Why is flow area important to perforating and productivity?
In simple terms the larger the perforations in the casing and the greater the number of perforations, the better the hydrocarbon flow becomes and the better the wells productivity. In many areas of western Canada when perforating in unconsolidated sand formations (especially in the regions of heavy oil development) well operations have noted a significant drop in production due to sand migration into the perforations. This phenomenon occurs as a pressure gradient is formed across the perforations during the production phase of the well which carriers sand with it. This effect is most pronounced when the well is perforated with Deep Penetrating (DP) style of shaped charges. To counter this well operators have gone to using larger perforation tunnels created by a Big Hole (BH) shaped charge. The larger the hole in the casing the less of a pressure gradient is created. This is similar to the effect of blowing across the top a glass pop bottle. The narrower the neck (like a DP) the higher
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- Why is flow area important to perforating and productivity?
