Sand Production Management

Sand production may be inevitable in many fields that have a relatively low formation strength. Sand erosion and settling predictions and sand monitoring are important elements of any effective sand production management strategy. Sand erosion predictions are used to establish tolerable sand production rates, and, thus, well productivity, and to develop cost-effective inspection frequency for critical components. Prediction of critical flow rate to prevent sand settling is important for flowlines that are not designed for pigging. Quantitative sand monitoring is essential in verifying the effectiveness of sand control procedures and in generating an important input parameter for erosion and sand settling predictions. This paper presents equations for predicting sand erosion rate and sand settling flow rate, and assesses the accuracy of these equations. In addition, the paper presents an assessment of the sensitivity of commercially available nonintrusive acoustic and intrusive electrical resistance sand monitors. [S0195-0738(00)00201-6]