Result
MCGx delivered a solids and erosion assessment for stimulated gas wells, providing the operator with a defensible framework to manage loss-of-containment risk across wellheads, trees, and flowlines during flowback and early production. The work enabled faster, more confident flowback decisions while reducing integrity risk and improving uptime.
Problem
Following stimulation, wells produced significant quantities of proppant and fines alongside gas and fluids. The operator had no framework for quantifying solids behaviour, predicting erosion rates, or determining where equipment was most vulnerable. Flowback decisions were constrained by uncertainty, risking either overly conservative restrictions that deferred production, or aggressive operation that could accelerate erosion and threaten containment.
MCGx Insight
MCGx recognised that erosion risk required predictive modelling, not reactive monitoring. By integrating solids production calculations with erosion prediction, MCGx quantified how proppant propagates through the system, where particle loading concentrates, and which components face highest erosion exposure. This enabled targeted monitoring and informed operating limits rather than blanket conservatism.
Proof
MCGx developed a coupled solids and erosion model and provided recommendations on acoustic sand detector placement, erosion hotspots, and safe operating envelopes. The operator adopted the framework for flowback and production operations.