Abstract
Energy companies need access to reliable and continuous sand production information to improve their understanding of sand-producing wells. Removing sand directly downstream of the wellhead while also monitoring the separated sand in real-time enables quantified sand data to be transformed into valuable insights on the well production and provides an understanding of reservoir behaviour. With the increase in the deployment of Normally Unmanned Installation (NUI) and satellite platforms by energy companies, it is becoming increasingly important to have remotely operated systems that traditionally have been manually operated.
This paper introduces a system for optimizing production through remote monitoring and quantifying offshore sand production in an "industry-first" case study. The operation was conducted in 2022 on a NUI in the North Sea. The asset was anticipated to produce more than 4 000kg of clay/proppant mix solids with the potential for producing Benzene and Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM). Typically, wells producing solids are kept closed in, but in this case, a desander with a closed-loop system was utilized to enable production and avoid personnel exposure. Project results included stable production, remote monitoring of sand production, POB (Personnel On Board) and emissions reduction compared to a conventional operation while preserving the operator's process safety requirements.
With continuous measurement and solids removal, the operator could continue operations without personnel onboard. The desander provided data directly to production engineers. It gave them access to information that enabled fact-based decisions, ensuring a holistic methodology for production and integrity for the asset without needing personnel offshore.
New ground breaking technology is shared in this paper to help more energy operators manage sand-producing wells. With the increased focus on POB, remote solutions are part of the solution. This paper shares a project with documented success.
