Non-Uniform Slotted Liner Completion, a New Approach to Obtain Uniform Production Profile along Horizontal Wells

Mohammadsalehi, Mehdi; Goodarzian, Saleh; Assef, M. R.

doi:10.2118/130219-ms

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

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Design Optimization of Slotted Liner Completions in Cased and Perforated Wells: A Numerical Skin Model

Velayati

Roostaei

Fattahpour

et al. 2018

Day 1 Mon, December 10, 2018

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Several parameters affect the skin factor of the cased and perforated (C&P) wells completed with slotted liners. Existing skin factor models for slotted liners account for such factors as the flow convergence, pressure drop and partial production but neglect phenomena such as partial plugging of the screen or near-wellbore permeability alterations during the production. This paper discusses these factors and incorporates them into a skin model using a finite volume simulation. The finite volume analysis evaluates the skin factor as a result of pressure drop in the gap between the casing wall and the slotted liner. This skin model accounts for: 1) the perforation density and phasing, 2) slotted liner specifications, and 3) different amount of sand accumulation in the annular space between the casing and the sand screen. A semi-analytical pressure drop model is also linked to the numerical model to incorporate the skin factor due to flow convergence behind the perforations. The results of finite volume analysis reveal that a low perforation density would behave close to the open-hole completion for sand-free casing-liner annular space. Conversely, pressure drops were found to be significant for a partially or totally filled space. Additionally, it was found that the optimum completion design occurs if the slotted liner joints are in line with the casing joints. Besides, a partially perforated casing or a partially open sand screen increases the distance fluids have to travel in the annular space and intensifies the skin factor. This paper provides skin models derived for vertical and perforated wells completed with slotted liner sand screens using the finite volume simulations. Each part of the model has been verified against existing numerical models in the literature. The model improves the understanding of flow performance of the sand screens and skin factor, which in turn leads to a better design of sand control completions.

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Design Optimization of Slotted Liner Completions in Cased and Perforated Wells: A Numerical Skin Model

Velayati

Roostaei

Fattahpour

et al. 2018

Day 1 Mon, December 10, 2018

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Standalone Screen Design and Evaluation for Cased and Perforated Application in Unconsolidated Formations: The Role of Perforation Strategy and Sand Control Design on Well Productivity

Roostaei¹,

Mohammadtabar

Hosseini

et al. 2022

Day 3 Wed, March 23, 2022

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Productivity of cased and perforated wellbores completed with standalone screen depends on the interactions of parameters such as perforation diameter, length, phasing and density, the gap between the casing and the standalone screen, and standalone screen aperture/pore size. Moreover, the permeability of the sand in the gap plays a major role in the overall productivity. This study aims at providing a numerical estimation of pressure drop for such completions. This study uses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in order to simulate the flow around a wellbore equipped with cased and perforated completion with standalone screen. Slotted liner was used as the standalone screen in this study. Details of such a complex completion were imported into the Finite Volume (FV) based numerical simulation via Computer-Aided Design (CAD). In addition to the geometrical design of the completion, different scenarios for the perforation stability, which affect the permeability of the perforation tunnel and result in potential fill-up of the annular gap between the slotted liner and perforations, were investigated. A large number of simulations (over 200 models) were completed to cover the different scenarios for perforation design and strategy along with different Open to Flow Area (OFA) values for the standalone slotted liner. Based on the results, completion efficiency is strongly changed by perforation and gap flow properties. The OFA for the standalone slotted liner completion has minor influence on the overall pressure drop if the gap between the casing and the standalone screen and the perforation is clean, unless the perforations are collapsed and the annular gap between the casing and slotted liner is filled up with sand. This is mainly because perforation parameters, such as penetration and diameter dominate the effect of all the other parameters, including slotted liner configuration. The results emphasize the effect of the completion geometry, perforation strategy, and opening size on the skin and productivity. Another main observation was the need to better understand the stability of the perforations and sanding potential from perforations, which dictate the permeability of the perforation and annular space. The results of this study highlight the comparative importance of different standalone screen designs and perforation parameters on well productivity. This study is the basis for optimizing the sand control and perforation strategy as an alternative to other completion types such as gravel packing in cased and perforated completions in vertical and slant wells.

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Design for Reliability: Purpose Driven Sand Control Methods for Cased and Perforated Wells

Soroush

Roostaei

Mohammadtabar

et al. 2020

Day 4 Thu, October 29, 2020

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The historical challenges and high failure rate of using standalone screen in cased and perforated wellbores pushed several operators to consider cased hole gravel packing or frac-packing as the completion of the choice. Despite the reliability of these options, they are more expensive than standalone screen completion. Since several developments are not designed for cased hole gravel pack or frac-pack, purpose-driven sand control methods for cased and perforated wells are recommended. This paper employs a combined physical lab testing and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for lab scale and field scale to assess the potential use of the standalone screen in completing the cased and perforated wells. The aim is to design a fit-to-purpose sand control method in cased and perforated wells and provide guidelines in perforation strategy and investigate screen and perforation characteristics. More specifically, the simultaneous effect of screen and perforation parameters, near wellbore conditions on pressure distribution and pressure drop are investigated in detail. A common mistake in completion operation is to separately focus on the design of the screen based on the reservoir sand print and design of the perforation. If sand control deemed to be required, the perforation strategy and design must go hand in hand with sand control design. Several experiments and simulation models were designed to better understand the role of perforation density, the fill-up of annular gap between the casing and screen, perforation collapse and screen plugging on pressure drop. The experiments consisted of a series of step rate tests to investigate the role of fluid rate on pressure drop and sand production. There is a critical rate in which the sand filled annular gap will fluidize and also sanding would be different for different fluid density. Both test results and CFD simulation scenarios comparatively allow to establish the relation between wellbore pressure drop with screen and perforation parameters and determine the optimized design. The results of this study highlight the workflow to optimize the standalone screen design for the application in cased and perforated completion. The proper design of standalone screen and perforation parameters allows maintaining cost-effective well productivity. Results of this work could be used for choosing the proper sand control and perforation strategy, rather than using gravel packing and frac-packing methods in cased and perforated completions.

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Non-Uniform Slotted Liner Completion, a New Approach to Obtain Uniform Production Profile along Horizontal Wells

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

Design Optimization of Slotted Liner Completions in Cased and Perforated Wells: A Numerical Skin Model

Design Optimization of Slotted Liner Completions in Cased and Perforated Wells: A Numerical Skin Model

Standalone Screen Design and Evaluation for Cased and Perforated Application in Unconsolidated Formations: The Role of Perforation Strategy and Sand Control Design on Well Productivity

Design for Reliability: Purpose Driven Sand Control Methods for Cased and Perforated Wells

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