NEL offers solution for sand erosion
Posted: 27 February 2006
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NEL, a leading international technology services organisation, says it is able to offer a unique solution to sand erosion for oil and gas operators and equipment manufacturers.
The high sand content of mature oil and gas fields is proving to be a challenge for engineers at NEL’s Erosive Flow Test Facility, located in its Scottish headquarters.
Sand, which affects product performance, is an increasing concern. This has led to further enquiries for NEL’s unique erosion assessment service to identify and predict erosion "hot spots" in exploration and production components under erosive flow conditions.
The erosion assessment service offers both Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) flow modelling and dedicated erosive flow loops. Within the loops, a variety of fluid-sand mixtures can be pumped to test production equipment such as chokes, valves, meters, well heads, piping configurations and other components to determine their life expectancy and operational limits in erosive flow conditions. This helps to understand the performance and limitation of products and to ensure a safe working environment.
John Peters, a recognised authority in valves and manager of NEL’s facility, said: "New wells may initially produce moderate levels of sand at start-up. Then sand production typically stabilises at a lower level before increasing again as the well ages and the reservoir formation deteriorates. With the majority of oil and gas fields in many areas of the world, particularly in the North Sea, now reaching a mature stage, sand production levels are increasing. Operators have a choice of disposing of the sand by downhole filtration or managing the problem by selecting components that can withstand the erosive flows for known periods. These components can then be changed out during planned shutdown and maintenance periods."
"Equipment failure leading to unplanned downtime and shutdowns can cost the industry millions of dollars, whilst the worse case scenario is potential catastrophic failure leading to loss of hydrocarbons and to accidents and injuries."
"An additional factor is that operators are reluctant to invest in mature fields due to their limited life expectancy - some majors, for example, sell off their interests to smaller operators once a field’s productivity begins to decline. If the new operators can predict erosion ‘hot spots’ and control the erosion problems caused by sand, the field’s profitable life can often be extended."
The majority of the Erosive Flow Test Facility’s project work is from equipment manufacturers who utilise NEL’s expertise in CFD erosion modelling at the design stage to predict potential areas of erosion prior to production. The prototype is then
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