Sand Control in Heavy Oil Wells

Sand Control for Heavy Oil Wells

Most heavy oil and tar sand formations are unconsolidated. The high crude viscosities
exert large flow forces on the formation sand, promoting high sand production rates.
Most heavy oil wells are pumped, and the cyclic stresses at the wellbore caused by
the pumping action reduce wellbore stability. Furthermore, many heavy oil wells are
steam stimulated or steam flooded, which significantly complicates sand control.
Conventional sand control techniques, especially internal gravel packing, often result
in loss of the already low productivity in heavy oil wells. Moreover, the projects are so
marginal and sensitive to capital costs that sand control may be difficult to justify
economically.

No Sand Control
In cases where sand production rates are low and steady, it is often more attractive
to produce the sand than to control it downhole. The viscosity of the crude or crudewater emulsion is usually high enough to carry the sand to the surface without
serious erosion. Most heavy oil wells require artificial lift, such as tubing or screw
pumps, and the major problem with producing sand is erosion of the pump
components. Sand particles tend to erode the valves and seats. Recently, pumps
have been designed to handle sand production, but these pumps have limited head
capacity and/or are still in the development and field trial stage.
The major problem with no sand control is that unexpected shutdowns can cause a
sandoff of the string. Moreover, this occurs with changing fluid viscosities during
steaming, or with water breakthrough. Surface separation and disposal of the sand is
also a problem in some areas, although pretarred sand can be useful for road-building
projects.

Gravel Packing
For clean formation sands with narrow grain-size distribution, gravel packing is still
widely used. However, the pressure drop across the perforation tunnels precludes the
use of IGPs in many primary completions on high-viscosity oils. External, or openhole,
gravel packs (EGPs) are therefore primarily used in heavy oil areas, such as in
California and Venezuela. Internal packs can be used in thermal projects, although
they limit the duration of the production cycle.
Steam stimulation, or steam flooding, poses a significant problem to gravel packs.
Steam generator effluents are quite alkaline, with pH values ranging from 11 to 12.5.
This high alkalinity results from bicarbonate ions, present in most feedwaters, that
decompose during steam generation to produce carbonate ions and hydroxide ions.
Silicate materials, such as gravel, dissolve in hot alkaline water, so that gravel packs
frequently fail in the third or fourth production cycle. Also, the liner must withstand
the harsh corrosive environment of a huff 'n' puff steam project. It is also subject to
substantial mechanical loading due to the thermal cycling.
The weigh loss of siliceous material has been shown by Underdown et al. (1983) to
increase dramatically with temperature and pH. The higher the quartz content of
gravel, the longer the gravel lasts in the harsh field environment.

Sand Control in Heavy Oil Wells

Sintered bauxite gravels have shown very little weight loss when exposed to high
temperatures and high pHs. Also, moderate compositional differences make very
little difference in weight loss for sintered bauxite gravels. Resin-coated gravels have
achieved good success in California at resisting steam dissolution. Improvements in
resin chemistry and manufacturing processes have increased the stability of resincoated gravels, but they are still unsuitable at high pHs.

Screens and Slotted Liners

Since many heavy oil wells produce from formations that are essentially gravel sized,
screens can be used for sand control. Wire-wrapped screens are the most popular
method of sand control in Canada's heavy oil wells, where economics and geological
conditions limit EGP applications. Slotted liners are still used, but rarely. However,
there are still many problems with wire-wrapped screens. Plugging of the screens is a
major problem for dirty sands. This has been demonstrated in laboratory tests where
clays and silts often collect at the screen.
Partial plugging eventually leads to erosion, due to the increased flow velocities in
the unplugged sections. Erosion caused by high flow velocities also occurs during
steam breakthrough or preferential steam injection into thief zones. This problem is
significantly exacerbated by the corrosive nature of the thermal fluids. The fluid
velocity appears to be the major parameter affecting screen erosion, and thus the
use of openhole completions to reduce flow velocities is often favored. Some screens
last for years while others last only for a few weeks. Steam breakthrough appears to
be another key factor influencing screen failure for steam floods.
Screen sizes are usually larger than prescribed by the standard formulas in order to
reduce flow velocities and, hence, erosion. The production of some sand is not so
serious, due to the high fluid viscosities and generally low production rates. Erosion
of the screen resulting from flow restriction is a more serious problem. Experience
usually dictates the specific screen size.
Damaged screens are difficult to remove, so screens should be designed to be easily
washed over during fishing operations. The screens must be kept clean prior to
installation.

Consolidation
Sand consolidation has not been very successful to date in heavy oil wells. The
problems of effective fluid displacement are much higher in heavy oil wells,
especially with dirty sands. There has been some consideration to using warm air
coking of the heavy oil to consolidate the sand, but more research is required to
prove the viability of this system.
Resin-coated gravel using furan resins and the overflush technique has achieved
some success in California. However, special laboratory tests are required to select a
resin coating that can withstand the harsh steam environment.