IPM IDPT

Well Engineering Module

Cementing Technology

IDPT CT 1
IPM
Cementing Technology

• Module Contents:
• Module Objectives,
• Primary Cementing
• Cement Classification,
• Cement properties
• Cement Additives,
• Remedial Cementing Techniques.

IDPT CT 2
IPM
Cementing Technology
• Module Objectives:
• At the end of this module, YOU will be able to:
• Understand the difference between primary and secondary
cementing,
• Identify classes of cement appropriate for different depth
range,
• Explain how the properties of cement may be altered by the
use of additives,
• Describe the remedial cementing techniques and calculate
the balanced plug
• Calculating the following:
• Volume of slurry and displacement strokes in various cases.

IDPT CT 3
IPM
Primary Cementing

• Introduction;
• Primary cementing is the introduction of cementacious material
into the annulus between casing and openhole to:
• Provide zonal isolation,
• Support axial load of casing string and other strings to be
run later,
• Provide casing protection,
• Support the borehole,
• Secondary/or Remedial jobs:
• Squeeze cementing,
• Cement plug.

IDPT CT 4
IPM
Primary Cementing
• Conductor Pipe:

• Cementing Procedure:
• Plugs not used,
• Large excess required,
• Thru-drill pipe cementing common,
• BOP’s not usually connected,
• Common Cements; Accelerated Neat.

IDPT CT 5
IPM
Primary Cementing

• Thru-Drill Pipe Cementing;

• Key Points:
• Cement Contamination,
• Channeling,
• Displacement,
• Pump Until Slurry is at surface.

Movie

IDPT CT 6
IPM
Primary Cementing

• Outside Cementing;
• Purpose:
• Bring Cement to Surface.
• Macaroni TBG used:
• Max depth 250 - 300 ft,
• High friction Pressures,
• Non-standard Connections.

IDPT CT 7
IPM
Primary Cementing

• Surface Casing:

• Cementing Procedure:
• Excess of 100%,
• Recommended thru-drillpipe method to save:
• Cement,
• Rig time.
• Common Cements:
• Lead light slurry with high yields,
• Neat tail slurries with good compressive strength,
• Reduce WOC to a minimum with accelerators.

IDPT CT 8
IPM
Primary Cementing

• Intermediate Casing

• Cementing Procedure:
• Cemented to surface or to previous casing shoe,
• Possibly a two stage jobs,
• Plugs, casing equipment and casing accessories are usual,
• Good cementing practices are required,
• Large cement volumes.
• Common Cements:
• Typically filler slurries followed by high compressive tail,
• Specialized (light, heavy, salt - saturated, etc.).
Movie

IDPT CT 9
IPM
Primary Cementing

SECOND STAGE
• Two Stage Cementing;
• Key Points:
• Separation and isolation of
zones, STAGE COLLAR

• Reduces hydrostatic,
• Can leave zone in the annulus
uncemented (cement at TD and
surface),
• Loss zone.

FIRST STAGE
FLOAT COLLAR

Movie FLOAT SHOE

IDPT CT 10
IPM
Primary Cementing

• Liners; Drill pipe

• Key points: Wiper Plug

• Liner-lap integrity,
• Separation and isolation of zones,
Liner
• Small volumes. Hanger
Running
• Critical cement job. Tool

Shear
Pin Liner
Wiper
Plug

Movie

IDPT CT 11
IPM
Primary Cementing Calculations

• Single-stage Cementing Calculation

Exercise
• Liner Cementing Calculation

IDPT CT 12
IPM
Cement Classification

• API has identified classes for neat Portland

cement.
• The criteria used by API is based on the degree of
the fineness of the cement particles.
• Class A:
• Intended for use from surface to 6000 ft, when
special properties are not required.
• Class B:
• Intended for use from surface to 6000 ft, when
condition require moderate to high sulfate
resistance.

