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Well Cementing
Khalil Rahman
Principal Geomechanics Specialist
Baker RDS, Perth, Australia
Email: khalil.rahman@baker-rds.com
Tel: 92150617
Courtesy: Halliburton
Cementing Overview
Primary Cementing (casings & Plugs)
Secondary (Remedial) Cementing
Gas Migration
Mud Displacement
Casing Equipment
Cementing Equipment
Cement Types
Cement Additives
Cement Design
Cement Testing
Cement Evaluation
Why Primary Cementing?
Zonal Isolation
Prevents fluids migration from one zone to
another zone
Supporting/Reinforcing Casing
Increased strength against high pressure
operations such as fracturing
Casing Protection
A barrier against corrosive environment
Well Integrity
No loose hanging of csings/liners
Single Stage Primary Cementing
Two Plugs: Bottom & Top
Maximum cement/mud separation
Bottom plug wipes mud sheath off
inside casing surface
Top plug gives surface indication
when cement placement is
complete
Pressure rise at the surface
Primary Plug Cementing
Applications:
Zonal Isolation
Sidetrack
Lost circulation
Abandonment
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Failure in Cement Plugs
Hard to get cement on the upper side
due to gravity
Often gas bubbles creates fluid flow
channel.
Squeeze Cementing - Bradenhead
Squeeze Cementing With Packer Gas Migration Through Cement
Cement slurry placed
Slurry behaves as a fluid
Transmits fluid hydrostatic
pressure
Filtrate loss causes pressure loss
Gas Migration Through Cement
Pressure loss in cement
column causes the loss of
overbalance in high pressure
zones first
Fluid loss continues in other
low pressure zones (still
overbalance)
Meanwhile gas enters wellbore
and percolates up annulus in
high pressured zones.
Gas Migration Through Cement
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Time-Dependent Fluid Loss & Gas Migration
Mud Removal/Displacement
The number 1 cause of a poor quality
primary cement job is poor mud removal
Mud Displacement Efficiency
Displacement Efficiency =
Cement Area/Annular Area
Techniques for Efficient Mud Removal
Mud conditioning
Centralisation
Pipe movement
Mechanical aids
Fluid velocity
Spacers and Flushes
Mud Removal - Centralisation
Centralisation of
casing is critical for
mud displacement
and complete zonal
isolation
Mud Removal Pipe Movement
Rotation and
reciprocation of the
pipe fitted with
centralizer and
scratchers can help
remove gelled mud,
mud cake and keep
casing centred.
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Mud Removal Mechanical Aids
Mechanical aids
can improve mud
removal
Mud Removal - Circulation
Mud Removal Effect of Static Time
Mud Removal Flow Regime
Spacers & Flushers
Fluid compatibility
Fluid separation
Mud displacement
Rheology
Solid suspension
Rate
Spacers & Flushes
Typical cement spacer components
Freshwater
Viscosifying agent (well specific rheology design)
Weighting agent
Surfactant for SBM/OBM use
Flushes
Base oil or freshwater with surfactant
Reactive flushes Flowcheck
Spacers trains
Ideal for highly deviated wells
Thin fluid thins mud and dislodges cuttings in turbulance
Viscous fluid carries solids and erodes gelled mud
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Casing Equipment
Floating equipment
Cement plugs
Cement head/plug
containers
Inner strings
Centralisers
Casing Equipment
Float Equipment
Provides casing
buoyancy
Prevents re-entry of
cement
Guides casing into hole
Provides landing seats
for cementing plugs
Casing Equipment Floating Shoes
Cementing Plugs
Removes mud sheath to help prevent
contamination or wet shoe joints
Separate cements from mud
Prevents over-diplacement of cement
Allows pressure testing of casing prior to
drillout
Provides surface indication that
displacement is complete
Non-rotating (as shown) or standard
Casing Equipment - Centralisers
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Innerstring Cementing
Reduce displacement volume
and therefore reduces job time
Reduce drill-out time
Safety (prevent handling large
plugs)
Availability and cost of large
plugs & cementing
Prevents channelling in large
casing
Prevents casing collapse by
applying pressure to
casing/tubing annulus
Cementing Equipment
Bulk storage &
delivery system
Steady flow bin
Cement mixing and
pumping unit
Monitoring package
Liquid additive
system/mix tank
Cementing Equipment - Onshore Offshore Cementing Unit
Cementing Equipment Liquid
Additive System (LAS)
Cement Mixing System
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Cement Types
Class A: General purpose construction grade (Type GP) Low
temperature < 170 deg F (<=6000 ft deep)
Class B: Low temperature sulphate resistant (Type SR; <=6000 ft
deep)
Class C: Low temperature high early strength (<=6000 ft deep)
Class D: Moderate temperature & pressure (6000 10000 ft deep)
Class E: High temperatures & pressures (10000 14000 ft deep)
Class F: Extremely HTHP (10000 16000 ft deep)
Class G & H: Basic well cement surface to 8000 ft deep
accelerators and retarders for wide temp. range
Cement Additives
Accelerators
Shorten initial thickening time and accelerate
compressive strength development
Retarders
Slow cement hydration allowing for safe placement
Fluid loss additives
Lower filtrate loss during and after placement
Dispersant
Lower rheology and increase rate for turbulent flow
Light weight additive
Lower cement density and hydrostatic pressure for
low frac gradients and more economic slurries
Cement Additives (cont..)
Heavy Weight Additive
Increase slurry density to control formation pressure
Defoamers
Prevent and release entrained air while mixing
Gas Control Additives
Prevent gas migration during setting
Silica Flour
Typically use 35% above 230 deg F for high temperature
retrogression
Thixotropic Additives
For lost circulation, is thin while pumping and gels rapidly when
static
Lost Circulation Materials
Various additives to control lost circulation
See in your course reader about 20 additives for different function
Cementing Design Criteria
Bottomhole temperature and pressure
Weight/composition of drilling fluid
Fracture pressure and pore pressure
Hole size
MD/TVD
Casing size/weight/grade
Casing equipment
Volume of cement required
Job time requirements
Slurry mix methods / parameters
Cement Testing
Common lab tests for
cement slurries
Thickening time
UCA or compressive
strength
Rheology
Fluid loss
Free water
Static gel strength
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Thickening Time Chart
UCA Chart
Cement Evaluation CBL & CAST