Patent ID: 8505628

Claim:
A method, comprising: combining a solids mixture and a carrier fluid to form a slurry, wherein the solids mixture comprises first, second, third and fourth volume-averaged particle size distribution (PSD) modes such that a packed volume fraction (PVF) of the solids mixture is greater than 0.75, and wherein a solids volume fraction (SVF) of the slurry is less than the PVF of the solids mixture; wherein the first PSD mode is at least three times larger than the second PSD mode, the second PSD mode is larger than the third PSD mode, and the third PSD mode is larger than the fourth PSD mode, and wherein at least one of the second and third PSD modes is less than 3 times larger than the respective third or fourth PSD mode; and positioning a screen in a wellbore and circulating the slurry through the wellbore in any order such that the solids mixture is deposited between the screen and the wellbore.