Wellhead Desander with Real Time Weight Monitoring System for Enhanced Process Safety and Efficiency

The presence of solids throughout the lifecycle of oil and gas reservoirs is not a new challenge. Solids in the flow path can originate from multiple sources: they may occur naturally due to reservoir characteristics or as a consequence of the methods, operations, and materials used—such as in unconventional reservoirs, where frac operations often result in solids being produced to the surface. Specifically, in the initial phases—during milling of the frac plugs or the initial flowback period—drawdown must be controlled to prevent frac sands (proppant frac) from being expelled from the reservoir into the wellbore and, consequently, into the flow path. Excessive sand production at this early stage not only poses risks to surface equipment and personnel but also has long-term impacts on well performance. In some cases, excessive sand can severely impact fractures, leading to a weaker connection between the reservoir and the wellbore, resulting in reduced production. Although sand production is almost unavoidable, the lack of reliable detection and quantification of sand returns in real time hinders continuous process improvement and forces operators to rely on time-based sand flushing. Each flushing operation requires multiple valve operations, exposing the valves to solids and eventually leading to premature failures, which can result in process safety incidents. This paper focuses on the results of a field trial of a new desander model, featuring a novel Real-Time Weight Monitoring System, and how this technology can help improve both process safety and operational efficiency.