Erosion Resistant Screen Technology
Delta Screens collaborated with Chevron in their development of a coating to increase sand screen erosion resistance.
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Scroll down to Learn More, or see SPE Paper SPE-210128-MS
Summary of Program and Results
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A design optimized coated sand screen was developed that increases the erosion resistance of conventional sand screens.
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Computational fluid dynamics and laboratory testing were conduced to determine the design optimization.
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The program required designing a test fixture and flow loop to test the mesh filtraiton media
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A coating was developed with rigorous testing at Delta Screens on mesh samples.
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The screen has now been deployed and adopted with success in Gulf of Mexico and Angola.
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The increased erosion resistance will improve completion life and recovery, critical in deepwater and other high reentry cost wells.
Business Need
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Chevron worked with Delta Screens to develop a ‘design optimized coated sand screen’
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Target applications were where cost effective increased screen life would improve recovery/well economics - deepwater, high rate wells with fines, and high re-entry cost wells
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Computational fluid dynamics modeling and rigorous laboratory testing of mesh coatings and screen elements optimized the design
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Installations in Gulf of Mexico and Angola have demonstrated improved erosion resistance
The test set-up was designed to efficiently test various coatings, working fluids, and flow rates for different durations.
The set-up was designed to efficiently test various coatings, working fluids, and flow rates for different durations. Item 7 is the test screen mesh disc.
Filtration Media Testing
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Flow rates and sand content replicated well conditions
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Fluid modeling iterated with testing of multiple coatings
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Numerous other areas of screen design affecting erosion were optimized as part of the process
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Acid testing was also performed to confirm the screen was suitable for stimulation completions
Uncoated Filter Media
Failure Point
1.57 hours at 15 GPM
Aperture at 25 Microns
This represents a loss of sand control
Coated Filter Media
Failure Point
7 hours at 15 GPM
Aperture at 25 Microns
This represents a loss of sand control
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The 25 micron dimension change is based on typical acceptance values for the mesh of +25 / -25 or for some operators at +25 / - 50, micron.
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Coating eroded uniformly, acting as a homogeneous layer with the substrate.
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Coating was found to not affect welds, burst/collapse, but section lengths were shorter.
Failure Point
Time to failure testing demonstrated the design objective of double screen life for the filtration media had been achieved, and more.
Results
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Coatings outperformed expectations
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10 Different coatings were erosion flow loop tested on mesh samples
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An initial target was set to double the erosion life from uncoated screens
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Several functional, fabrication, manufacturing and quality control requirements were addressed
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Example requirements included burst/collapse, pre-conditioning host wire before coating, coating uniformity, coating thickness tolerance, inner/outer layers