The Optimization of a Slotted Liner Design for a Horizontal Well

Sand production is one of the most common production problems worldwide. During fluid flow through porous media, some loose particles may leave rock structure and associate with the production fluid. These particles can impose erosion, corrosion, and other operational problems in flow line and production facilities. Various methods has been proposed and developed to prevent and control sand production. Slotted liner completions are by far the most common devices run in horizontal wells. The authors probed the parameters that can affect on the performance of this method in a horizontal well in one of Iranian oil field. Results are reported in terms of slotted liner total skin factor. The study shows that the total skin is strongly governed by some designing parameters, especially in low open areas (1%). If using sand screens with lower open area is inevitable, due to installation condition, some remedies needed to lower the total skin to an acceptable amount.