and interfere
with water de-oiling and other downstream equipment, including instrumentation.
Shutting down the separator for digging out the sand is a time-consuming and
intensive operation with safety concerns, best suited for a complete facility shut-
down. For relatively little capex, the design of separators can be modified to include
sand washing. These are internal fan jets on the side of the separator at the position
near the angle of repose for wet sand. High-pressure process water (e.g. seawater