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CEMENTING
-squeeze cementing
-plugs
Primary Cementing:
-to isolate troublesome behind the casing from deeper formations to be drilled,
-to isolate high-pressure formations below the casing from the weaker shallow
technique. The single stage technique pumps cement down the casing and up to
annulus. The heavier cement in the annulus is prevented from U-tubing by back-
pressure valves in the bottom of the casing string. The initial stage of multi-
stage job is usually planned as if it were a single stage effort. Cement is pumped
down and up to annulus. The next stage is pumped through a special port collar at
the desired location up to annulus. The port is opened after the initial stage is
cemented.
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Squeeze Cementing:
Cement Characteristics
The cement slurry pumped into oil and gas wells includes cement, special
additives and water. Portland cement is most commonly used. The additives are
Portland Cement:
cooled and inters ground with small percentages of gypsum to form Portland
cement. In addition to the raw materials, other components such as sand, bauxite,
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and iron oxide may be added to adjust the chemical composition of the clinker for
the different types of Portland cement. The principal components of the finished
Portland cement are lime, silica, alumina, and iron. Each component affects the
undergo hydration and re-crystallization, resulting in a set product. The API has
established a classification system for cements used in oil and gas operations.
Slurry Features
yield, density, mix water, thickening time, compressive strength, fluid loss
-The yield of the cement in cubic ft per sack, is the volume of space that will
be occupied by the dry cement, water and additives when the slurry is mixed
the density, since water must be added in significant volumes to achieve low
to prevent kick and blow-outs yet it should not cause lost circulation.
-The mixing water requirements will vary, depending primarily on cement class
and slurry density. Most cement jobs use well site water. Quality of mixing water
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slurry will react differently with varying amounts of salt, calcium, or magnesium
-Thickening time is the amount of time that cement remains pumpable with
reasonable pressures. This is the perhaps the most critical property in the
preferred.
temperatures reduce the time for the cement slurry to reach some compressive
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levels. However, at temperatures above 230 C, cement strength begins to
decrease.
-Fluid loss is the water lost from the slurry to the formation during slurry
placement operations. If a large volume of water is lost, the slurry becomes too
viscous or dense to pump. Neat cement, or cement with no special additives has
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Cement Additives
Neat slurry is a mixture of water and cement only. Special chemicals are
often added to the slurry to achieve some desired purposes. These additives are:
Accelarators: Most operators wait for cement to reach a minimum of 500 psi
common cement may require a day or two to develop 500 psi strengths.
cement, shorten the setting time of cement and promote rapid strength
development. Calcium chloride is perhaps the most commonly used chemical for
this purpose.
necessitate the use of chemicals that retard the setting time of the cement; i.e.
increase the pumping time. The most common retarder may be calcium
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F.
Density Adjusters: High formation pressures for neat slurry densities require
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densities to 17.5 ppg due to their effect on viscosity. Adding more water to the
reductions.
Fluid Loss Additives: Fluid loss agents are used in cement slurries for the
following reasons:
-improve bonding
Slurry Design
A well plan is not complete until the cement slurry has been designed.
-cement
-mixing water
-density selection
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Calculation of slurry density or weight usually expressed in pounds per gallon, is
Slurry weight = (lb cement + lb water + lb addit.) / (gal cement + gal water
+ gal addit.)
Cement has a bulk density of 94 lb/cu ft, an absolute density of 94/0.48 = 195.8
The absolute volume of all solid constituents must be calculated in gallons, where:
material)
The volume of slurry to be realized from 1 sack of cement when mixed with a
specified amount of water and possibly other additives is called the yield. The
Example 4-1
Calculate the weight, percent mix and yield or set volume of a slurry given?
1 sx = 1 cu ft = 94 lb
Solution:
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Slurry weight = (lb cement + lb water + lb additive) / (gal cement + gal water +
gal additive)
Slurry weight = [(94 lb/sx + (5.5 gal/sx x 8.33 lb/gal)] / [(94 lb/sx / 8.33 lb/gal x
Yield = [(94 lb/sx / 8.33 lb/gal x 3.14) + 5.5 gal/sx] / 7.48 gal /cu ft
Yield = 1.215 cu ft
Absolute Volume, gal = (lb of material) / (8.34 lb/gal x spec. grav. of material)
Example 4-2
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Casing to be landed at 1400 ft
Solution:
Cement planning involves evaluating and selecting equipment to be used with the
cementing process. The down-hole equipment includes shoes and collars that are run as
integral sections of the casing string. In addition, many cementing aids attached to the
exterior of the pipe may be used, i.e., centralisers, scratchers and cement baskets.
Casing Shoe: A casing shoe is a short, heavy walled pipe run on the bottom of the
casing string. It has a rounded nose to guide the casing into the hole. The shoe is
screwed on the casing and generally is glued with a thread-locking compound. Casing
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i) guide shoe; ii) float shoe and iii) differential fill shoe.
A guide shoe contains an orifice through the centre that allows mud to pass
freely. A float shoe contains a back pressure valve that prevents mud from flowing into
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the casing from the bottom yet allows fluid to be pumped through the shoe. Float valve
prevents surface casing pressure resulting from cement U-tubing. The driller must fill,
or partially fill, the casing with mud periodically to prevent casing collapse as the
annulus hydrostatic pressure increases with depth. Differential fill shoe are similar in
Collars: A cementing collar is typically run as an integral part of the string and is
placed at the top of the first or second casing joint. The collar serves as a stop for the
cement wiper plug so that all the cement is not inadvertently pumped completely out of
the casing and into the annulus. Multi-stage cementing requires special collars with
sliding sleeves and ports. The sleeves are usually closed during the primary stage of
cementing. The sleeves are activated with either the free-fall or displacement
methods.
