Publications

Sand infiltration is one of the biggest problems in the oil and gas industry, as sand can damage both surface and downhole facilities. It occurs because of the abrasive characteristic of the sand, which can abrade and damage equipment. Sand problems can generally be prevented in two ways, namely, through mechanical and chemical methods. The mechanical approach is to filter a particular size of sand grain carried in the production fluid flow, while the chemical method is to inject a chemical solution that is able to strengthen the rock so that the matrix of sand is not easily separated from the rock. The mechanical method is the one most often used, although this method is much more expensive than chemical methods. Based on this fact, the authors wanted to develop a chemical method by injecting resin into the field. Inasmuch as the chemical method is easier to control (both in terms of adjusting the chemical properties and improving the design if any error occurs). Internal and external catalysts added to the resin can ensure a structured formation of polymers. The resin hardens and forms a consolidated mass, binding the sand grains together at their contact points. If successful, the increase in formation compressive strength will be sufficient to withstand the drag forces of matrix formation while producing oil at desired rates. By doing that, the rock formation will be stronger so that there will be less or even no surface sand infiltration to damage the equipment. Plastic consolidation involves the injection of plastic resins, which are attracted to the formation of sand grains.This research study has yielded significant results to the core after resin injection. The core strength increased significantly (almost twice as much). Future development of resins using amine-group have been studied at the rock & fluid mechanical laboratory.Keywords: oil and gas industry, sand production, damage facilities, plastic consolidation, chemical resin.