Real-time live sand production data and separation enables production optimization

• The customer had a long-standing relationship with Expro and were concerned that the continuous sand production from their gas well would cause equipment erosion over time leading to increased maintenance costs, increased maintenance downtime and ultimately a loss in production
• An inline solution was required to be implemented to effectively remove sand from the multi-phase well stream upstream of the production choke to ensure downstream process equipment was protected and that production was maintained

• Expro were consulted to provide a fast-tracked solution and were selected by the customer due to a track record of providing high quality and in-time fast tracked solutions
• Expro selected to deploy a Dual-Pot Wellhead Cyclonic Desander due to its high separational efficiency over a wide range of operational conditions in order to efficiently remove sand down to 50 microns whilst minimizing pressure drop and operator intervention
• The Desander was equipped with a Real-Time Solids Monitoring system which enabled the continuous quantification of sand production allowing Expro to optimize the Desander operation and provide the customer with valuable sand production data
• The deployed solution enabled data-driven operational decisions to be made in order to optimize flushing operation frequency resulting in a decrease in vented gas and waste water volumes
• Expro’s sand removal solution resulted in an immediate benefit in removing sand from the multi-phase production well stream

• Expro’s solution enabled the customer to better profile their wells and ensure that steady gas production was maintained whilst minimizing downstream equipment erosion due to sand production
• More than 3390kg (7470lbs) of sand was effectively recovered during the operation with the customer experiencing no erosion on downstream equipment resulting in no downtime on production nor maintenance costs associated with downstream process equipment failure
• Real-time data transmission through the deployment of the EdgeX system together with the Data-to-Desk functionality enabled the customer to track well performance and sand production in real-time to optimize production
• The continuous quantification of sand production allowed the customer to better understand the sand production profile of their wells to optimize long-term production drawdown

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