Sand production

In the pre-development stage, core samples can be used to test the compatibility of injection fluids with the formation, to predict borehole stability under various drilling conditions and to establish the probability of formation failure and sand production. 

Well completions are usually tailored to individual wells, and many variations exist. The following diagrams show a completion with a gravel pack, designed to exclude sand production downhole, and a dual completion, designed to allow controlled production from two separate reservoirs. 

Sand production from loosely consolidated formations may lead to erosion of tubulars and valves and sand-fill in of both the sump of the A/ell and surface separators. In addition, sand may bridge off in the tubing, severely restricting flow. The presence of sand production may be monitored by in-line detectors. If the quantities of sand produced become unacceptable then downhole sand exclusion should be considered (Section 9.7). 

Typical applications include primary devv atering of phosphate rock matrix and silica sand products following vv et screening. In ore dressing it is used rnainlv to protect large-diameter thickeners bv scalping out-l-65-mesh material,... 

Potential problems with an ATES loop are illustrated in Figure 39 and encounter a number of events that are related to the chemical behaviour of the system. However, the figure also illustrates problems connected to a general system design, such as aeration and sand production. These types of problems may also have secondary damaging impacts on surroundings buildings and the environment. 

Due to a resisting minor sand production in most of the wells and some problems with precipitation of iron, a well maintenance programme has been developed. In this program the wells are back flushed twice a year and in addition to that, some wells are redeveloped with air lifting once a year. 

Holbrook, D., Technology Integration to Maximize Value of Oil Sands Product, Gasification Technology Conference, Washington, October 2006. 

Commercializing the vast oil shale resources could greatly add to the country s energy resources. Shale oil could have an effect similar to the 175 billion barrels of oil from Alberta tar sands to Canada s oil reserves. As a result of the commercial effort, oil from tar sand production now exceeds one million barrels per day. Oil shale in the United States is as rich as tar sand and could become a vital component in America s future energy security. 

Table 3.2 shows the remaining potential (the sum of reserves and resources) of conventional oil at the end of 2005, which amounts to around 1800 Gb, made up of 1200 Gb reserves and 600 Gb resources. In line with the definition in Section 3.3.1, these figures do not include unconventional oil, such as crude bitumen from oil sands production in Canada or extra heavy oil from Venezuela.11 Almost three-quarters of... 

Table 3.5. Specific natural gas demand for oil-sands production and upgrading...

Of the above-mentioned challenges of oil-sands production, the heavy dependence on natural gas is among the most critical. Table 3.5 shows the specific natural gas demand per barrel of bitumen for mining and extraction, (thermal) in-situ recovery and upgrading operations, as well as for the production of hydrogen. Depending on the recovery process, up to 25% of the energy content of the SCO is used in the form of natural gas. 

By far the most widespread use of NMR in an on-line production environment is the utilization of downhole exploration tools by petroleum service companies such as Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes. Articles on these unilateral NMR systems are found in the patent databases, " academic literature, and on-line resources provided by the exploration companies. The references provided here are just a few examples in a very prolific field. The technique is applied in high-temperature and pressure situations and currently is used down to a depth of about 10 km (6 miles) to produce a picture of water/oil content in the adjacent rock formations as well as to derive permeability, diffusivity, and hydrocarbon chemistry information. Mobile unilateral NMR systems such as the NMR-MOUSE are also being developed in order to take benchtop NMR systems into the field to perform analysis of geological core samples at the drill site. NMR analyzers are also being developed to determine the bitumen content and properties in tar sand production and processing. " " ... 

If very high GOR S (500 to 2000) are to be encountered, consideration should be given to using space/welght-saving centrifugal separators. These have been very successfully used in the Gulf of Mexico where sand production does not affect operations. 1... 

Fig- 2—Typical configuration of a three-phase horizontal separator. Interface level control maintains water level, weir maintains oil level. Vessels may be equipped with sand jets If sand production is a problem. jets are designed for 20 fps velocity, and produced water normally is used for backwashing. 

Fig. 4—Typical configuration of a tftree-phase vertical separator. Vessel may be equipped with cone-shaped bottom and/or sand lets If sand production la a problem.

Canada s Tar Sands Production Reaches 1.4 Million Barrels per Day, But Operating Costs Are High... 

Refining Pipelines Energy Marketing Oil Sands Production... 

Oil Sands Production Crude Oil Production Refining Bitumen Refining Treatment Synthetic Crude Oil... 

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