ROLE OF PLASTIC ZONE POROSITY AND PERMEABILITY IN SAND PRODUCTION IN WEAK SANDSTONE RESERVOIRS
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Date
2022
Authors
Shabdirova, Ainash
Minh, Nguyen Hop
Zhao, Yong
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ScienceDirect
Abstract
Sand production is often characterized as a two-stage process, in which material failure occurs near the cavity, leading to the formation
of a plastic zone, from which particles are detached and transported out because of continuous hydrodynamic erosion under the
effects of the produced fluid flow. The plastic zone porosity is affected by coupled processes, while the plastic zone permeability has a
significant impact on the performance of sand production prediction, especially in weak sandstone reservoirs. Large-scale sand production
experiments were conducted using a customized high-pressure consolidation apparatus. The results show that specific stress-fluid
pressure conditions may create a plastic zone around a hole, which has lower permeability than the intact zone. The plastic zone comprises
two subzones: a high-permeability shear band zone and a low-permeability compaction zone. During sand production, sand
migrates from the compaction zone through the shear band zone to the perforation hole. Thus, sand production is associated with
the increased permeability and porosity in the compaction zone. Existing sand prediction models were modified according to the new
findings, resulting in a modified model with improved performance. The modified model was validated using the sanding data from a
weak sandstone reservoir in Kazakhstan.
Description
Keywords
Type of access: Open Access, Sand production, Plastic zone, Weak sandstone, Porosity, Permeability
Citation
Shabdirova, A., Hop Minh, N., & Zhao, Y. (2022). Role of plastic zone porosity and permeability in sand production in weak sandstone reservoirs. Underground Space, 7(6), 1003–1020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.undsp.2021.10.005