IDPT CT 13
IPM
Cement Classification

• Class C:
• Intended for use from surface to 6000 ft, when
conditions require high early strength.
• Class D:
• Intended for use from 6000 to 10000 ft, under
conditions of moderately high temperatures and
pressures.
• Class E:
• Intended for use from 10000 to 14000 ft, under
conditions of high temperatures and pressures.

IDPT CT 14
IPM
Cement Classification

• Class F:
• Intended for use from 10000 to 14000 ft, under
conditions of extremely high temperatures and
pressures.
• Class G:
• Intended for use from surface to 8000 ft, it can
be used with retarders and accelerators to cover
a wide range of well depths and temperature.
• Class Geotherm:
• This is not an API, but it is basically a class G with
silica flour. In order to withstand; high temperature,
pressure wells.
IDPT CT 15
IPM
Cement Classification

• Class H:
• Intended for use from surface to 8000 ft, can be accelerated or
retarded to cover a wide range of well depths and temperature.
• Class J:
• Intended for use as manufactured from 12000 to 16000 ft and
can be accelerated or retarded.

IDPT CT 16
IPM
Cement Properties

• The properties vary according to the objectives of

the cement job. Thus for casing job the cement
must:
• Yield a slurry of given density while still exhibiting desired
slurry properties,
• Be easily mixed and pumped,
• Meet optimum rheological properties required for mud
removal,
• Maintain both physical and chemical characteristics
during placement,
• Be impermeable to annular gas, if present while setting.

IDPT CT 17
IPM
Cement Properties

• After Placement;
• Develop strength quickly,
• Develop sufficient strength in the long term,
• Develop casing and formation bond strength,
• Have as low permeability as possible,
• Maintain quality even under severe temperature and
pressure.

IDPT CT 18
IPM
Cement Properties

• The properties that are measured to determine a

particular job design are categorized as:
• Cement Slurry Properties,
• Set Cement Properties.

• The properties of the cement will vary from one well to

another and will be determined by the characteristics of
the well.

IDPT CT 19
IPM
Cement Properties
• Cement Slurry Properties;
• Water Cement Ratio:
• Use of a cement consistometer
• Slurry Chamber submitted to a Temperature and pressure
schedule
• Slurry Chamber rotated at 150 rpm
• Torque on a fixed paddle is measured
• Bc = slurry consistency in API consistency units is measured
– Bearden Unit
• The thickening time is defined as 100 BC consistency – 70
Bc commonly used : When the slurry is no longer pumpable

IDPT CT 20
IPM
Cement Properties
• Cement Slurry Properties;
• Water Cement Ratio:
• Defines the min and max boundaries of water content in slurry,
• Minimum water content is the amount of mixing water per sack
of cement that will result in a consistency of 30 Bc after 20
minutes at 80 deg F and 1 atm
• The normal water content is the of amount of mixing water per
sack of cement that will result in a consistency of 11 Bc at the
end of the test.
• The free water content is the amount of water that separates
from a 250 ml sample of slurry after 2 hours
• The maximum water content is the amount of mixing water per
sack of cement that will result in 3.5 ml of free water
• Exceeding the maximum ratio will cause pockets of free water to
form and reduce the strength of set cement.
IDPT CT 21
IPM
Cement Properties
• Cement Slurry Properties;
• Slurry Density:
• Measured in PPG or Kg/l, and is governed by the maximum
and minimum water cement ratio,
• Specific well conditions may require the use of lighter or
heavier cements,
• Lower density slurries may be obtained by using lightening
materials such as Pozzolans etc,
• Higher density slurries may be obtained by using water
content below the minimum acceptable. In such cases
pumpability is achieved by using dispersants to increase
fluidity.

