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Primary Cementing: An Introduction to the Objectives of Cementing an Open Hole. Introduction Objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to: State the objectives of primary cementing. Describe the operational sequence for primary cementing. List the requirements of an ideal cementable well bore. Describe the procedures used to condition the mud prior to primary cementing. Explain the keys to attaining complete mud displacement during the cement job.

Primary Cementing Overview

The purpose of primary cement jobs is to prevent the borehole from becoming a conduit for the uncontrolled mixing of formation fluids or equalization of formation pressures. A good cement sheath permits perforations into the oil leg of the pay zone to produce only oil, not the gas above or the water below. A good cement sheath also allows two pay zones in the same field to be developed separately while maintaining separate pressure regimes.

Running Casing

A poor cement sheath may contain channels through which water and gas can flow. The cement sheath also protects the shallow fresh water zones from being contaminated by salt water deeper in the well. The objectives of the primary cement job are then to establish a hydraulic seal at the contact between the hardened cement and both the casing and the formation, and to assure that there are no mud, gas, or water channels in the cement sheath. The well is drilled to casing depth. After cleanout trips, sometimes called wiper trips, the drill pipe is pulled from the well. The casing is run to total depth. The bottom of the hole is lightly tagged, and the casing is raised 5 to 10 feet off bottom. This provides room for the casing to stretch as the heavy cement is

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pumped. If the pipe comes in contact with the bottom of the hole, a higher surface pumping pressure will be required.

Mud circulation is now re-established and casing reciprocation started. Reciprocating the casing with centralizers and scratchers or cable wipers helps break down the mud that gelled during the pumping shut down to pull drill pipe and run casing. This results in a more complete displacement of the mud by cement.

Running Speed

If the casing running speed is too fast, the casing can act like a plunger or piston, causing high surge pressures in the mud column that could fracture the formation and result in lost circulation. The service company can calculate the maximum running speed to reduce danger of fracturing. Typical casing running speeds are from 20 to 40 seconds for each 40 foot joint of casing. Running casing at the lower speed to prevent fracturing does not add much time to the overall job. For example, running 10,000 feet of casing at 30 seconds per joint instead of 20 seconds per joint only adds 42 minutes to the running time.

Primary Cementing

When the well is ready for cementing, the two-plug cementing process is used. The two plugs help prevent contaminating the cement with mud by keeping them separate. A bottom red or orange wiper plug is put into the casing, followed by cement. When all the cement is pumped into the casing a black top wiper plug is put into the casing. A diaphragm in the bottom plug breaks when it reaches bottom, allowing the cement to pass through it. The volume of displacing fluid is carefully measured and, as the top plug nears bottom, the displacing pump is slowed to prevent an excessive pressure surge when the plug bumps the float collar. When the confirming pressure increase is observed at the surface, all the cement has been displaced into the annulus. At this point, the job is completed and pumping stops. In this example, a pressure increase of 1000 pounds is observed at the surface, confirming the plug has bumped.

Cement Plugs

The two plugs are color coded to prevent putting the wrong plug in first. If the top plug were put in first, the cement job would shut down when the plug reached bottom because cement cannot be pumped through it. The bottom plug has a diaphragm that breaks when it reaches bottom, allowing the cement to pass

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Hole Quality Overview

through it and into the annulus.

The primary cementing job really begins before the well is even drilled. As plans are made, it's important that the wellbore be designed to be drilled so it is cementable. It is imperative that the cementable well bore not be sacrificed to reduce drilling days and mud costs. The costs of repairing a faulty cement job can far exceed savings in drilling costs. Lost and delayed production and lost reserves must be included in any analysis of drilling costs. Six requirements of a cementable well bore are presented here.

Hole Diameter

The hole diameter is preferably 3 inches larger than the casing outside diameter. With the hole larger than the casing, it is easier to run and reciprocate the pipe without sticking. This also allows room for centralizers and scratchers. As discussed in the section on mud displacement, pipe movement, centralization, and scratching are all essential to successful cementing.

