22 Alternate Path Technology Sergio Aguilar

Sand Management Services
Alternate Path 101

+
Schlumberger Confidential
+Alternate Path, AllPAC, and AllFRAC
are registered
trademarks of ExxonMobil Technology Company.
Bryan Stamm
Agenda
History and Evolution of Alternate Path (APS)

Theory
Hardware and Configurations
Pumping Considerations
Applications
Fracpack Case Histories
Wrap up
BPS
Sand Management Services 7/23/2010
History and Evolution of Alternate Path
Concept envisioned and developed by Mobil in early 1990’s.
– System to bybass annular bridges during gravel packing operations.
– Small rectangular tubes on the outside of the screen with holes drilled
into the tube wall to allow gravel to exit below annular obstructions.
Mobil offered technology to service industry to develop further.
– Baker originally licensed the technology. Sand control focus on water
packing, and alternate path required viscous carrier fluid.
– 1995 Schlumberger became the exclusive licensee of the alternate path
technology.
Schlumberger promoted and furthered enhanced the
technology.
– Nozzle design, fracturing applications, erosion testing, multizone
applications, horizontal eccentric design, premium timed threads,
connector improvement, fluid development, friction testing, modeling and
software, etc.
BPS
By late 1990’s, the technology had become widely accepted.

– Applicable to the challenging wells being drilled in deepwater
• Solves technical challenges associated with reservoir conditions
• Provided sandface integrity assurance in high value projects
– Advancements in horizontal drilling created applications for long
horizontal open hole gravel packs
Early 2000’s, other service companies began developing
“similar” technologies.
– Focused on mechanical attributes, but lacked the basic principals
of fluid dynamics and proppant transport
– IP land mine field to work around
BPS
Manufacturing
– Johnson screens selected as the original partner / manufacturing
supplier to SLB
– U.S. Filter purchased Johnson screens
– Weatherford purchased U.S. Filter
– Schlumberger began manufacturing their own screens in 2004, and
continued internal development and enhancements
Over 1000 wells completed today with Alternate Path
Technology (SLB + XoM).
BPS
Theory - How does APS work ?
When annular space is obstructed

(bridge or collapse), the flow is re-
directed into the shunt tubes
Slurry exits shunt tubes through
nozzles - below the bridge
Gravel pack or fracpack pumping is
continued until complete packing in
the annulus
BPS
Theory – Key Points
Key points
– Fluid will always take the path of least resistance
– Fluid travels from higher pressure to lower pressure
• Fluid will always enter the shunts above an annular bridge and
exit below the annular bridge
– Fundamental requirements
• Prevent slurry concentration and dehydration within the shunts
• Suspend proppant
• Maintain mechanical integrity
– Annular packing only occurs through dehydration
BPS
Physics in Shunts – Flow exit along shunt tube
with nozzles
Flow in single shunt tube
0.15 bpm
0.13 bpm
0.11 bpm
0.06 bpm 0.04 bpm
1 bpm 0.3 bpm
1.20
1.00
Rate out nozzle (bpm)
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32 N o z z le n u m b e r (fro m first n o z z le d o w n )
BPS
Physics in Shunts – long intervals once annulus
is packed
Single shunt tube with nozzles Issues:

1 bpm Proppant concentration
5 PPA
increases
Rate in shunts
0.9 bpm 0.8 bpm 0.7 bpm 0.1 bpm
decreases
5.2 PPA 5.4 PPA 6 PPA 10 PPA
Static Stage Front – high
ppa and no shear
To reduce leakoff through packed nozzles, utilize:

– More viscous fluid
– Less differential / lower pump rates / short intervals / lower friction
– Smaller / longer nozzles
BPS
Physics in Shunts – Horizontal design to
address long interval once annulus is packed
Horizontal system transport tube / packing tube
1 bpm
1 bpm
5 PPA 5 PPA
Solution: Engineered system

– Manifold system at the top of every screen joint increases the
distance from transport tube to first packed nozzle - long enough to
eliminate leakoff and prevent dehydration in the transport tube
BPS
Where to Use Alternate Path
Long intervals (risk of bridging along wellbore)

