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Introduction
One prerequisite for successful primary cementing is Cement slurry, drilling mud, and test cell curing
the complete displacement of drilling mud from the chamber were heated with steam coils located in the
,
annular space. Much has been published -n regarding slurry tank, the mud-treating barrel, and the test cell
proper techniques for maximum mud displacement curing chamber, respectively.
efficiency. Yet, even after these techniques are prop- The simulated formation cores were. made by com-
erly applied, mud displacement efficiency often pacting and heating a mixture of epoxy resin and sand
remains low. The objective of this study was to inside 5 V2 -in. casing. A 2.7 4-in. diameter hole was
re-examine, under conditions closely simulating the cast in the center of the 10-ft-Iong specimen to rep-
down-hole environment, the relative importance of resent the wellbore. The center 7 ft of the external
the driving forces available to displace drilling mud 51/z-in. casing was removed to allow full exposure of
from the annulus. Fig. 1 illustrates the driving and the core permeability. The average water permeabil-
resisting forces involved in the displacement of drill- ity of the cores was 400 md.
ing mud with a cement slurry. The test model consisted of a I-in. OD pipe inside
the 2.74-in. simulated formation wellbore. This con-
Test Equipment figuration is scaled to model a 2% -in. tubingless com-
The test facility (Fig. 2) consisted of a pneumatic pletion in a.7% -in. hole (Fig. 3). The 10-ft sandstone
trailer for storing bulk cement and a pneumatic core was placed in the apparatus depicted on Fig. 4.
handling system for delivering cement to a 4-bbl re- The 33-in. extension joint on the bottom contained
circulating mixer. The cement slurry was mixed and straightening vanes to eliminate possible end effects.
pumped into a 25-bbl slurry heating and storage tank The core section and extension joint were encased
where retarders and friction reducers were added within an annular filtration jacket to allow measure-
when needed to alter slurry properties. ment of filtration through the core. On some tests,
Cement was circulated with three positive-displace- pressure taps were installed through the sandstone
ment pumps. Two were connected to a variable speed core to allow measurement of annular pressure drop
motor that allowed pump rates to vary from 0.5 to across the middle 5 ft of the sandstone core.
100 gal/min. The third pump was driven through Mud or cement was pumped down through the
two gear-reduction boxes on a two-speed motor that vertical standpipe into the extension joint, up
permitted rates up to 160 gal/min at pressures up through the sandstone core section, and out at the
to 200 psi. Mud was displaced with one positive- top of the cell. The exit line contained a plug valve
displacement pump. to regulate pressure inside the core at 150 to 200 psi.
Mud displacement efficiency was studied under conditions simulating the borehole
environment at 8,000 feet. Major findings were that the buoyant driving force resulting
from the density difference between cement and mud has less effect on mud displacement
than expected under such conditions and that pipe motion with scratchers substantially
improves mud displacement, especially in areas of hole enlargement.
\1
5. The drilling mud was displaced by the selected
volume of cement slurry, which had been preheated
to 125°F. (Pipe movement, when employed, was SCALING
stopped when cement displacement was finished.) ·MODEL·WELL· RATIO
6. The sample was closed in under pressure and -------
CASING -0.0.- I" 2.875"2.875:1
gradually increased to a temperature of 200°F. This I
temperature was maintained throughout the waiting- BOREHOLE-1.0.-2.7 4" 7.875" 2.875: I I
\
on-cement period. The cement was allowed to remain I
in the curing chamber for 21 to 24 hours. I 120"
,I
7. The core was removed from the test fixture and I
:1
sawed into seven sections as shown on Fig. 5. In I
Sections 2 through 4, measurements were made of I
:1
the minimum separation of pipe from the wall, and :1
:\
:1
<1
RESISTING DRIVING ,<:.:\
DRAG IF CASING IS
, •• 1
MOVING
SANDSTONE)
CORE ~::::l
::,,:,:,1
CASING vLU'VI:.-...... PRESSURE TO MOVE .<j
TO WALL
CEMENT ALSO ACTS
ON MUD
DRAG IF CEMENT IS
MOVING FASTER THAN
MUD
BUOYANCY IF CEMENT
IS HEAVIER THAN
MUD
Fig. l-Forces on mud channel. Fig. 3-Test core, mud displacement study.
l~
3F 74 to 82 2.74
IJ 4
5
82 to 91
91 to 120
~I"I+-
i I
2.74
2.74
fiELD WELL
Fig. 4-Test apparatus, mud displacement study. BOREHOLE
SIZE
7.875"
9.344"
10.781"
/
that of Test 8, gave only 55 percent displacement ~ 10
efficiency; and Test 5, which had approximately the 19
~
same pressure drop as Test 9, gave only 60 percent CL
..J 5
displacement efficiency. Tests 2, 8, and 9 were per-
formed with cement slurries that had similar rhe- ~
c
j:::
ology. The increasing pressure drop for these three (.)
tests was caused by increasing the flow rate from 60 ~ Slurry I Slurry 2
to 90 to 120 gal/min. Had turbulence not developed
in Tests 8 and 9, displacement efficiency should have
I
increased along a trend of the line drawn through 10 50 100110 50 100
Tests 1 through 7. FLOW RATE, gpm
Tests 10 through 12 indicate that higher mud dis- Fig. 8--Calculated vs observed frictional pressure drop.
placement efficiency was possible at frictional pres-
sure drops roughly equivalent to those of Tests 2, 8,
and 9. Examination of the six-speed Fann rheology
data shown on Table 2 reveals that the slurries used FLOW PRESSURE DROP No Pipe Movement
REGIME CALCULATION METHOD
in Tests 10 through 12 were thinner than those used • Laminar Shear Stress-Shear Rate Cement-Mud Density Equal
c,. Turbulent Reed Slide Rule
in Tests 2, 8, and 9. This indicates that a greater
100
degree of turbulence was achieved in Tests 10 through
12, thus greater drag stress was imposed at the Ilii/.
cement/mud interface than experienced with the
thicker slurries of Tests 2, 8, and 9. In fact, if mud
80
//
~6-
c,.IO