Inclusion Methodology does allow, or co-produce, sand to the surface for sustained production. However, most facilities and production engineers have the view that sand in the production equipment equals downtime.

If sand management is viewed as a shovel – or maintenance exercise – then the full benefit of sand co-production will not be realized.

Quadrant 3: Surface Facilities Maintenance

Goal: Try to minimize production downtime.

• Scheduled/unscheduled maintenance for sand cleanout (e.g. shutdown and shovel)
• Design impacts: erosion resistant chokes/valves, impact tees in piping, profile instrumentation and sand jetting in separator, pump impeller replacement, etc.
• Operations impact: replace eroded components and manage residence time reduction from sand build-up
• CAPEX: Low-Medium | OPEX: Medium | Production: Increase

While spares management can be a philosophy it is a reactionary approach. The focus become how do we deal with sand (as a hassle), as opposed to what benefit can sand produce.

The next post on Facilities Sand Management (Quadrant 4) introduces methods and technologies to realize performance improvement through skillful sand handling.

Bibliography:

1. Addis, M.A., Gunningham, M.C., Brassart, Ph., Webers, J., Subhi, H., Hother, J.A., “Sand Quantification: The Impact on Sandface Completion Selection and Design, Facilities Design and Risk Evaluation”, paper 116713, SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Denver, CO, 21-24 September, 2008.
2. Andrews, J., Kjørholt, H., Jøranson, H., “Production Enhancement From Sand Management Philosophy. A Case Study from Statfjord and Gulfaks”, paper 95411, SPE 6th European Formation Damage Conference, Scheveningen, The Netherlands, 25-27 May 2005.
3. Fadillah, P.M., Ahmad, P.H., Ward, M., Fisher, A., “Gecko Wells: Bringing Sand to Surface, A Change in Well Design Philosophy”, paper 87956 presented at the IADC/SPE Asia Pacific Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 13-15 September 2004.
4. Selfridge, F., Munday, M., Kvernvold, O., Gordon, B., “Safely Improving Production Performance through Improved Sand Management”, paper 83979, Offshore Europe, 2-5 September, Aberdeen, UK, 2003.
5. Vaziri, H.H., Lemoine, E., Palmer, I.D., McLennan, J.. Islam, R., “How Can Sand Production Yield a Several-Fold Increase in Productivity: Experimental and Field Data”, paper 63235 presented at the 2000 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, TX, 1-4 October, 2000.