Developing a CFD-Based Erosion Prediction Equation for Stand-Alone Screens Under Different Fluids and Particles Specifications

Sand production is one of the major problems associated with oil and gas production. Stand-alone sand screens (SAS) are widely used for sand control due to their simplicity and low cost. SAS can face failures, mainly due to erosion. Existing erosion prediction correlations have limitations due to their reliance on middle particle size. Furthermore, screen erosion modeling studies that consider viscous fluids are limited. The aim of this study is to improve the erosion modeling of standalone sand screens under high sand concentration, considering particle–particle interaction and carrying fluid properties. In this study, a CFD-based modeling approach is used, applying the Eulerian–Lagrangian approach of the dense discrete phase model (DDPM) to track particles. Four sand types with different particle size distributions (PSD) are studied. A new erosion equation with good accuracy was developed to improve the prediction of SAS erosion. The proposed equation demonstrates its novelty, compared with existing correlations, as it incorporates the carrying fluid viscosity parameter, along with parameters associated with sand specifications, such as mean particle diameter, SC sorting coefficient, fine percentage, and particle concentration. The findings of the study are of great significance for sand screen erosion studies. The results show the importance of fluid type consideration for erosion estimation, especially if SAS is tested using air in laboratories. The proposed equation can be used if the description of the produced sand and the carrying fluid are known.