Integrity and Performance Evaluation of Offshore Gravel-Pack Sand Control Completions in Unconsolidated Sandstone Reservoirs

Unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs, particularly in offshore and marine environments, are highly susceptible to sand production, which leads to flow-capacity degradation, plugging evolution, sand-retention instability, and erosion–corrosion damage in gravel-pack completion systems. To address the lack of system-level and quantitative integrity evaluation methods, a unified assessment framework is developed by coupling flow behavior, sand-retention mechanisms, and erosion–corrosion damage processes. The gravel-pack completion system is idealized as a concentric multilayer porous-medium structure under steady-state radial Darcy flow, and an equivalent radial permeability model is established to characterize flow capacity and anti-plugging performance, which enables consistent comparison of different completion schemes under identical plugging conditions. Based on sand-retention mechanisms, a sand-retention capacity index is proposed by integrating formation particle size distribution, screen aperture, gravel size, and sand-leakage risk. An erosion–corrosion coupled damage model is further developed to predict screen damage rates in CO2-containing environments, and an integrity index is formulated to link damage evolution with long-term service performance. By integrating flow capacity, anti-plugging performance, sand-retention capacity, and structural integrity using a weighted geometric mean, a comprehensive evaluation index is established for overall system integrity assessment. Using the proposed framework, a representative formation sand with d10 = 30 μm, d50 = 180 μm, and d90 = 500 μm is evaluated. The optimal sand control design corresponds to a gravel median size of 971.53 μm (equivalent to a standard 16/20 mesh gravel) and an optimal screen aperture of 523.11 μm, with a screen porosity of 0.56. Under these conditions, the selected screen aperture and gravel size are well matched with the formation sand size, falling within recommended engineering ranges and achieving a favorable balance among sand retention, flow capacity, anti-plugging performance, and structural integrity. The proposed framework provides a quantitative and engineering-applicable basis for the optimization and integrity classification of offshore gravel-pack sand control completions under multi-constraint operating conditions.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Published
2026-02-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse14040379
Primary Topic
Hydraulic Fracturing and Reservoir Analysis
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Integrity and Performance Evaluation of Offshore Gravel-Pack Sand Control Completions in Unconsolidated Sandstone Reservoirs

Kaixiang Shen, Chenfeng Liu, Changyin Dong, Tao Sun et al.
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Hydraulic Fracturing and Reservoir Analysis
article

Integrity and Performance Evaluation of Offshore Gravel-Pack Sand Control Completions in Unconsolidated Sandstone Reservoirs

Kaixiang Shen, Chenfeng Liu, Changyin Dong, Tao Sun, Guolong Li, Zhangyu Li
article en

Abstract

Unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs, particularly in offshore and marine environments, are highly susceptible to sand production, which leads to flow-capacity degradation, plugging evolution, sand-retention instability, and erosion–corrosion damage in gravel-pack completion systems. To address the lack of system-level and quantitative integrity evaluation methods, a unified assessment framework is developed by coupling flow behavior, sand-retention mechanisms, and erosion–corrosion damage processes. The gravel-pack completion system is idealized as a concentric multilayer porous-medium structure under steady-state radial Darcy flow, and an equivalent radial permeability model is established to characterize flow capacity and anti-plugging performance, which enables consistent comparison of different completion schemes under identical plugging conditions. Based on sand-retention mechanisms, a sand-retention capacity index is proposed by integrating formation particle size distribution, screen aperture, gravel size, and sand-leakage risk. An erosion–corrosion coupled damage model is further developed to predict screen damage rates in CO2-containing environments, and an integrity index is formulated to link damage evolution with long-term service performance. By integrating flow capacity, anti-plugging performance, sand-retention capacity, and structural integrity using a weighted geometric mean, a comprehensive evaluation index is established for overall system integrity assessment. Using the proposed framework, a representative formation sand with d10 = 30 μm, d50 = 180 μm, and d90 = 500 μm is evaluated. The optimal sand control design corresponds to a gravel median size of 971.53 μm (equivalent to a standard 16/20 mesh gravel) and an optimal screen aperture of 523.11 μm, with a screen porosity of 0.56. Under these conditions, the selected screen aperture and gravel size are well matched with the formation sand size, falling within recommended engineering ranges and achieving a favorable balance among sand retention, flow capacity, anti-plugging performance, and structural integrity. The proposed framework provides a quantitative and engineering-applicable basis for the optimization and integrity classification of offshore gravel-pack sand control completions under multi-constraint operating conditions.

Journal of Marine Science and EngineeringVol. 14(4)
China Geological Survey (CN), Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey (CN), Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (CN), China University of Petroleum, East China (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 54%
Hydraulic Fracturing and Reservoir Analysis
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