158 Mitigating Sand Production Without Screens

Optional sand
filter package
Production manifold,
separators, etc.

From
production
well

Sand detector

Hydrocyclone
desander

Low pressure
produced fluids

Process water
for flushing Sand accumulator
vessel

Sand disposal

Figure 3.22 Wellhead desander.

report their use on a production manifold in Oman for wells that had screens
perforated to improve productivity. A typical configuration is shown in Figure 3.22.

3.2.3. Sand detection

Sand detection has become a critical practice not just for wells without mechanical
sand control but also for assuring the integrity of wells with downhole sand control.
Sand detectors can be linked to manual or automatic shut-downs or other
interventions, allow quantification of sand production and help our understanding
of the sand production process. A large number of methods are used (Tronvoll et al.,
2001). The techniques involve intrusive and non-intrusive sand detection, sand
sampling and simply estimating the sand production levels from pig run debris,
wellhead desanders and separator clean-outs, etc.