Sand-control-installation failures range from minor issues that can be remedied easily to catastrophic events that put the entire well and investment at risk. The complete paper introduces several case studies of such failures and details the investigative process and techniques used to identify root causes. A commercial software tool incorporating data-analysis techniques and a methodical evaluation work flow were used to understand the cause of the failures and determine how they can be prevented in future operations. Examples include events such as screen and washpipe damage, bridging, hole collapse, and packer-seal failure.
Introduction
Potential modes of failure traditionally have been investigated with material-balance calculations and surface-pressure measurements.
