Sand Flowback Control in the Rockport Gas Storage Field in Northern West Virginia

摘要

Sand flowback can be a big problem in high rate gas wells.Sand can quickly erode chokes, valves and other surfaceequipment creating potentially dangerous situations for the gaswell operating and pipeline companies.In 1998 and 1999 several different sand flowback orbackflow control methods have been applied in Columbia GasTransmission Company’s Rockport Storage Field. Deformableparticles are the latest innovation for controlling sandflowback. Unlike curable resin coated sands and tackysurface-modification agents, deformable particles differ in thatthey do not “glue” the sand pack in place, but rathermechanically hold it together by dimpling under stress andphysically holding adjacent grains of sand firmly in place. Amodest weight percentage of deformable particles can easilylock the sand pack in place, resisting the forces brought tobear by gas and fluid flow within the fracture.The Oriskany Sandstone in the Rockport Storage Field canbe classified as a highly permeable formation capable of awithdrawal rate greater than 40 MMSCFD. Stimulationtreatments are routinely pumped to improve the Oriskany’sdeliverability back to original levels following workoveroperations. Prior to running deformable particles for sandflowback control, tacky resin-like chemicals and curable resincoated sand were pumped to alleviate the problem.