Layered formations
– Laminated or high permeability formations
– Contrasts in permeability along wellbore
Deviated intervals (field stress direction contributes to formation
of fractures not aligned with the wellbore)
High valued projects, where sandface completion integrity is
critical
Multizone completions
BPS
Hardware and Configurations
Configurations
– Cased Hole
– Open Hole
Shunts
Nozzles
Joint Connection
MZ Packers
BPS
Configurations
Cased Hole - Eccentric Cased Hole - Concentric
Perforated shroud
Packing tubes
Open Hole – Eccentric (2X2)

BPS
Shunt tubes - AllFRAC and AllPAC
AllFRAC AllPAC
High continuous pump Low rate (2 BPM)
rates (8 BPM)
1” x 0.5” OD shunt tubes
1.5” x 0.75” OD shunt tubes 5,000 psi+ burst pressure
5,000 psi+ burst pressure 4,500 psi collapse pressure
2,100 psi collapse pressure Used as “packing” tube in
Used as “transport” tube in open hole design
open hole design
BPS
Nozzles
All APS designs utilized tungsten carbide inserts within the
nozzles to prevent erosion
– Nozzles on AllFRAC tubes are 3/8” ID
– Nozzles on AllPAC tubes are ¼” ID (max proppant size 16/20)
Standard spacing is every 6ft, per tube
Nozzles are angled outward and downward to prevent casing
and screen erosion
Length and size of the nozzle engineered to prevent dehydration
of slurry within the shunts
BPS
Joint Connection
Jumper tubes and pipe threads
Hunting SLHT-Timed Premium Threads Jumper tubes to connect shunts
BPS
MZ Packers
MZ Packer construction consists of 2 sets of

opposing cups with shunts tube bypass
– 6 ft long
– No setting or moving parts
Multizone completion in one single tool run and
pumping operation – Reducing completion costs
– GP (up to 5 zones)
– FP – GP (up to 5 zones)
– FP – FP (up to 3 zones)
Shunt friction pressures engineered to achieve
effective stimulation of reservoirs with different
properties
Allows for cost effect completion of marginal
reservoirs
BPS
Pumping Considerations
Fluid selection
Hardware configurations
– Shunt tube selection (quantity and type)
– Alternate Path blank length
Screenout / end of job procedure
BPS
Fluid Selection
Experience with: X-linked borates, VES, HEC, Linear Guar,

Xanthan, OilPAC-EM fluids
– Exhaustive experimental friction pressure test data sets
– Established viscosity and sand settling criteria
Viscosified fluids are required to avoid or minimize:
– Settling inside the shunts
– Excessive dehydration in the shunts
Friction Pressure of YF135LG through 100ft AllFRAC
Shunt
2500
2000
Pressure (psi)
0 ppa
1500
5 ppa
1000 10 ppa
500
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Rate (bpm)
BPS
Shunt Tube Selection (quantity and type)
Type and number of shunt tubes is selected based on pumping

treatment and sandface completion objectives
– AllFRAC tubes are used for fracturing applications, even if only used for a
complete annular pack at low rates at the end of the treatment
– AllPAC tubes are used for gravel pack applications
– Quantity of tubes based on anticipated maximum pumping rates (before
the screenout and once flow is diverted through the shunts)
– Screen base pipe size considerations (eccentric vs concentric)
– Fishing requirements
– For horizontal wells or long intervals, the horizontal designed is required
• 500 – 1200 ft (1X2 HZ Eccentric design)
• >1200 ft (2X2 HZ Eccentric design)
BPS
Cased Hole Alternate Path Sizes
BPS
APS Cased Hole Current Offerings
2-1/16” – 5-1/2” screens in all jacket configurations (WW, Pre-

