Sand monitoring is a key element of proper sand control and management. The paper present the results of studies that were undertaken to assess the sensitivity, accuracy, repeatability and reliability of several commercially available acoustic and electrical resistant (ER) sand monitors. The results showed that while commercially available monitors are capable of predicting sand production, they couldn't achieve the desired quantitative sensitivities and accuracy using their internal calibration models. Improvement in the accuracy of the acoustic probes was achieved by in-situ calibration and the accuracy of the ER probes was achieved by establishing a new calibration equation. The results showed that most monitors were susceptible to spurious signals making total reliance on their instantaneous response for well productivity control questionable without some form of verification. ER probes offer the advantage that their results can be validated by examining the probe elements when the probe is retrieved. The ER probes have also the advantage that their new calibration equation allows simple correlation between the erosion of the probe elements and the erosion at different locations in the piping system without the need to input data on sand size and flow velocity. In general, ER probes are attractive for use as long-term monitors and for cases where in-situ calibration is not feasible. They, however, may not be suitable for short term, instantaneous monitoring and for cases where the piping geometry does not allow their placement at location where the sand is uniformly distributed in the pipe. In these cases, acoustic probes will be more appropriate.
Keywords: erosion, sand monitors, solids, pipeline,, acoustic emission, electrical resistant elements.