IDPT CT 22
IPM
Cement Properties
• Cement Slurry Properties;
• Fluid Loss Control:
• Variation in water content will affect many characteristics
such as thickening time, rheology and compressive
strength,
• Thus a neat slurry placed over a permeable formation will
lose filtrate resulting in dehydration of the slurry and
decrease in the pumpability,
• Flash setting may occur due to rapid dehydration,
• Loss circulation may occur due to an increase in friction
pressure,
• Final compressive strength maybe reduced due to lack of
hydration.
IDPT CT 23
IPM
Cement Properties
• Cement Slurry Properties;
• Fluid Loss Control:

• Some typical fluid loss values are:

• For normal uncontrolled neat cement; 800-1000 ml/ 1000 psi
for 30 min,
• For cementing casing; 100-200 ml/ 1000 psi for 30 min,
• For cementing liners; 50-100 ml/ 1000 psi for 30 min,

IDPT CT 24
IPM
Cement Properties
• Cement Slurry Properties;
• Fluid Loss Control:

• Flash setting due to dehydration followed by fracturing of

lower zone due to increased frictional losses;

Hydrostatic Pressure

Filtrate Filtrate

Dehydrated Cement

Weak Zone Fractured Weak Zone

IDPT CT 25
IPM
Cement Properties
• Cement Slurry Properties;
• Slurry Rheology:
• The rheological parameters govern the slurries ability to
flow with respect to:
• Pressure loss characteristics,
• Flow through small opening
• Mud removal capability.

IDPT CT 26
IPM
Cement Properties
• Cement Slurry Properties;
• Slurry Rheology:

• Studies have shown that properties that exhibit flat profiles

tend to maintain separation of different fluids,
• Turbulent and plug flow traditionally are preferred over
laminar flow.
Velocity Profiles

Plug Laminar Turbulent

IDPT CT 27
IPM
Cement Properties
• Cement Slurry Properties;
• Pumping Time:
• Defines the time for which a slurry can be pumped,
• A slurry must be fluid for as long as it takes to place it and
then must set as soon as possible after pumping to limit the
waiting on cement time,
• API defines the thickening time as the time for a slurry to
achieve 100 BC. Cement operators normally assume a 50%
contingency on pumping time to design their thickening time
specification,
• Accelerators and retarders are used to increase or decrease
a slurries pumping time.

IDPT CT 28
IPM
Cement Properties
• Set Cement Properties;
• Compressive Strength;
• This property is required for:
• Securing and supporting the casing,
• Withstanding the shock loading of drilling and perforating,
• Supporting hydraulic pressures without fracturing,
• Withstanding the load of tectonic forces such as salt zone.
• Compressive strength is about 10 to 12 times more than
tensile strength

IDPT CT 29
IPM
Cement Properties
• Set Cement Properties;
• Compressive Strength:

• Lab test proves that CS required to support casing is

normally less than 100 psi,
• 500 psi are required before drill-out cement,
• High CS are required to withstand hydraulic pressure
during injection and production operation,
• CS, typically increases with time as cement hardens, but
under conditions of high temperature, the CS may decrease
over a period of time, this is called STRENGTH
RETROGRESSION.

IDPT CT 30
IPM
Cement Properties
• Set Cement Properties;
• Cement Bonding;
• This is the main criteria for ensuring a seal. Breakdown of a
the seal can occur due to shrinkage of the cement after
hydration or cooling of the casing due to producing fluids,
• Micro annuli are formed which can be permeable enough to
allow gas migration,
• Therefore we can say that:
• The permeability of set cement and bond strength are both
properties that influence the isolation characteristics,
• Cement permeability normally is very low, 0.01 md, and
therefore is not a problem except in gas zone,
• High permeability can occur in extended cements and
therefore as general rule the water - cement ratio affects
permeability of a cement..

IDPT CT 31
IPM
Cement Additives

• Cement additives can be classified as follows:

• Accelerators,
• Retarders,
• Fluid loss additives,
• Dispersants,
• Extenders,
• Weighting agents,
• Lost circulation additives,
• Special additives.

