Technological solutions to limit sand production from producing gas wells

Abstract

The operation of gas and gas condensate fields at the final stages of development is accompanied not only by reducing the reservoir pressure and flooding the bottom hole formation zone with condensation and formation water, damage of productive layers and formation of clay-sand plugs at the bottom which leads to lower gas recovery and well productivity, reduces operation time for gas production equipment. In the presence of sand and mechanical impurities the downhole and surface equipment is exposed to corrosion and abrasion that requires costly repairs and it is one of the main reasons of production wells exit from the acting fund. This problem is more acute in wells where the producing formation is represented by unconsolidated rocks. The causes of formation damage and the main ways of preventing mechanical impurities production in the wellbore are considered. Depending on formation damage degree the following compositions are recommended for use during repair operations: for wells with small sand production - improved silicate-based composition, and for wells characterized by the presence of cavities - gas-cement plugging composition with improved properties.