Prediction of Sanding Prone Zones around Wellbore: An Approximate Analytical Solution and Numerical Verification

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-1-2025

Abstract

There are two dominant mechanisms in the sand production process. Firstly, the reservoir formation runs into plastic yielding such that the bonding of some solid grains with the rock matrix becomes weak, or they are simply detached from the rock skeleton. Secondly, the weakened solids are dragged off from the matrix by the fluid flow; the detached solids are transported with the fluid flow and produced from the well. Therefore, in practice the plastic yielding is widely taken as the harbinger signaling the onset of sand production. In this work, we proposed an analytical model for predicting the extension and volume of sanding prone zone around a wellbore. For wellbores located in hydrostatic stress field, this analytical model converges to the classic Salencon solution. For wellbores located in non-hydrostatic stress field, the reliability and accuracy of the analytical solution is validated by numerical models for various stress ratios and mechanical strengths. This new model can be used as an efficient tool for estimating the sanding prone volumes around oil and gas wells.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Society of Petroleum Engineers SPE AAPG Seg Unconventional Resources Technology Conference Urtc 2025

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