Our Product STOP-SAND
Patent No. 2106, KSA
Bravo Consultancy has solved a problem that has long bedeviled many wells—the pumping up of not just water, but also sand and other fine particles. Our patented STOP-SAND device, a liner-hanger-packer, ingeniously filters out particulate matter, cutting costs by lengthening pump life and reducing the need to mechanically treat extracted water. Since it was first installed in Saudi Arabia in 2001, STOP-SAND has become the new standard in water wells there and in other areas with sandy aquifers. More than 200 STOP-SANDs protect water wells operated by Ma’aden, Saudi Aramco, Sino Saudi Gas, and other operators, including Saudi Arabia’s ministry of water and National Water Company.

STOP-SAND is unique. Once the liner hanger is lowered onto supports in the well casing, the device’s own weight causes the rubber rings of an integrated packer to expand and create a seal. This cleverly sidesteps the tricky sequence of operations needed to set traditional packers, which, as a result, not uncommonly end up at the wrong depth in the casing.
Beyond this, thanks to an internal spring mechanism, STOP-SAND’s gravel ports are also automatically opened and closed when the gravel-setting tool is engaged and disengaged. This makes it easy to feed in gravel, repeatedly if necessary, until a homogenous pack has been achieved. This solves another all-too-common problem caused by traditional systems—an irregular gravel pack. That uneven distribution of gravel can leave screening designed to retain the gravel filter in direct contact with the geological formation, allowing sand and other sediment to be pulled up through the pump.