Expandable Degradable Screen Mesh for Fines Migration Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
During well stimulation, completion, and production operations, fines such as clays, sand, and other fine particles migrate towards the wellbore, causing equipment wear, plugging, and reduced productivity, with existing sand control methods like resin injection and gravel packs having limitations and costs.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus using an expandable screen mesh made of degradable materials, deployed in the wellbore with a deployment mechanism, filled with a cement slurry to prevent fines migration, and allowing fluid flow by removing the degradable material after cement setting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If resin injection is used to consolidate formation, then fines migration is controlled, but treatment depth is limited and formation damage is induced
Solution Approach 1:
The treatment zone is divided into discrete intervals using expandable screen meshes that can be deployed at specific depths. Each screen mesh segment treats a particular zone independently, allowing selective consolidation without affecting the entire formation depth, thus avoiding widespread formation damage while maintaining effective fines control in target zones.
Solution Approach 2:
A cement slurry acts as an intermediary material that is injected through the expandable screen mesh into the formation. The cement serves as a mediator between the treatment fluid and the formation, consolidating fines particles without requiring direct contact between resin chemicals and the formation matrix, thereby reducing formation damage while maintaining treatment effectiveness.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If gravel packs are placed to prevent solid particles, then fines migration is controlled, but treatment cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The expandable screen mesh provides a porous structure with controlled aperture sizes that physically filter fines particles. This porous barrier replaces the need for expensive gravel packing materials and the associated installation costs, while maintaining effective particle separation. The mesh structure allows hydrocarbon flow through while blocking solid particles.
Solution Approach 2:
The screen mesh transitions from a compressed low-volume state during installation to an expanded high-volume state during operation. This parameter change allows the same material to serve dual purposes: easy transport and deployment, then effective particle filtration. The expandable geometry provides high filtering surface area with minimal material usage, reducing overall treatment cost.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If screen mesh is expanded to fill wellbore space, then fines control is improved, but fluid flow pathway creation becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The screen mesh is pre-loaded with degradable material within its structure before deployment. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for complex post-deployment operations to create fluid pathways. The degradable material is already positioned to be removed later, simplifying the overall process while maintaining effective fines control during the treatment period.
Solution Approach 2:
The degradable material within the screen mesh is designed as a temporary, disposable component that serves its purpose during cement setting and then self-destructs. This disposable element simplifies system design by eliminating complex mechanical pathways or valves, as the material simply degrades to create flow channels naturally, reducing device complexity while maintaining fines control functionality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively reduces fines migration, preventing equipment damage and productivity loss by creating a stable fluid pathway while allowing hydrocarbon flow, offering a cost-effective alternative to existing sand control methods.
Implementation Method 1
the screen mesh comprising a degradable material; removing the degradable material of the screen mesh forming a fluid pathway in the set cement
Data Source
AI summary
A method of controlling fines migration in a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation, the method comprising: introducing into the wellbore a screen mesh in an unexpanded form disposed of a first tubular member having a body with apertures, the screen mesh comprising a degradable material; expanding the screen mesh; injecting a cement slurry into the wellbore to fill open spaces within the expanded screen mesh; allowing the cement slurry to set forming a set cement that reduces or substantially preventing the passage of formation particles from migrating from the subterranean formation into the wellbore; and removing the degradable material of the screen mesh forming a fluid pathway in the set cement, which allows a formation fluid to flow from the subterranean formation into the wellbore.