SHARE THIS ARTICLE
CASE STUDIES
Acoustic Sand Monitoring and Online Sand Sampling Case Study in the Natuna Sea
Location: Southeast Asia
Industry: Oil & Gas
Loss of Primary Containment (LOPC) on offshore oil and gas platforms is a major safety and integrity risk, and sand production is one of its most common underlying causes. Effective sand production surveillance is therefore critical to maintaining the integrity and reliability of subsea and topside infrastructure.
In this case study, we deployed temporary Acoustic Sand Monitoring (ASM) and Online Sand Sampling (OSS) on a client’s production platform in the Natuna Sea, approximately 250 km northeast of Indonesia’s Riau Islands and about 600 km from Singapore.
The objective of the campaign was to gain a clearer understanding of each well’s sanding behaviour, identify high sand-producing wells, and validate acoustic monitoring results with physical sand samples collected at the dedicated sampling points. This insight helps the operator make more informed decisions on production management and equipment protection.
Problem:
- A series of LOPC incidents has brought sand management to the utmost priority
- Damaged surface equipment and pipeworks due to severe sand production
- No sand monitoring technology in situ
- Conventional spot sampling is not reliable and often underestimates sand production particularly transient sand
- Deploying only one type of sand monitoring technology leaves room for data ambiguity and guesswork
Challenges:
- No prior site survey due to urgent callout
- No prior sand data on Particle Size Distribution for surface handling equipments
- Certain wells have low flowrates causing ineffective detection by ASM technology
- Absence of real time flow velocity, background / sand noise restricts comprehensive ASM monitoring
- Without a proper sand injection calibration, temporary acoustic monitoring setup, will only provide qualitative data instead of quantitative sand rates
Solution:
- ASM provides insight into the flow behaviour of the wells and sand trending at different flowrates
- Physical sand sample collected via OSS from various filter sizes sent to the lab for further analysis
- For wells which has low flowrates for ASM detection, OSS serves as back up monitoring method to ensure data reliability
- While OSS might miss out on the nature of transient sand, ASM able to shows distinct patterns including slugging flow which poses a higher risk of sand carryover over the longer monitoring duration
- Both ASM and OSS complement each other’s strength and limitation for a comprehensive sand surveillance
Results:
- Sand production tendencies and flow behaviour were recorded. Several wells were identified and shortlisted as high sand producers
- A number of wells were greenlighted for continuous production within the tested flowrates, with a high level of confidence provided there is no major change in the flow regime
- Representative sand samples were sent to a laboratory to determine particle size distribution (PSD)
- The client gained full visibility of well sanding tendencies, clean-up durations, critical drawdown, and Maximum Sand Free Rates (MSFR) across the temporary campaign
- It is recommended to integrate real-time pressure, temperature, and flow data from the DCS or PI system to enhance comprehensive analysis
- It is advisable for the client to carry out an onshore sand management review, with input from multiple disciplines, to identify existing gaps and improvement opportunities
Value to Client:
Decision Making with Confidence
Combined ASM and OSS remove the blind spots that come from relying on a single sand monitoring technology, enabling more confident operating decisions
Concentrated Resource
Maintenance and sand management activities can be focused on confirmed high sand-producing wells, improving efficiency and reducing unnecessary interventions
Optimised Production
Oil and gas production can be safely optimised toward the Maximum Sand Free Rate (MSFR), balancing throughput with integrity protection
Repeatable and Reliable
Keeping ASM and OSS at high risk locations in the pipeworks provides high visibility of sanding trends over time and a consistent baseline for future campaigns for a complete case to case comparison
Loss of Primary Containment (LOPC) on offshore oil and gas platforms is a major safety and integrity risk, and sand production is one of its most common underlying causes. Effective sand production surveillance is therefore critical to maintaining the integrity and reliability of subsea and topside infrastructure.
In this case study, we deployed temporary Acoustic Sand Monitoring (ASM) and Online Sand Sampling (OSS) on a client’s production platform in the Natuna Sea, approximately 250 km northeast of Indonesia’s Riau Islands and about 600 km from Singapore.
The objective of the campaign was to gain a clearer understanding of each well’s sanding behaviour, identify high sand-producing wells, and validate acoustic monitoring results with physical sand samples collected at the dedicated sampling points. This insight helps the operator make more informed decisions on production management and equipment protection.
Problem:
- A series of LOPC incidents has brought sand management to the utmost priority
- Damaged surface equipment and pipeworks due to severe sand production
- No sand monitoring technology in situ
- Conventional spot sampling is not reliable and often underestimates sand production particularly transient sand
- Deploying only one type of sand monitoring technology leaves room for data ambiguity and guesswork
Challenges:
- No prior site survey due to urgent callout
- No prior sand data on Particle Size Distribution for surface handling equipments
- Certain wells have low flowrates causing ineffective detection by ASM technology
- Absence of real time flow velocity, background / sand noise restricts comprehensive ASM monitoring
- Without a proper sand injection calibration, temporary acoustic monitoring setup, will only provide qualitative data instead of quantitative sand rates
Solution:
- ASM provides insight into the flow behaviour of the wells and sand trending at different flowrates
- Physical sand sample collected via OSS from various filter sizes sent to the lab for further analysis
- For wells which has low flowrates for ASM detection, OSS serves as back up monitoring method to ensure data reliability
- While OSS might miss out on the nature of transient sand, ASM able to shows distinct patterns including slugging flow which poses a higher risk of sand carryover over the longer monitoring duration
- Both ASM and OSS complement each other’s strength and limitation for a comprehensive sand surveillance
Results:
- Sand production tendencies and flow behaviour were recorded. Several wells were identified and shortlisted as high sand producers
- A number of wells were greenlighted for continuous production within the tested flowrates, with a high level of confidence provided there is no major change in the flow regime
- Representative sand samples were sent to a laboratory to determine particle size distribution (PSD)
- The client gained full visibility of well sanding tendencies, clean-up durations, critical drawdown, and Maximum Sand Free Rates (MSFR) across the temporary campaign
- It is recommended to integrate real-time pressure, temperature, and flow data from the DCS or PI system to enhance comprehensive analysis
- It is advisable for the client to carry out an onshore sand management review, with input from multiple disciplines, to identify existing gaps and improvement opportunities
Value to Client:
Decision Making with Confidence
Combined ASM and OSS remove the blind spots that come from relying on a single sand monitoring technology, enabling more confident operating decisions
Concentrated Resource
Maintenance and sand management activities can be focused on confirmed high sand-producing wells, improving efficiency and reducing unnecessary interventions
Optimised Production
Oil and gas production can be safely optimised toward the Maximum Sand Free Rate (MSFR), balancing throughput with integrity protection
Repeatable and Reliable
Keeping ASM and OSS at high risk locations in the pipeworks provides high visibility of sanding trends over time and a consistent baseline for future campaigns for a complete case to case comparison
