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Cement Slurry Laboratory Testing

Lenin Diaz July 3, 2016 Cement Slurry Laboratory Testing2016-07-03T21:38:31+00:00 2


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Recommendations
WARNING: No slurry should ever be pumped without a laboratory test using the actual
materials (cement, additives and field water) to be mixed on the job.

Compatibility tests should be performed between the cementing fluids and wellbore drilling or
control fluids, formation fluids and any other fluid potentially in contact with cement slurry.

1. a) Thickening Time to 70 BC (Bearden units)


Also called pumping time should be performed at the estimated bottom hole or treatment depth
temperature and pressure using a pressurized consistometer.

Test temperature considerations

o For primary jobs, casing/liner cementing and cement plugs (except when using
coiled tubing), the highest circulating hole temperature (not necessarily BHCT)
should be used for the thickening time test. The preferred method to determine the
BHCT is with computer simulation software (alternatively the API correlation/tables
in the RP 10B-2 / ISO 10426-2 can be used when applicable).

o For remedial/squeeze cementing (except when using coiled tubing) the test
temperature can generally (for near-vertical wells, with a known formation
temperature gradient) be determined using the API correlation/tables in the API RP
10B-2 / ISO 10426-2, however anytime the configuration of pipe size, depth and
displacement rate/time does not correspond to API schedules, Job-specific
customized test temperatures and schedules based on actual job parameters and
thermal computer models should be applied.

When squeezing in production and injection wells, if accurate recent


downhole (log) temperature data is available; this should be used as the input
parameter for modeling the squeeze test temperature.

o For coiled tubing operations hole static temperature at the treatment depth (known
geothermal gradient or recent logged temperature) should be used.

Thickening (pumping) time requirements considerations


o For casing/liner cementing and plug cementing (except when using coiled tubing)
the pumping time is estimated as the total operational time (including mixing and
pumping cement, displacement, static periods like dropping wiper plugs or pulling
out the cementing string, circulation of excess cement in liner cementing and cement
plugs, etc.) plus a safety factor of no less than two (2) hours.

Thickening time tests for particular cases, such as liner cementing, cement
plugs or two-stage cementing, should consider the need of a static time (no
rotation in the consistometer for small period of time) to identify any gelling
tendency in the cement slurry in actual conditions, like before/during POOH
drill pipe or before circulating excess cement.

Thickening Time should be no more than is needed to safely place the slurry while allowing for
contingencies. Shorter times increase risk. Longer times are subject to increasing measurement
error and uncertainty and should be avoided.

For remedial/squeeze cementing (except when using coiled tubing), pumping times should
be long enough to allow the cement slurry travel to the placement depth, injection of the
cement slurry (cement slurry volume at the anticipated injection rate) to the target zone,
repeated squeeze-hesitation cycles, plus time to reverse or direct circulate any excess cement
out of the well (if this is planned). The following should be considered:

o A minimum safety margin of two (2) hours is recommended.

o When testing the slurry for a hesitation squeeze, is recommended to simulate the
shutdown times in the laboratory during testing of the cement slurry.

o An additional safety factor should be considered for circulation squeeze. In these


operations the actual thickening time is typically reduced and the gel strength
development considerably accelerated due to the loss of filtrate while the cement
slurry flows under pressure behind the casing between the perforations.

For coiled tubing cementing a minimum thickening of 8 hours is recommended.

o For laboratory testing, actual field mixing and pumping conditions should be
reproduced by the cementing contractor considering the following:

Additional mixing energy imparted to the cement slurry in actual conditions


(batch-mixing of a relatively small cement volume and the high friction
pressure inside the coil) makes the API mixing procedure described in API
RP 10B-2 / ISO 10426-2 section 5 insufficient.

The thickening time for a cement slurry mixed according to API mixing
procedures may be reduced up to 75% in coiled tubing cementing.

2. b) Free Water
Free water should be measured following the API RP 10B-2 / ISO 10426-2.
For the following applications, free water should be zero (0%) percent:

o In primary cementing of casing/liner and in plug cementing, for cement slurries in


front of permeable zones, reservoir zones and/or highly deviated sections, zero
percent (0%) free water is mandatory. In highly deviated section (> 40o degrees
deviation) the free water test should be conducted at the same angle.

o Squeeze cementing

o Coiled tubing cementing

o For other applications, such as surface casing, the cementing contractor should
provide a recommendation, but in general this property becomes secondary to the
other cement slurry properties.

3. c) Fluid Loss
Fluid loss should be measured following the API RP 10B-2 / ISO 10426-2.

For slurries in front permeable zones or reservoir section, < 30 100 ml/30 min is desirable.

o Cement slurries employed in narrow annular gaps, < 3/4 clearance, might require
lower fluid loss values.

For squeeze cementing the fluid loss should be defined according to the job objectives, the
formation permeability, and the fluid injection rate. The following table provide a reference
to select the required fluid loss value:

Use a moderate fluid loss value of 150 200


Low Permeability
ml/30min. Lower (100-150 ml/30min) if a very
Formation (~<10 md)
high squeeze pressure is anticipated.
Medium Permeability Use a moderate to low fluid loss value of 100-
Formation 150 ml/30min
High Permeability
Use a low fluid loss value of <75 ml/30min to
Formation (~ >200
prevent rapid slurry dehydration
md +)

For coil tubing cementing the fluid loss should be less than 100 ml/30min.

4. d) Rheology
Cementing fluids (spacer and cement slurry) rheology should be measured following the
API RP 10B-2 / ISO 10426-2.
Rheology measurements are needed to build the model for the job into the computer
simulation software for the cement placement, u-tubing effect, dynamic downhole pressures
and/or thermal computer models.

For coiled tubing cementing, the rheology of the cement slurry should be the lowest possible
(for the lowest possible friction pressure inside the coil) without compromising its stability,
i.e., no sedimentation of solids and no free water.

o The recommended rheological values for coiled tubing cementing

Minimum possible yield point of 5 to 10 lbf/100 ft2

Minimum possible plastic viscosity of less than 50 cP

5. e) Compressive strength test


The compressive strength values should be measured following methods and
recommendations in API Recommended Practice 10B-2 / ISO 10426-2 section 7.

Sonic Logs, like CBL/VDL, are set to identify the cement with certain Acoustic Impedance.
This value is best estimated from the transit time in the Ultrasonic Compressive Strength
Analyzer (UCA).

Failure to use the correct temperature and heating schedule for the compressive strength test
could cause impaired cement evaluation interpretation. Test temperatures references are
presented below:

o Recommendation for compressive strength test temperature:

Casing cementing

Lead cement slurry (if present) > Use static temperature at the top of
the lead cement length. For long cement columns in casing cementing
or when bottom-hole circulating temperature (BHCT) is higher than
the static temperature at the top of the cement column refer to API
Recommended Practice 10B-2 / ISO 10426-2 section 7

Tail cement slurry: > Bottom hole static temperature, BHST

Cement plugs, placed with drill pipe or coiled tubing > Static temperature at
the top of the cement plug

Cement squeezes > Static temperature at the top perforation/injection point or


top of cement inside the casing

For liner cementing > Hole static temperature at the liner hanger depth
Alternatively, a more precise test temperature can be obtained from thermal
computer models for any of the above cases

6. f) Static Gel Strength Development


Where cross-flow or fluids migration is a risk, the transition from 100 to 500 lbf/100 ft2
should be in less than 45 min.

7. g) Stability tests
For all critical operations, including highly deviated liner cementing, jobs involving small
annular gap, high temperature and coiled tubing cementing, perform the tests as per API
Recommended Practice 10B-2 / ISO 10426-2 section 15.

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