Integrated sand management: modeling of sand erosion in a mature oil field in Malaysia

Sand production can lead to various problems, including erosion in production flow lines that may lead to total production loss for extended periods and costly workover operations. The extent of erosive damage is determined by many factors, among which the flow and sand rates are the most significant. Three main issues must be addressed to ensure an efficient production operation: Sand erosion estimation, Sand monitoring (settling and deposition), and maintaining optimum production rates. If sand production exceeds certain levels, i.e., allowable sand rate, the erosion in the production network becomes problematic. Sand production has been problematic in some wells in Reservoir X. Core, and historical production data was used to build a comprehensive model using Schlumberger PIPESIM™ hydraulic modelling. The software allows for detailed modelling of the production network by which erosion rate, erosion hotspots, and deposition of the produced sand can be quantitatively analyzed. Considering an allowable erosion rate of 0.3 mm/year, the model outcomes indicate that sand erosion is critical in wells J-1, J-2, and L-2. The next step was identifying the hotspots where the produced sand is deposited in the abovementioned wells. The modelling results indicated that sand deposition is primarily severe in the teeline between the platforms. Moreover, the gas-oil ratio was identified as the most influential factor in the sand deposition. Lastly, a sensitivity analysis was conducted on the allowable flow rates and maximum (technical) allowable sand production and erosion rates to find optimum production rates from reservoir X.