科技论文 Multizone Openhole Gravel Packing with Enhanced Shunt Screens and Zonal Isolation in High-Rate Gas Wells
Reduced well count, handled high temperatures, accessed marginal gas pockets uneconomic for single-zone wells.
Shunt tube technology to ensure full annular gravel packs and frac packs
Alternate Path systems use shunt tubes and nozzles to create an alternate flow path that allows slurry to bypass bridges and fill in voids that can occur when gravel and frac packing. Options are available for both cased hole and openhole wells.
Each system is composed of a screen with shunt tubes, fluid systems with specific requirements, and a customized pumping design. The system helps increase completion longevity and reliability by ensuring a complete annular pack, thereby reducing the risks of erosion hot spots, hardware damage, screen and gravel-pack failure, and deterioration in well productivity.
Screens designed for the OptiPac Alternate Path gravel-pack service are available to suit the characteristics of the reservoir and the wellbore to be gravel packed. Both wire-wrapped and premium sintered mesh versions are available.
The screens are designed with one or two transport tubes that are nonported and move the slurry from joint to joint. Each joint also has two packing tubes equipped with nozzles that divert the slurry to the open hole between the screen and wellbore when bridges form, allowing the empty spaces to be filled.
Zonal isolation with the hydrostatically set OSMP OptiPac service mechanical packer—which is equipped with Alternate Path shunt tubes—enables multizone openhole gravel packing. The packer sets in a matter of seconds, eliminating the long wait times that result when using swell packers for zonal isolation. Rapid setting also precludes the possibility of prematurely pumping gravel before sealing is complete, which can lead to insertion of gravel between the packer element and the borehole wall and consequently, an incomplete seal. Gravel packing nonproductive zones can be avoided, saving time and costs.
AllFRAC Alternate Path cased hole frac-pack screens can handle higher treatment rates and are suitable for frac packing. Wire-wrapped and premium sintered mesh versions are available. These screens can be used with conventional gravel-pack systems as well as single-trip perforating and gravel- and frac-pack systems.