IDPT CT 32
IPM
Cement Additives

• Accelerators;
• Accelerators generally work to decrease the thickening
time and build early compressive strength,
• Basically there are three types:
• Calcium chloride,
• Sodium chloride,
• Sea water.
• Accelerators are used to reduce WOC, such as in
surface casing and shallow wells, particularly when low
temperature is involved.

IDPT CT 33
IPM
Cement Additives

• Accelerators;
• Calcium Chloride:
• CaCl2, is the most common, effective and economical
accelerator,
• It is always acts as an accelerator, regardless of the
concentration used,
• The usual dosage is 2 to 4 %.
• Sodium Chloride:
• NaCl, is not a very efficient accelerator and should be used
only when CaCl2 is not available,
• 10% will accelerate cement slurry, 20% will act as a
retarder.

IDPT CT 34
IPM
Cement Additives

• Accelerators;
• Sea Water:
• Sea water is used extensively for mixing cement slurries on
offshore locations,
• It contains up to 2.5% of chloride, which acts as a cement
accelerator,

• Retarders;
• These are Chemicals used to delay cement setting time, in
order to allow enough time for proper slurry placement.

IDPT CT 35
IPM
Cement Additives

• Retarders;
• Following are some of the retarders:
• Sodium chloride:
• Good retarder when mix water is saturated with salt,
• Lignosulfonates:
• These are chemical compounds derived from wood pulp,
• They used over a range of 0.1 to 1.5% BWOC.
• Cellulose Derivatives:
• Their main function is a fluid loss additives, by which they
maintain a constant water to solids ratio in cement slurries,
• They have the ability to retard cement.

IDPT CT 36
IPM
Cement Additives

• Dispersants;
• These help maintain a uniform distribution of components in a
slurry and result in maintaining flow properties. They are used
to:
• Induce turbulent flow,
• Allowing a reduction in water content and therefore
increasing the compressive strength of the slurry, typically
in plug jobs and can be used in conjunction with weighting
agents
• For fluid loss control
• Lignosulfonates can also be used as dispersants

IDPT CT 37
IPM
Cement Additives

• Extenders;
• Extenders are used for one of the following reasons:
• Decrease slurry density to reduce the hydrostatic
pressure during cementing job,
• Increase slurry yield (cuft of slurry per sack of
cement) and hence decrease the overall cost,
• They are classified as following:
• Water-based:
• Clays, chemical extenders (Bentonite).
• Lightweight Aggregates:
• Pozzolans, Gilsonite, expand Perlite
• Ultra-Lightweight Systems:
• Nitrogen, Litefil microspheres.

IDPT CT 38
IPM
Cement Additives

• Weighting Agents;
• These are additives used to increase the cement slurry density,
• They should meet the following requirements:
• High specific gravity,
• Larger particle size. If small sizes, they increase viscosity,
• Low water absorption,
• Availability and acceptable cost.
• Examples of weighting agents are:
• Barite,
• Hematite (iron oxide).

IDPT CT 39
IPM
Cement Additives

• Lost Circulation Materials (LCM);

• They help to combat lost circulation. They can do so by:
• Preventing the occurrence of induced fractures,
• Curing lost circulation by forming a low permeability bridge
across the opening,
• Some of the LCMs are:
• Granular,
• Flake,
• Fibrous.

IDPT CT 40
IPM
Cement Additives

• Special Additives
• Some of these additives are as follows:
• Thixotropic:
• This term describe a system that becomes a fluid under
conditions of shear. This type is useful in lost circulation
zones.
• Defoaming:
• These are additives that remove foam from the cement
slurry, they could be found as antifoam or defoamer.
• Strength Retrogression Prevention Agents:
• Silica sand products are used to prevent such problem.
• Gas Channeling:
• This associated with the loss of hydrostatic pressure
during dehydration process.

IDPT CT 41
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique

• Cement Plugs;
• A cement plug involves a relatively small volume of cement
slurry, and is placed in the wellbore for various purpose:
• To cure lost circulation during drilling,
• Directional drilling and sidetracking or whipstocking,
• To plug back a depleted zone,
• Abandonment,
• To provide an anchor for openhole tests.

