KELLOGG BROWN & ROOT

SAND HANDLING

SAND DISPOSAL

SAND MANAGEMENT

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

• Sand Production from the Reservoir

 Reservoir modelling and prediction
 Bringing on new wells and remobilising sand deposited in the
interfield pipeline.
 Pigging interfield pipeline prior to bringing on a new well
 Sand modelling and prediction – reservoir intact formation
strength pressure to resist failure
 Well bore stability analysis – formation shear failure due to
drilling – residual strength of the formation
 Downhole Screens

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

• Flow Assurance
 Transporting sand along pipelines is complex to predict and is
subject to considerable degrees of uncertainty.
 In terms of gas wells, the flow regime in the pipeline will dictate
how the sand is transported and also any resultant corrosion
erosion
 How the gas and liquid phases flow together dictates how the
sand is transported i.e. stratified wavy, stratified smooth, etc.
 Sand banks in the pipeline - particle size, saltation velocities
and solids loading
 Pigging where possible

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

• CFD Analysis of Separator Performance

 Sand deposition in the separator could have an impact on
separator performance resulting in potential for liquid carryover
 Sand deposition within the production separator can be
predicted using a number of methods.
 2-D and 3-D computation fluid dynamics can predict separator
performance. i.e. efficiency with and without sand build-up.
Sand deposition can be included in the 3-D model

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

• CFD Analysis
 Sand build-up in the
separator vessel can be
measured offshore
(Tracerco, etc.)
 The sand loading results
can be input in a
computational fluid
dynamics model (CFD)
 CFD analysis used to
ascertain the separation
performance of the
production separator
(with & without sand
build-up)

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

• Consequences of Sand Production

Safety:
 Topsides pipe wall Erosion :– loss of containment
 Pipeline under sand corrosion :- corrosion inhibitor inactive
Environmental:
 Environmental impact: oil wet sand overboard; NORM issues

Production:
 Build up in Separators :- water carry-over
 Damage to equipment :- valves; export & WI pumps, cyclones.
 Blocked equipment :- filters, PCHE.

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

• Methods of Sand Disposal (1 of 2)

• From Separator
 Removal of sand within the production Separator using sand
sparges
 Advantages: on-line sand wash system
 Disadvantages: 1) not always fluidises sand, 2) sand
carried forward to produced water equipment.
 Removal of sand by offline washing or vessel intervention
 Advantages: generally successful
 Disadvantages: production downtime: can be minimised by
thermal imaging to optimise intervention period.

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

• Methods of Sand Disposal (1 of 2)

• From Produced Water Stream

 Through to discharge to Sea
 Advantages: removal of sand
 Disadvantages: 1) potential damage to valves, pipework &
cyclone liners, and build-up in d/s vessels, 2) oil wet sand
discharged overboard.
 Separated from Produced Water Stream (desanding cyclones)
 Advantages: removes most of above disadvantages
 Disadvantages: 1) additional equipment for separation, 2)
Further costs for discharge, e.g. sand washing facilities, or
sand injection, or sand transfer onshore?

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

 Typical Desanding Cyclone

including Sand Accumulation
Vessel.
 Similar to systems installed on
the ConocoPhillips LOGGS
Platform.
 The sand accumulator vessel
can be fitted with a nucleonic
level detection system tied
back to the CCR
 The sand Accumulation Vessel
is flushed with sea water to the
Sand Disposal Caisson approx.
every 2 weeks (shift change)

KelloggBrown & Root

 SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

• Desanding Cyclones
 Separates sand from oil or gas
well streams on line
 Installation of Coarse strainers
upstream recommended to
remove foreign debris – avoiding
liner blockages
 Sand detectors and monitoring
recommended on the well fluid
outlet.
 Sand monitor (calibration
important) and trending
recommended. Also provide an
alarm in the CCR.

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

• Recent Developments in Sand Disposal

 Removal of sand within the production Separator using
proprietary equipment such as the ‘TORE Manifold System’
 Can handle solids on-line within the vessel (no shutdown)
 Solids are removed at controlled slurry concentrations to a
Sand Wash System for oil clean-up
 No maintenance (no moving parts)
 Infinite turndown
 Low level of water usage (seawater can be used if required)
 System can be retrofitted to existing vessels

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

• Tore Manifold System (Tore® Device)

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

 Tore® Device

 A solids hydrotransportation
device

- High efficiency
- No moving parts
- No wear

 Requires a water supply

® (Permission by Merpro Ltd

Montrose)

KelloggBrown & Root

 SAND
SANDHANDLING,
HANDLING,DISPOSAL
DISPOSALAND
ANDMANAGEMENT
MANAGEMENT

• ‘TORE Manifold
System’
 Latest sand disposal
technology is to use
the ‘Tore Manifold
System
 Installed in the
bottom of the
production
separator
 Can be retrofitted to
existing separators

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

 Typical sand wash

system for oil
clean-up
 Controlled sand
slurry
concentrations are
routed from the
Tore Manifold
System to the
‘Sand Wash
System’
 The sand is
cleaned to meet
environmental
legislation prior to
disposal

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

• Sand Management - Data Collection (1 of 2)

 Monitor sand production
 Sand probes
 Sand sampling
 Monitor sand build-up (by specialist vendor)
 Thermal imaging
 Nucleonics
 Regular wall thickness measurements
 Develop programme for high risk areas
 Valve and cyclone liner wear checks
 Use existing instrumentation for trends.
KelloggBrown & Root
SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

• Sand Management - Data Collection (cont’d)

 Equipment monitoring
 Use existing instrumentation
 Real Time Operations (RTO)

• Sand Management - Data Analysis

 Benchmarking – Baseline
 Rotating equipment specification
 DTI / OSPAR

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

Previous Experiences - Lessons Learned (1 of 2)

• Poor operational efficiency of the sand cyclones (CoP)

 Inadequate level readings on the sand accumulator:- sand built
up in reception vessel and thus carried forward
 Flowrates below the minimum required for the number of sand
cyclones on-line; inadequate swirl developed and sand carried
forward

• Sand Jetting v’s Options (BP)

 sand jetting was eroding the bottom of the vessels; sparge
system was changed to Tore units
 Jetting flowrate and pressure were reduced with the Tore units
by up to 30% flow and 1-2 bar pressure
 Option considered to retrofit Tores externally to vessel on
bottom of slurry outlets; thus no vessel intervention and reduced
installation time & complexity.

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

Previous Experiences - Lessons Learned (2 of 2)

• TORE Device on FPSO

 Swirl effect of Tore resulted in sand build up on vessel
side, then in heavy seas sand ‘wall’ collapsed resulting in
large carry forward – regular blockage of d/s equipment
& pump damage.

• Sand Removal Upstream of Separators (Bluewater)

 Test Separator, on average had to be shutdown opened
up and the and manually dug out every couple of months
 Hydrocyclone and Tore Traps installed between
production header and process plant
 This arrangement knocked out the sand in inlet process
stream and discharged it directly overboard; System is
‘very effective’.

KelloggBrown & Root

SAND HANDLING, DISPOSAL AND MANAGEMENT

Other KBR Sand Removal Ops Support Experience

• De-sander Unit in a turret on an FPSO – KBR investigated this

for Shell/Anasuria, where sand was causing problems with the
turret seals.

• De-sanding of oil in the run-down lines on the Brent

platforms, with ‘mixed’ success

• Sand clean-up unit to treat the sand from separator clean-up

operations on Chevron Alba. This involved a cyclone and
various other sand collection and disposal equipment.

KelloggBrown & Root