Resin consolidated sandpack

Claim 2

The process of claim 1 in which from about eight to 10 100 pound sacks of coated sand grains are used per foot of perforation through which sand has previously been produced.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1 in which said slurry is displaced into the perforated interval at a rate that creates turbulence near the end of the conduit through which the slurry is displaced.

Claim 4

The process of claim 1 in which said slurry is injected at a substantially constant rate and said indications of decreases in injectivity comprise surges in a pressure required to sustain said rate.

Claim 5

A process for treating a cased and perforated interval of a well by sandpacking the well with grains that are coated with a self-curing epoxy resin formulation and suspended in a liquid hydrocarbon, comprising: pumping said suspension of grains into the well through a conduit having a point of discharge near the lowest of said perforations; raising said point of discharge each time the height of masses of sand deposited within said casing and perforations have reached said point of discharge so that the point of discharge is reached at each of a succession of depths between the depths of the lowest and highest of said perforations; terminating the inflowing of the suspension when the mass of sand extends above the highest of said perforations; allowing said resin formulation to cure and consolidate said deposited masses of sand grains; and drilling out sand that was consolidated within the casing.

Claim 6

The process of claim 6 in which said cased and perforated interval is one through which fluid and sand have been produced and the amount of suspension that is pumped into said well is sufficient to repack voids in the reservoir with a deposited mass of coated sAnd grains.

Claim 7

The process of claim 6 in which said suspension is injected at a substantially constant rate so that when the heights of said deposited masses of sand grains have reached the discharge point, a surface indication is provided by the increased injection pressure required to maintain the constant rate of inflow.

Claim 8

The process of claim 6 in which said suspension is pumped into the perforated interval at a rate that creates turbulence near said point of discharge.

Claim 9

The process of claim 6 in which said epoxy resin formulation is a solution of epoxy resin-forming material and amino group containing curing agent dissolved in liquid polar organic solvent and said grain suspending liquid is a liquid hydrocarbon having limited miscibility with said polar organic solvent.