Laboratory studies of fines movement in gravel packs

Journal Article · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1997 · SPE Drilling and Completion

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2118/36420-PA· OSTI ID:603815

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 economical production rates. Techniques and procedures used for gravel-size selection are typically based on criteria that have been used by the industry for more than 20 years. Simple laboratory flow tests using clean gravel columns and fines from a variety of formations, however, indicate that 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 proposed higher-permeability gravels.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 603815
• Journal Information: SPE Drilling and Completion, Journal Name: SPE Drilling and Completion Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 12; ISSN 1064-6671; ISSN SDCOE5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
03 NATURAL GAS
GRANULAR MATERIALS
MASS TRANSFER
PACKINGS
PARTICLE SIZE
PERMEABILITY
SERVICE LIFE
WELL COMPLETION