Packed, Premium, etc.)
1-5 AllFRAC tubes, depending on screen size

1-4 AllPAC tubes, depending on screen size
Cased Hole APS Common designs

– 2 AllFRAC tubes eccentric for fracpacks up to 40 bpm
– 3 AllFRAC tubes concentric for fracpacks up to 60 bpm
– 4 AllFRAC tubes concentric for fracpacks up to 80 bpm
– HZ APS (2X2) for fracpacks up to 40 bpm (extremely long intervals)
BPS
Alternate Path Blank Length
Shunted blanks must extend far enough above

the top of the screen to prevent packing over
the entrance, obstructing flow before pumping
operations are completed
Shunted blank must be short enough to not
experience “rate induced collapse” during
initial screenout
– 1 joint (30 ft) common for fracpack operations.
Shorter length (10-20 ft) required for high rate
fracpacks with limited number of shunt tubes.
– 3 joints common for HZ GP operations, plus “Y
manifold”. Collapse is not a concern.
BPS
Screenout / End of Job Procedure
During the initial screenout, care must be taken to not exceed the
limitations of the shunt tubes (burst and collapse).
When pumping through the shunt tubes, care must be taken to not
exceed the burst limitations.
Immediately before the end of any sand control treatment, there will be
a small unpacked section annulus. With shunt tubes, care must be
taken to ensure that rate limitations of the nozzle(s) adjacent to this
unpacked are not exceeded.
Packing only occurs via dehydration. If un-perforated sections are
present in the wellbore, then leakoff must occur into the screen and
exit the system (into formation or up the washpipe).
BPS
Alternate Path End Of Job Calculations
Requirement for High Rate Fracpack Applications
Analyze pressure response to insure slurry is not exiting a finite

number of nozzles to prevent damage
Schlumberger APS EOJ Summary Calculations
Company: XYZ
Fluid: 30# Borate X-linked Gel
PPA: 10 ppa
Blank: 13 ft APS blank
Screen: 220 ft APS screen
APS Configuration: 3 AllFRAC tubes
Software: APS Single Zone Version 4.1
Date: 7/25/2006
Analyst: Bryan Stamm
Normal APS Pressure Responses after Intial Screenout

While increasing from 2 bpm to 4 BPM
214 psi to 675 psi

surface pressure increase is normal
If you observe greater than 675 psi increase while increasing rate from 2 to 4 bpm, then reduce the total pump rate to 2 bpm for rest of job.
While increasing from 4 bpm to 18 BPM
1485 psi to 3720 psi

surface pressure increase is normal
If you observe greater than 3720 psi increase while increasing rate from 4 to 18 bpm, then reduce the total pump rate to 2 bpm for rest of job.
Pressure increase greater than 2478 psi indicates the pumping into the lower part of the zone
BPS
Applications - Alternate Path Statistics
Total Schlumberger Alternate Path jobs: > 850

Cased hole: 80% Open hole 20%
MZ: 15%
Percentage of fracpack jobs >55%
Number of cased hole fracpacks pumped > 30 bpm: 85 jobs
Number of cased hole jobs with intervals > 300 ft: 68 jobs
Number of cased hole jobs with intervals > 500 ft: 18 jobs
Notable cased hole interval lengths (1652 ft, 834 ft, 705 ft, 640 ft)
BPS
Alternate Path Projects
See alternate path database
BPS
Case History – Direct shunt packing
Example GoM well where additional proppant was placed through the shunt
tubes after the initial screenout
BPS

22 Alternate Path Technology Sergio Aguilar

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Sand Management Services

Alternate Path 101

History and Evolution of Alternate Path (APS)

By late 1990’s, the technology had become widely accepted.

When annular space is obstructed

Single shunt tube with nozzles Issues:

To reduce leakoff through packed nozzles, utilize:

Solution: Engineered system

Long intervals (risk of bridging along wellbore)

Open Hole – Eccentric (2X2)

MZ Packer construction consists of 2 sets of

Experience with: X-linked borates, VES, HEC, Linear Guar,

Type and number of shunt tubes is selected based on pumping

2-1/16” – 5-1/2” screens in all jacket configurations (WW, Pre-

Cased Hole APS Common designs

Shunted blanks must extend far enough above

Analyze pressure response to insure slurry is not exiting a finite

Normal APS Pressure Responses after Intial Screenout

214 psi to 675 psi

While increasing from 4 bpm to 18 BPM

1485 psi to 3720 psi

Total Schlumberger Alternate Path jobs: > 850

See alternate path database

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