SPE Webinar on Facilities Sand Management, January 21

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) will host a webinar on January 21 at 9:30AM (CST) entitled "Enhanced Production Through Surface Facilities Sand Management".

Click here to register.

All oil & gas wells produce sand – either a little or a lot! Conventional sand control, which includes production limits or completions, has two downsides:

    1.         neither method achieves maximum production

    2.         both methods fail at some point - allowing solids to overwhelm the surface facility

Solids handling then becomes an expensive maintenance problem, HSE incident, or downtime production loss. What if the facility handled sand without interruption or equipment downtime? Even better, what if sand co-production improved recovery or restarted shut-in wells? Facilities Sand Management (FSM) skillfully handles solids to sustain production while minimizing the effects on operations.

FSM methodology uses five discrete steps: Separation, Collection, Cleaning, Dewatering, and Transport. All steps must be followed, with a focus on the approach - not a piece of equipment. Separation removes sand and solids from the flow stream, while Collection gathers the solids into a central location and isolate them from the process. Cleaning, if required, removes associated oil and Dewatering removes associated liquids – both to simplify handling and minimize handling volume. Transport brings the solids to disposal location, which may be discharge, landfill, ship-to-shore, or injection. Each step is integral to simplify operations and extend equipment life, and all steps can be incorporated into new or existing facilities. Solids handling should not be viewed as a waste stream treatment problem – it is a critical flow assurance task. FSM provides a degree of skill to solids handling to sustain flow in surface operations and enhance production.

Dr. Hank Rawlins

Technical Director, eProcess Technologies

Dr. Rawlins has 25 years’ experience in the upstream oil & gas industry. He actively conducts research in Facilities Sand Management, Produced Water Treatment, and Compact Separations Systems - and blogs weekly, teaches courses, and has fifty-six publications on these topics. Hank served as the chair of the SPE Separations Technology Technical Section (2013-2015), was an SME Henry Krumb Lecturer (2011-2012), and co-authored the PEH Chapter on Produced Water Treatment. Dr. Rawlins holds a PhD in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla, is a registered Professional Engineer, and serves as adjunct professor at Montana Tech.