ANALYSING THE COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH

OF LIGHT WEIGHT CEMENT BY USE OF

ULTRASONIC TESTING

Osinachi Daniel Dimkpa

July 3, 2017
Abstract

Light weight cement blends are widespread in the industry, and has a lot to offer in terms of

cost reduction and flexibility in completion design. The evaluation of the cement

mechanical properties is essential to aid in understanding the ability of the cement to

ensure well bore integrity in the presence of varying downhole conditions of temperature

and pressure. The unconfined compressive strength of cement (UCS) is a property, which

now is thought to bear a direct relationship to the cements ability to provide good zonal

isolation and also support the casing, and in overall, ensure integrity of the system.

An API standardized testing method is available for the testing of cement slurries and this

report tries to look at this existing technology (ultrasonic testing) in a bid to reliably

estimate the cement mechanical properties of interest with a huge reference to a few

selected industry papers.

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LIGHT WEIGHT CEMENT BY USE OF
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Introduction

A lot of methods have been developed over the years for the testing of cement slurries and

to understand the mechanism of development of cement slurry strength. The purposes of

these testing are obvious namely to measure and understand cement properties such as

thickening time, compressive strength, fluid loss, rheology and so on. A large array of these

testing is done under HP/HT situations to be able to simulate as closely as possible wellbore

conditions.

Today, we have a suite of non-destructive testing methods (NDT) which also, ensures

reusability of the samples while offering quicker results. The Ultrasonic Cement Analyzer

(UCA) is one of these new methods. This was developed to aid in measuring the

compressive strength of cement by using the physics of acoustic velocity travel through the

medium and translating this interaction between the slurry and the ultrasonic waves into

compressive strength by use of an algorithm. The broader inclusion of my research would

be to develop an algorithm for accomplishing this aim because the bulk of reliable

algorithms are propriety products.

The preparation of the slurry to be tested follows the API standard procedure as laid out in

the API manual where the sample is weighed in an electronic balance to match with the

calculated values of the mixing components. The powder blend is added to the water to be

mixed with already in the blender and rotated at 4000 rpm. This whole mixture should be

added within 15 seconds after which the mixture is rotated at 12,000 rpm for 35 seconds.

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LIGHT WEIGHT CEMENT BY USE OF
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 The equipment for the analyses of development of slurry strength consists of 3 algorithms

for the interpretation of sonic signals through the slurry depending on the slurry density. It

is important that testing is done using the correct algorithm for the slurry density. As

cement slurry develops strength, the velocity of acoustic signal transmitted through the

slurry changes. This change in acoustic velocity is correlated to compressive strength. In an

ultrasonic compressive-strength test, a high-frequency sound is sent through a cement

slurry sample and the length of time required for the sound wave to travel completely

through the sample is measured. As the cement hardens, the wave travels faster and takes a

shorter time to reach the other end of the sample. The Ultrasonic Cement Analyzer provides

a non-destructive method for determining the relative strength development of a cement

sample under down-hole temperature and pressure conditions. The theory of operation is

based on the correlation between ultrasonic pulse velocity in the cement sample and its

compressive strength. Strength indications are determined by measuring the change in

velocity of an ultrasonic signal transmitted through the cement sample as it cures. This

transit time data helps to plan a cementing schedule for a well as well

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LIGHT WEIGHT CEMENT BY USE OF
ULTRASONIC TESTING | Osinachi Daniel Dimkpa
 Apparatus (or Research Instruments/Tools)

The main equipment for this experiment is the Ultrasonic Cement Analyzer (UCA) which has

been captured below:

Other equipment which have not been shown in this paper include the electronic balance,

blender, graduated cylinder and of course cement samples and additives.

Method of Investigation:

Varying densities of cement will be formulated ranging from 10.6 ppg to densities as high as

14ppg. All these will be done in accordance with the API standardized procedure for cement

slurry formulation. These cement slurries will be tested in the Ultrasonic testing machine to

estimate their compressive strength. Also, the samples will be analyzed using both the

ultrasonic method and crush test in order to develop a reliable correlation between the

sonic travel time through the cement and its compressive strength.

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LIGHT WEIGHT CEMENT BY USE OF
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Discussion

Experimental data and results have not been presented. In due time, this will constitute the

body of the discussion.

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