A Comprehensive Method for the Optimization of Cement Slurry and to Avoid Air Channeling in High Temperature and High-Pressure Conditions

Air channeling in the annulus between the casing and the cement sheath and/or between the cement sheath and formation is the main factor affecting the safe operation of natural gas wells at high temperatures and pressures.Prevention of this problem requires,in general,excellent anti-channeling performances of the cement sheath.Three methods to predict such anti-channeling performances are proposed here,which use the weightless pressure of cement slurry,the permeability of cement stone and the volume expansion rate of cement sheath as input parameters.Guided by this approach,the anti-channeling performances of the cement slurry are evaluated by means of indoor experiments,and the cement slurry is optimized accordingly.The results show that the dangerous transition time of the cement slurry with optimized dosage of admixture is only 76 min,the permeability of cement stone is 0.005 md,the volume shrinkage at final setting is only 0.72%,and the anti-channeling performances are therefore maximized.The effective utilization of the optimized cement slurry in some representative wells(LD10–1-A1 and LD10–1-A2 in LD10–1 gas field)is also discussed.

Development of a High-Temperature Thixotropic Cement Slurry System

Cementing carbonate reservoirs is generally a difficult task.The so-called thixotropic cement slurry has gained considerable attention in this regard as it can help tofix some notable problems.More precisely,it can easilyfill the leakage layer;moreover,its gelling strength can grow rapidly when pumping stops,thereby increasing the resistance to gas channeling,effectively preventing this undesired phenomenon in many cases.High-temperature thixotropic cement slurry systems,however,are still in an early stage of development and additional research is needed to make them a viable option.In the present study,using a self-developed composite high-temperature thixotropic additive as a basis,it is shown that the compressive strength can be adjusted by tuning the proportion of silica sand,the high-temperature retarder,fluid loss additive and dispersant(compatible with the thixotropic additive).According to the tests,the developed high-temperature thixotropic cement slurry system has a 14 d compressive strength of 29.73 MPa at 150°C,and a thickening time of 330 min when the dosage of retarder is 2%.At the same time,the rheological property,water loss,permeability,water separation rate,and settlement stability of the cement slurry system meet the requirements of cementing construction.

Performance of Fiber Cement Slurry in the Oil and Gas Well Cementation

Based on a carbon fiber cement slurry system developed in the previous work, the relationship between the carbon fiber and the performance of the cement slurry was experimentally investigated. Results show that the use of fiber has no effect on the slurry rheological mode, but influences its rheological behavior. When the fiber proportion ranges from 0.12% to 0.19% and the fiber length from 400 to 1,400 μm, the slurry rheological behavior can be improved. Under the normal pressure, the use of fiber can shorten the thickening time of the cement slurry. When the proportion of the constant-length fiber increases, the water loss of the cement slurry decreases first and then increases, and when the fiber length increases (the fiber proportion being kept constant), the water loss shows the same trend. This indicates that there are optimal values for the fiber length and proportion, which vary under the experimental conditions in the following respective ranges: 0.12%-0.37% and 700-1,400 μm .

Analysis of the Weight Loss of High Temperature Cement Slurry

The weight loss of cement slurry is the main cause of early annular air channeling and accurate experimental evaluation of the law of loss change is the key to achieve compression stability and prevent this undesired phenomenon.Typically,tests on the pressure loss of cement slurry are carried out for temperature smaller than 120°C,and this condition cannot simulate effectively the situation occurring in high temperature wells.For this reason,in this study a series of experimental tests have been conducted considering a larger range of temperatures,different retarders and fluid loss additives.The results show that with an increase in the temperature,the weight loss curve of cement slurry changes from a“two-stage”to a“three-stage”behavior,and the risk of channeling increases accordingly.On increasing the amount of retarder and fluid loss additive,the transition time of cement slurry displays a non-monotonic behavior(it decreases first and then increases).It is found that the optimized retarder and fluid loss additive dosage are 0.2%and 2.5%,respectively.

Research on casing deformation prevention technology based on cementing slurry system optimization

The casing deformation prevention technology based on the optimization of cement slurry is proposed to reduce the casing deformation of shale oil and gas wells during hydraulic fracturing. In this paper, the fracture mechanism of hollow particles in cement sheath was firstly analyzed by discrete element method, and the effect of hollow particles in cement on casing deformation was investigated by laboratory experiment method. Finally, field test was carried out to verify the improvement effect of the casing deformation based on cement slurry modification. The results show that the formation displacement can be absorbed effectively by hollow particles inside the cement transferring the excessive deformation away from casing. The particles in the uncemented state provide deformation space during formation slipping. The casing with diameter of 139.7 mm could be passed through by bridge plug with the diameter of 99 mm when the mass ratio of particle/cement reaches 1:4. According to the field test feedback, the method based on optimization of cement slurry can effectively reduce the risk of casing deformation, and the recommended range of hollow microbeads content in the cement slurry is between 15% and 25%.

