Sand Transport and Deposition in Horizontal Multiphase Trunklines of Subsea Satellite Developments

Summary Gravel packing is unattractive as a way to protect against the effects of sand production in subsea wells because it involves additional completion costs, loss of productivity, and difficulties in subsequent recompletion/well servicing operations. On the other hand, omitting gravel packs means that subsea developments must be designed and operated so that they can tolerate sand production. An experimental study was carried out on sand transport and deposition in multiphase flow in modeled subsea flowlines to address the problem of sand collection in horizontal trunklines, which could lead to reduced line throughput, pigging problems, enhanced pipe-bottom erosion, or even blockage. This study led to the definition of a new model for sand transport in multiphase flow, which was used to establish the risk of sand deposition in trunklines connecting a subsea development to a nearby production platform.