Patent ID: 7464752

Claim:
A wellbore apparatus comprising: a) a first conduit in a wellbore, the first conduit comprising at least one three-dimensional surface defining a first fluid flow path through the wellbore within the first conduit, wherein at least one section of the first conduit surface being permeable and at least one section of the first conduit surface being impermeable, wherein the permeable section is adapted to retain particles larger than a predetermined size while allowing fluids to pass through the permeable surface; b) a second conduit in the wellbore, the second conduit comprising at least one three-dimensional surface defining a second fluid flow path through the wellbore within the second conduit, wherein at least one section of the second conduit surface is permeable and at least one section of the second conduit surface being impermeable; wherein the permeable section is adapted to retain particles larger than a predetermined size while allowing fluids to pass through the permeable surface; wherein at least one permeable section of the first conduit surface is in fluid communication with at least one permeable section of the second conduit surface providing fluid communication between the first flow path and the second flow path; and c) at least one wall inside the first flow path or the second flow path to form at least one compartment in the first flow path or the second flow path; wherein the compartment has at least one inlet and at least one outlet; and wherein the at least one compartment is adapted to accumulate particles in the compartment to progressively increase resistance to fluid flow through the compartment in the event the at least one inlet is impaired and allows particles larger than a predetermined size to pass into the compartment.