_ This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 210003, “What To Do With Produced Solids After Separation: Dewatering, Transport, and Disposal,” by Charles H. Rawlins, SPE, eProcess Technologies. The paper has not been peer reviewed. _ The primary role of offshore solids handling is to remove and dispose of produced solids properly, without interruption or shutdown. Most sand-management studies focus on the separation component only. However, 80% of the capital expenditure (CAPEX) of the process is attributed to separating devices, and 80% of the operating expenditure (OPEX) involves dewatering, transport, and disposal (DTD). The complete paper outlines questions that must be asked during facility design and provides guidelines, calculations, and examples on each of the steps of the sand-handling process to be implemented after separation. Facilities Sand Management (FSM) FSM refers to the solids-handling processes in the hydrocarbon production and processing system from the wellhead to custody transfer, based on engineering knowledge and a certain degree of skill. FSM is not a waste-stream-treatment exercise but a critical flow-assurance issue. Production and uptime are maintained (or increased) even when solids are present, while the operating costs are minimized or reduced. This is accomplished through the use of a proper facility design incorporating the five steps of sand management to fully manage and handle the sand produced. Each step must be integrated into the facility design. The authors identify these steps as follows: 1. Separate—Partition solid particles from liquid, gas, or multiphase flow into a separate stream. 2. Collect—Gather the partitioned solids into a single central location and remove them from the process pressure and flow. 3. Clean—Remove adsorbed hydrocarbon contaminants from the gathered sand particles with an attrition scrubbing system. 4. Dewater—Remove free water from the sand slurry to minimize the disposal volume dramatically. 5. Transport—Transport the solids to a final disposal location. Role of DTD An improperly designed DTD system likely will cause a congestion of the entire solids-management system. The starting point for discussion, when considering the FSM approach, is to identify the proper (final) disposal route of the solids and then work backward to meet that requirement. The Pareto principle (or the 80/20 rule) applies as equally to sand management as it does to macroeconomics. The 80/20 rule applied to FSM entails that 80% of the CAPEX of an FSM system can be attributed to the separating device (Step 1), while the work accounting for 80% of the OPEX of the FSM system is associated with the DTD method. The clear CAPEX ramification is probably why so much focus has been placed on separating devices. In the long term, however, the OPEX of sand management should be considered.