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Centralizers: Centralizers are placed on the exterior of the casing string to provide
stand-off distance between the well bore and the pipe in an effort to assist in
Scratchers: To achieve an effective cement job, the slurry must bond to the
formation. Scratchers assist by scraping and scratching the mud cake on the formation
Cement Baskets: Cement baskets provide support for the column of cement while it
cures, or hardens. The baskets are often placed above lost circulation zones that
Plugs: The cement slurry is normally separated from the mud column by plugs that
minimise interface contamination. The bottom plug has a diaphragm that is ruptured
with pump pressure after it seats on the collar or shoe. The top plug has a solid
aluminium insert. The plugs are mounted in a cementing head at the top of the casing.
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Displacement Process
Pumping the cement into the annulus is an important to the successful cementing
program as the slurry design. The displacement rate affects the flow regime in the
annulus. High flow rates convert the flow regime from laminar to turbulent. Although
cementing operations because it erodes the mud cake on the formation. Contamination
of the interface between the mud and cement is a problem that can reduce the
effectiveness of the cement job. This problem can be controlled by separating the mud
The single stage method has been used traditionally for conductor, surface,
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Figure 4-4 Diagram of a casing cementing job (Courtesy World Oils Cementing
Handbook)
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Figure 4-5 Equipment typically used to install and cement a drilling liner
(Courtesy BJ-Hughes Services)
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Figure 4-6 Setting and cementing casing (Courtesy Oil & Gas Journal)
9.Mix cement and displace until all cement is mixed and in casing.
10.Release plug.
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11.Pump until sharp pressure increase is noted on pump truck gauge, indicating top plug
has bumped.
15.Mix second stage cement and displace until all cement is mixed and in casing.
16.Release top closing plug and displace until a sharp increase is noted on the pump
The liner is run on the bottom of the drill pipe with a hanger and setting tool.
Hangers are usually set mechanically or with a hydraulic action. A typical liner assembly
is given. Plugs sweep cement from the interior of the liner to the float collar. If the
primary cement job is nor successful, squeeze cementing will not be required. However,
potential problems must be considered to overcome poor primary jobs. Application for
-perforation
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Example 4-3
Assume that a 10000-ft well is in an area where the geothermal gradient is 1.8
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F/100 ft. Determine the bottom hole temperature (BHT) if the ambient temperature
is 70 oF.
Solution:
BHT = (D / 100 x G) + TA
BHT = 250 oF
Figure 4-7 Cementing plugs: (a) top and (b) bottom plugs (Courtesy World Oils
Cementing Handbook)
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Example 4-4
cement slurry prior to upcoming casing job. The following data wre available from the
logging engineer. The well had been circulated for 6 hr prior to logging.
Solution:
Run 1, TD = 7 / (6 + 7) = 0.538
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Example 4-5
5/8
A 7 inch 39 lb/ft production casing string will be run inside 51 lb/ft, 10
surface casing set at 2000 ft. The bottom of the 9 inch hole is at 9100 ft (casing
seat). Compute the volume of casing and annulus. A 6 inch x 18 inch duplex pump will
be used to pump the cement plg against the float shoe. If the pump operates at 90 %
efficiency, how many strokes will be required? After the job was completed, the
drilling engineer at the well site observed that 1990 strokes were required to bump the
Solution:
7 5/8 inch pipe capacity = 0.2394 cu ft / lin ft; 0.0426 bbl / lin ft
5/8
7 in. x 9 inch hole annulus = 0.1247 cu ft / lin ft
5/8
7 in. x 9.85 inch annulus = 0.2148 cu ft / lin ft ; 0.0382 bbl / lin ft
7 5/8 inch pipe capacity = 910 ft x 0.0426 bbl / lin ft = 387.6 bbl
5/8
7 in. x 9 inch hole annulus = (9100 2000) ft x 0.0222 bbl/lin ft = 157.6 bbl
5/8
7 in. x 9.85 inch annulus = 2000 ft x 0.0382 bbl / lin ft = 76.4 bbl
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Determine the pump stroke requirements to bump the plug.
Example 4-6
A 3000 ft 13 3/8 inch surface casing is to be cemented in a 17.5 inch hole. The
1000 ft tail slurry is 14.2 lb/gal Class-A cement with 4 % gel.The remaining lead slurry
is 12.2 lb/gal Class-A cement with 16 % gel. Use 100 % volumetric wash out. Compute
Solution:
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Gel: (1089.5 sx) (16 % gel) (94 lb/sx) = 16386 lb gel = 163.86 sx of gel
Gel: (913.9 sx) (4 % gel) (94 lb/sx) = 3436 lb gel = 34.4 sx of gel
Class-A
-Intended for use when special properties are not required; well conditions permit.
Class-B
-Intended for use when moderate to high sulfate resistance is required; well conditions
permit.
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Class-C
-Intended for use when early strength is required; its special properties are required.
Class-D & E
-Intended for use when moderately high temperature and high pressure are
Class-F
-Intended for use when extremely high temperature and high pressure are
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-Retarded with an organic compound, chemical composition and grind.
Class-G & H
accelerators or retarders.
Class-J
-Will not set at temperature less than 150 oF if used as a neat slurry.
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API Cement Properties
Cement Class Mix Water Slurdy density Slurry yield Thicken. Comp.
Gal /s x Ppg Cuft / sx Time Streng.
113 oF, hr 110 oF, psi
A 5.2 15.6 1.18 2 4000
C 6.3 14.8 1.32 1 2700
G 5.0 15.8 1.15 1 3000
H 4.3 16.5 1.05 2 3700
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