During routine annual maintenance, a major North Sea operator needed to assess the condition of acoustic sand detectors used in their solids production monitoring. Unreliable sensor data can result in misinformed decisions, production inefficiencies, or asset damage.

To address this, SMS deployed the Sand Gecko, a field-proven integrity tester that rapidly evaluates acoustic sand monitoring sensors for degradation, wear, and malfunction.

Challenges:

• Separation of testing location and sensor data visualisation lowers confidence in testing methods.
• Simple “rule of thumb” approach using non-repeatable methodologies, e.g., sandpaper scratch test or wire brush test.
• Test results rely on a binary pass/fail understanding of data, lack of proper analysis.
• Reading results without context for transducer performance over time.

Key Benefits:

1. Quickly identifies weak or failing sensors
2. Reduces false positives and missed sand events
3. Supports safer, data-driven operations
4. Enables proactive maintenance planning

Results:

Six (6) sensors from two different third-party brands were tested across six separate platforms during the campaign:

• 3 sensors – fully operational with strong signal and no faults
• 2 sensors – degraded performance, at risk of missing critical sand data
• 1 sensor – fully degraded, no longer serviceable

Value to Client:

The Sand Gecko provided clear, actionable insights during this North Sea maintenance campaign. It helped the operator retain trust in their sand monitoring system, avoid costly failures, and strengthen their solids management programme