Study on the Sand Control Technique for Gravel Packing with Water Control for Horizontal Wells

To fulfill the dual demands of water and sand control, and to solve the problems in gravel packing with water control screen and implementing subsequent formation treatment, a AICD screen with a by-pass sliding sleeve was designed and matching technologies were improved. A sand control technique using gravel packing combined with water control for horizontal wells was then proposed. The sliding sleeve can provide an additional flow channel to decrease the packing pressure and can be opened or closed on the demand to complete formation treatments and enhance fluid production. To confirm the feasibility of the technique, we designed a visual simulation test platform for gravel packing in horizontal wells. The platform can collect pressure and flow rate data, record the gravel packing in real time, quantitatively analyze and visually evaluate water-control gravel packing for the optimization of construction parameters. Comparative tests of conventional and the AICD screen with by-pass sliding sleeve were carried out. The results showed that gravel packing efficiency of AICD screen with by-pass sliding sleeve can reach 100% with a flow rate of 0.4 m³/min and a sand concentration of 4%. Compared with the conventional one, the novel screen led to lower packing pressure, shorter working time, and more compact gravel packing. In addition, the sliding sleeve also showed good switching performance after the tests. The research confirmed that the structure of the AICD screen with by-pass sliding sleeve is reasonably designed and the matching water control packing technique is feasible, and can provide horizontal wells a new solution for sand control completion with water control.