Laboratory studies of fines movement in gravel packs

Conference · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:457283

Jennings, Jr, A R

Most high permeability, high deliverability, unconsolidated and loosely consolidated sandstone formations require gravel packing as part of the completion procedure. The gravel packs are designed to allow the soft formations to produce sand-free at economic production rates. Techniques and procedures used for gravel size selection are typically based on criteria which have been used by the industry for over 20 years. Simple laboratory flow tests using clean gravel columns and fines from a variety of formations, however, indicate existing gravel-size selection guidelines are too conservative. Although the gravels selected are very efficient in preventing formation fines from entering the pack, the buildup of silt and fines at the gravel/formation interface can cause quick degradation of the effective permeability through the pack. Improvements in gravel pack life can be obtained by using gravel with higher initial permeability, either by increasing the average size of the gravels used (i.e. larger sand grains) or through the use of more spherical particles (synthetic gravel). The laboratory tests reported in this paper suggest that both alternatives can be considered in gravel pack operations. It is a further premise of this paper that sufficient improvements have been made in gravel pack procedures in recent years to allow effective placement of the higher permeability gravels proposed.

• OSTI ID: 457283
• Report Number(s): CONF-961003--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
03 NATURAL GAS
FLUID FLOW
NATURAL GAS
OIL WELLS
PETROLEUM
PRODUCTION
SANDSTONES
WELL COMPLETION