A novel laboratory technique for open-hole gravel-pack design

Abstract

Gravel-pack completion is implemented in the wellbores to prevent sand production and minimize formation damage due to fines migration. As higher flow velocities exist near the wellbore region, sanding and fines migration are expected to occur in the wellbore vicinity. Therefore, wellbore productivity depends on the gravel-pack performance in allowing the passage of fine particles into the wellbore while preventing the entry of sand particles into the gravel-pack. The gravel design criterion proposed in the literature has been used as a guideline for gravel design, and it has typically provided adequate sand control for field operations. This study introduces a Sand Retention Test (SRT) setup to evaluate the sand production and fines plugging in wellbores completed with open-hole gravel-pack (OHGP). The SRT testing is used to replicate the widely used experimental procedure performed for gravel-pack applications and prove the reasonable repeatability of the results with respect to differential pressure measurements and the effluent fines concentration.SRT experiments with single-phase flow were conducted on a specific formation particle size distribution (PSD), incorporating the gravel-pack and wellbore screen coupon. The application of the SRT facility for OHGP is validated against pioneering experiments in the literature. The results reasonably agree on solid production and gravel-pack impairment trends between the replication and literature test results. Besides, the repeatability test results indicate reasonable agreement between the differential pressures across the sand-pack and gravel-pack and fines production in different tests.This research validates a novel laboratory testing against a gravel sizing criterion that has been commonly used in the industry. The proposed technique can customize testing for gravel-pack design and be employed for further research on the OHGP scenarios.