SmartSahara: EnerCorp’s new innovative internal sand quantification technology for flowback

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Next-generation sand management solutions for leading operators.

What do most organizations do when they come up against what seems like an unsolvable problem? In many cases, it’s safe to say they likely find a way to work around it, changing their course of action.

At EnerCorp, we think differently. While working around the problem is a perfectly acceptable route to take, we prefer to solve the problem—not just for us or for our operators, but for the oil and gas industry as a whole.

Take sand management during flowback, for example. We were the first to design and build the industry-leading Sahara Advanced Sand Cyclone, which captures over 97% of sand from the production stream. To this day, no other sand hydrocyclone can do what the Sahara does.

When we noticed our operators wanting to increase efficiency, reduce the equipment footprint, and optimize personnel costs at the wellsite, we devised eFlowback, a completely autonomous flowback and sand management ecosystem.

This brings us to the current problem operators are dealing with: No real-time visibility into the quantity of sand captured by the Sahara Advanced Sand Cyclone. To take out the guesswork from sand management—and make the processes safer for crew—we’ve developed the SmartSahara, powered by Rocsole.

Introducing the SmartSahara

While operators have industry-leading tools to capture virtually all sand from the production stream, they don’t know in real time how much sand has been captured so that they can optimize blowing down the sand at the right time.

This is where the SmartSahara, EnerCorp’s next-generation innovation, comes in. The SmartSahara integrates the innovative Sahara Advanced Sand Cyclone with Rocsole’s SoliDetect technology for real-time internal sand quantification and monitoring. 

This industry-first upgrade transforms the traditional Sahara sand separator into a smart system that offers operators accurate live data on the sand levels inside the accumulator.

Why does internal sand quantification matter?

How can an internal sand quantification system enhance production for operators? There are a number of advantages operators see when they use the SmartSahara during flowback for sand management.

The SmartSahara:

• Removes the guesswork from blowdown decisions: It continuously monitors how much sand is in the accumulator, providing operators with real-time updates. Operators don’t need to rely on timed and scheduled blowdowns, hourly blowdown estimates, or manual weighing to get sand volume. They can now automate blowdowns based on actual internal sand quantification data. 
• Increases productivity and efficiency at the wellsite: When operators know exactly how much sand is in the accumulator at all times, they have smoother production overall. There are more consistent flow conditions, with fewer interruptions and less wear and tear on equipment (from fewer blowdowns). Overall, operators see increased operational efficiency. 
• Optimizes labor costs and crew schedules: The SmartSahara gives operators the ability to remotely monitor sand levels, which means they don’t need to have personnel out for routine sand checks unless the system indicates its necessary. This leads to optimized labor costs and more predictable crew schedules. 
• Improves health, safety, and environmental (HSE) conditions: With less crew at the wellsite less often, operators can limit their field exposure to minimize the chances of injury. Plus, less crew also means less traffic to and from the site, reducing air pollution from vehicles. The fewer blowdowns to the atmosphere allows for a more environmentally friendly operation.
• Provides operational performance insights: In real-time, operators can see the system’s response to a range of events, such as choke bumps or sand slugs—immediately as they happen. This allows operators to take action right away instead of waiting till the next blowdown to survey the damage.

With the SmartSahara, operators can reduce operational costs, increase production efficiency, and improve wellsite safety—all while delivering the industry-leading sand capture rates EnerCorp is known for.

The SmartSahara is a welcome addition to the Sahara family of equipment, providing the same breakthrough sand capture technology, now coupled with intelligent internal monitoring solutions. Together with Rocsole, EnerCorp’s SmartSahara takes sand management to the next level.

See the SmartSahara in action: Case study

How does the SmartSahara perform in the field? We recently used the SmartSahara on the well of a long-time customer who was experiencing issues with sand slugs. While they had the Sahara Advanced Sand Cyclone in place to capture sand, there were frequent sand slug blockages in the blowdown piping, requiring the customer to have constant manual supervision on site. This was resulting in an increase in labor costs—and putting crew unnecessarily at risk.

With the SmartSahara in place, the customer noticed a number of immediate benefits:

• Real-time response to issues: The SmartSahara constantly monitors for issues like sand slugs and choke bumps, alerting the customer in real-time when problems occur.
• Continuous sand level monitoring: The customer no longer has to guess when to dump the sand. With constant internal sand quantification, they can see exactly how much sand is in the accumulator.
• Reduced labor costs: With the SmartSahara in place, there is no need for crew to constantly monitor the site. The operator can monitor it remotely.
• Improved worker safety: With reduced blowdowns, crew have less chances of strained backs or accidental falls.

Overall, the customer experiences fewer disruptions at the wellsite, so they can enhance production while keeping operational costs in check. Read the full case study to learn how the SmartSahara supports operators.