Visual experimental study on gradation optimization of two-stage gravel packing operation in unconventional reservoirs

Abstract

During the development of unconventional reservoirs with high sand production rate and fine silt content such as heavy oil and hydrate reservoirs, silt sand blockage problem is a serious issue. A two-stage gravel-packing sand control technique is applied to solve the silt sand blockage now. However, traditional experiments on this technique could not obtain the dynamic distribution law of intrusive sand in the gravel pack. In this study, a new visualization experiment based on hydrodynamic similarity criterion for studying particle blockage in gravel packs was conducted. Real-time monitoring of sand particle migration in the gravel pack could be achieved. Also, the stable penetration depth and the distributing disciplinarian of invaded particles could be determined. The results show that when the gravel-to-sand median size ratio of gravel bed I is less than five, the sand bridge can be formed at the front end of the gravel pack. This could prevent sand from further intruding. As the grain size of gravel bed II is increased, the flow velocity is reduced. Thus, the sand invading into gravel bed II tends to settle at the interface. A large amount of sand intrusion can happen to gravel pack II when the pore filling front breaks through the gravel bed I.