IDPT CT 42
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Cement Plugs;
• Applications;
• Sidetracking & Directional Drilling.

Kick Off Point

CEMENT
PLUG

New
Hole

IDPT CT 43
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Cement Plugs;
• Applications

• Plugback & Depleted Zone.

Cement
Plug

Depleted
Zone

IDPT CT 44
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Cement Plugs;
• Applications
Drill Pipe
• Lost Circulation.

Open Hole

Drill Pipe

Thief Zone
CEMENT
CEMENT
PLUG
PLUG

IDPT CT 45
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Cement Plugs;
• Applications

• Abandonment.
CEMENT
PLUG

CEMENT
PLUG

CEMENT
PLUG

IDPT CT 46
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Cement Plugs;
• Applications

• Test Anchor. Test String

Zone to be Tested

CEMENT Weak
PLUG
Formation

IDPT CT 47
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique

• Cement Plugs;
• Plug Placement Techniques;
• There are two Common Techniques for Placement Cement
Plug namely:
• Dump bailer,
• Balanced Plug.

IDPT CT 48
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Cement Plugs;
• Placement Techniques;

• Dump Bailer:
• The tool is run with wireline and allows the placement of a
measured quantity of cement,
• The dump bailer is opened as soon as it touches a
permanent bridge plug. The cement is dumped as the
tool is pulled,
• Used for workover operations as the depth is easily
controlled.

IDPT CT 49
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Cement Plugs;
• Placement Techniques; WIRELINE
• Dump Bailer:

DUMP BAILER

CEMENT SLURRY

ELECTRICAL/
MECHANICAL
DUMP RELEASE

BRIDGE PLUG
CASING
IDPT CT 50
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Cement Plugs;
• Placement Techniques;

• Balanced Plug:
• This is the most commonly used. It is conducted by
drillpipe or tubing to the desired depth,
• Spacer or wash is pumped ahead and behind the cement
to avoid mud contamination and proper placement,
• Displacement is done by drilling fluids to reach
hydrostatic balance,
• It is common practice to underbalance 2 to 3 bbls to avoid
flow back onto the rig floor,
• Once the plug is balanced, the pipe is slowly pulled out of
the hole and the excess cement is circulated out.
IDPT CT 51
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Cement Plugs;
Reversing/Direct
• Placement Techniques;
Displ.
• Balanced Plug: Fluid

Spacer

Cement
Slurry

Plug
Length

IDPT CT 52
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Cement Plugs;
• Placement Techniques;

• Slurry volume calculation.

Drillpipe/tubing

Lsp2 Spacer

7000
Cement
L
Lcmt
7500
Mud

Desired Plug At End of Displacement

IDPT CT 53
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Cement Plugs;
• Placement Techniques;
• Slurry volume calculation

• Volume of Cement. Vcmt

Vcmt = L x Ch x S.F.
L = Length of column of cement in openhole (ft),
Ch = Openhole capacity (ft3/ft).
• Length of Balanced Plug with String in Place. Lcmt,
Lcmt = Vcmt / (Can + Ctbg ),
Can = Annular capacity between pipe and openhole (ft3/ft).
Ctbg = Capacity of pipe or tbg (ft3/ft).

IDPT CT 54
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Cement Plugs;
• Placement Techniques;
• Slurry volume calculation

• Volume of Spacer behind the Cement.Vsp2

Vsp2 = ( Vsp1 / Can ) x Ctbg .
Vsp1 = Volume of spacer ahead cement Slurry (ft3) .
L = Length of column of cement in openhole (ft),
• Length of Spacer Behind the Cement. Lsp2
Lsp2 = Vsp2 / Ctbg .
• Displacement Volume. Dv
Dv = Ctbg x [ D - ( Lsp2 + Lcmt )]
D = Depth of working string (bottom of cement plug) ft.