Effects of slurry pack cementation temperature on microstructure and wear resistance of Ti-Al co-deposited coating on copper plated nickel layer

In order to improve the wear resistance properties of copper substrate, a layer of electroplated nickel was firstly deposited on copper substrate, subsequently these electroplated specimens were treated by slurry pack cementation process with a slurry pack cementation mixture composed of TiO2 as titanizing source, pure Al powder as aluminzing source and also a reducer for titanizing, an activator of NH4Cl and albumen （egg white） as cohesive agent. The Ti-Al coating was fabricated on the surface of electro-deposited nickel layer on copper matrix followed by the slurry pack cementation process. The effects of slurry pack cementation temperature on the microstructures and wear resistance of Ti-Al coating were studied. The results show that the microstructure of the coating changed from NiAl＋Ni3（Ti,Al） to NiAl ＋Ni3（Ti,Al）＋Ni4Ti3 to Ni4Ti3＋NiAl, and to NiAl＋Ni3（Ti,Al）＋NiTi with slurry pack cementation temperature ranging from 800 ℃ to 950 ℃ in 12 h. The friction coefficient of Ti-Al coating decreased and the hardness increased with increasing the slurry pack cementation temperature. The minimum friction coefficient was 1/3 and the minimum hardness was 5 times larger than that of pure copper.

A Cementing Technology for Shale Oil Horizontal Wells

Organic rich dark shale of Q Formation can be found in many areas(e.g.,in the North of S Basin).The shale target stratum is easy to hydrate and often undergoes spallation.Therefore,centering the casing in the horizontal section of the irregular borehole is relatively difficult.Similarly,achieving a good cementflushing efficiency under complex borehole conditions is a complex task.Through technologies such as centralizer,efficient preflushing,multi-stageflushing and ductile cement slurry,better performances can be achieved.In this study,it is shown that the cementing rate in the DY2H horizontal section is 97.8%,which is more than 34%higher than that of adjacent wells.This cementing matching technology for sidetracking horizontal wells can be used to improve the cementing quality of continental shale and provides a reference for future applications in thisfield.

Preparation of Fine Cement Slurries by Wet-Ground Using a Pneumatic Colloid Mill

This study aims to investigate the preparation of fine cement slurries by wet-ground using a pneumatic colloid mill. A pneumatic colloid mill was designed and produced. Furthermore,ordinary Portland cement slurries were ground using the pneumatic colloid mill. Moreover,the fineness of ground cement slurries was studied. The particle sizes of ground cement slurries with various cumulated percent were all better than those of cement slurries before grinding. When water was used as the dispersant,the best average diameter of cement slurries was obtained by grinding for 10,and 15 min for cement slurries with water / cement ratio of 1∶ 1,and0. 9∶ 1,respectively. When ethanol was used as the dispersant,the particle sizes of all cumulated percent decreased gradually with the increasing grinding time,and the particle sizes of cumulated percent of D97 decreased rapidly with the increasing grinding time. The grinding effect of big particle sizes of cement slurries is better than that of small particle sizes.

Assessment of the Performances of Carboxylic Acid Monomers as Fluid Loss Additives for Oil-Well Cement

The application of polycarboxylic acid as a fluid loss additive for cement(i.e.,a substance specifically designed to lower the volume of filtrate that passes through the cement)can prolong the thickening time of cement slurries.Given the lack of data about the effects of carboxylic acid monomers as possible components for the additives traditionally used for oil-well cement,in this study different cases are experimentally investigated considering different types of these substances,concentrations,temperatures,and magnesium ion contamination.The results demonstrate that itaconic acid has a strong retarding side effect,while maleic and acrylic acids have similar influences on the thickening time of the cement slurry.The rheological properties of the cement slurry tend to deteriorate when the carboxylic acid monomer content in the fluid loss additive is increased to 40%.If the temperature exceeds 80°C,there is a significant decrease in the related impact on the thickening duration.With an increase in the intrusion of magnesium ions to>0.5%,both the rheological properties of the cement slurry and the thickening time are affected in a negative way.

Development and application of guar gum crosslinked gel with adjustable gelation time for total loss treatment

To remediate the problem of severe or total losses,and meet the requirements of borehole plugging and pumping at different well depths,a novel crosslinked polymer gel(named HPG/Zr gel)with controlled gelation time and high gel strength was developed as loss circulation material,which mainly comprised hydroxypropyl guar gum,zirconium compound and triethanolamine.The influence of hydroxypropyl guar gum concentration,zirconium compound concentration,triethanolamine concentration and temperature on the gelation time of HPG/Zr gel was evaluated.In addition,the performance of HPG/Zr gel was investigated in terms of temperature resistance and shear resistance property,plugging ability and supporting cement slurry ability.According to the results,HPG/Zr gel can form a viscoelastic body with a network structure,and its gelation time can be practically adjustable.The results of the plugging experiment at different temperatures,pressures and pore sizes of quartz sand revealed that HPG/Zr gel could effectively plug sand pores at 150℃,and its pressure-bearing capacity can be up to 5 MPa.Employing its flow resistance and ability of supporting cement slurry,HPG/Zr gel was successfully applied in two geological boreholes by combining with cement slurry.Overall,the results of laboratory research and field tests indicate that HPG/Zr gel is useful for mitigating the lost circulation,and it is of huge importance to engineering applications.