IDPT CT 55
IPM
Primary Cementing Calculations

• Balanced Cement Plug

calculations

IDPT CT 56
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique

• Squeeze Cementing;
• Purpose of Squeeze Cementing:
• Repair a primary cement job that failed due to channeling
or insufficient height in the annulus,
• Eliminate water intrusion from above, below or within the
hydrocarbon producing zone,
• Reduce the producing G/O ratio by isolating gas zones
from oil intervals,
• Repair casing leaks due to a corroded or split pipe,
• Plug all or part of one or more zones in a multizone
injection well,
• Plug and abandon a depleted or water-out producing zone.

IDPT CT 57
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Squeeze Cementing;
• Theory:
• The overall theory is due to the filtration process which
include:
• How much differential pressure applied,
• Porosity and permeability of the interested zone,
• Filter cake deposition.
casing PRIMARY
CEMENT
DEHYDRATED
CEMENT

cement
nodes

FORMATION

IDPT CT 58
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique

• Squeeze Cementing;
• Squeeze Techniques;
• Placement:
• Low pressure,
• High pressure.
• Pumping:
• Running,
• Hesitation.
• Application:
• Bradenhead,
• Squeeze tool.

IDPT CT 59
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique

• Squeeze Cementing;
• Placement:
• Low pressure squeeze:
• Squeeze pressure below fracture,
• Small slurry volume.

• High pressure squeeze:

• Squeeze pressure above fracture,
• Large slurry volume.

IDPT CT 60
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Squeeze Cementing;
• Running Squeeze;
• Continuous pumping,
• Final squeeze pressure attained,
• Large slurry volume,
• Low or high pressure squeeze.
Pressure ( psi )

Time (min)

IDPT CT 61
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Squeeze Cementing;
• Running Hesitation Squeeze;
• Intermittent pumping,
• Low pumprate,
• High initial leak-off,
• Small slurry volume,
• Long job time.
Pressure (psi)

Time (min)

IDPT CT 62
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique

• Squeeze Cementing;
• Squeeze Tool Technique:
• Retrievable Tools,
• Positrieve packer,
• Hurricane packer,
• Shorty squeeze tool,
• RBP.

IDPT CT 63
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Squeeze Cementing;
• Bradenhead Squeeze (Poor boy squeeze):
• No downhole tool,
• Exposed casing and wellhead.

BOP

BRIDGE CEMENT
PLUG

IDPT CT 64
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique

• Squeeze Cementing;
• Squeeze Tool Technique;
• Packer with tailpipe Squeeze: Packer
Tail Pipe
• Casing and wellhead Protection,
• Downhole isolation tool,
CEMENT
• Tailpipe for Placement,
• Long Intervals,
• Multiple setting of packer.

IDPT CT 65
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Squeeze Cementing;
• Squeeze Tool Technique;

• Packer without Tailpipe Squeeze:

• Downhole isolation tool,
Packer
• Casing and wellhead protection,
CEMENT
• Short intervals.

IDPT CT 66
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique
• Squeeze Cementing;
• Squeeze Tool Technique;

• Cement Retainer Squeeze:

• Drillable isolation tool,
• Similar to packer w/out tail CEMENT
pipe, RETAINER

• Squeeze pressure trapped CEMENT

below the tool.

Sand BRIDGE PLUG

IDPT CT 67
IPM
Remedial Cementing Technique

• Squeeze Cementing;
• Coiled Tubing Squeeze;
• Application:
• Producing wells,
• Through tubing.
• Advantage:
• Cost,
• Accurate placement.

IDPT CT 68
IPM
Cementing Technology
• Now YOU should be able to:
• Understand the difference between primary and secondary
cementing jobs,
• Identify classes of cement appropriate for different depth
range,
• Explain how the properties of cement may be altered by the
use of additives,
• Describe the remedial techniques and calculate the balanced
plug,
• Calculating the following:
• Volume of slurry and displacement strokes in various
cases.

IDPT CT 69
IPM