Hole Gauge

When an out-of-gauge hole is cemented, gelled mud in the enlarged and washed-out sections can be bypassed. This results in an ineffective hydraulic seal through the section. Drilling a gauge hole requires close attention to drilling conditions and particularly to the mud system. Polymer and oil-based muds usually provide better hole size control than other mud types.

Doglegs

The hole should not have any severe doglegs. Severe doglegs prevent effective centralization of the pipe and limit the pipe movement during cementing. Doglegs can be prevented by careful selection of bottomhole assembly and control of bit weight during the drilling operation.

Sloughing

The formations must be stabilized to prevent sloughing during cementing. Sloughing can completely block the annulus during cementing, terminating the job before the cement reaches the desired height. The associated high pressures often cause fracturing and loss of cement into the fracture below the blocked interval. When this happens, remedial work to place cement above the blocked interval may be required. Sloughing usually can be controlled by

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adjusting the properties of the drilling fluid during the drilling operation.

Formation Fluid Influx

If the mud weight is not adequate to hold back formation fluids, gas and other fluids may contaminate the cement. Before cementing operations begin, the mud should be weighted up sufficiently to prevent fluid entry. In high-pressure gas zones, a special cement slurry or other suitable techniques must be used to prevent gas entry during the cement setting process. Bubbles moving upward through the setting cement can leave channels that destroy the integrity of the cement job. Gas entry aerates the mud and cement, which reduces the weight of the fluid column. This can lead to blowouts.

Lost Circulation

Mud Conditioning Overview

The well should not be losing mud to the formation. In most cases, lost circulation is caused when excessive hydrostatic pressure creates fractures. Hydrostatic pressure must be reduced to allow the fracture to close and seal itself. Sometimes bridging lost circulation materials may also help the sealing process. In carbonate zones, solution channels may be the cause of mud loss. These must be sealed off by plugging material.

When mud circulation stops as the drill string is pulled out of the hole to prepare for running casing, the mud column in the hole heats up from its contact with surrounding formations. This heat leads to a sharp increase in the mud's gel strength. Leak-off of mud filtrate into the formations also adds to this gelling problem. After the casing is run, this gel strength must be broken and full annulus circulation restored by conditioning the hole before cementing. Otherwise, some of the gelled mud will be bypassed by the cement, rendering the cement job ineffective. Reciprocating and rotating casing equipped with centralizers and cable scratchers greatly enhances the mud conditioning.

Desired Mud Properties

Circulating mud having these properties at the surface will speed up the conditioning down hole. The returning mud should have these same properties before cementing begins. The mud being circulated from the surface should have as low a yield point as possible. In unweighted muds, a yield point of 5 to 10 is desired. In weighted muds, a yield point nearer 14 may be required to

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prevent solids from settling out in the wellbore. A plastic viscosity less than 20 is adequate. A funnel viscosity less than 50 is desirable.

Mud Circulation Procedure

The casing is run to bottom. The hole at this point is filled with gelled mud. As soon as the casing is on bottom, casing movement begins and circulation is started at a slow rate, perhaps as low as 3 barrels per minute. The low pump rate is necessary to prevent shock-loading the well and causing lost circulation. Pipe movement need not be severe. Reciprocation usually is one 20 foot stroke per minute and rotation with power tongs or swivel at 3 to 10 rpm. At first, mud tends to circulate close around the casing where movement is easier; this is the path of least resistance. Circulation is continued at this low rate for some period of time. After a time, the circulation rate is increased to about 5 barrels per minute. This causes more gelled mud to circulate in the annulus. Circulation and pipe movement are continued.

Finally, the circulation rate is increased to the maximum rate anticipated for the cement job. This rate is continued until the annulus is fully circulating from the outside of the casing to the wall of the hole. To obtain a successful cement job, do not begin cementing until a mud caliper test shows at least 95% of the open hole annulus is circulating. Mud circulation should continue until this value is reached. This is such an important operation to the success of the cementing job that it should not be rushed, even though it may take several hours.

Fluid Calipers

A fluid caliper is a material that is added to the mud in a slug and can easily be detected when it returns to the surface. Fluid calipers run during mud conditioning help determine how much of the open hole annulus is circulating at any given time. The volume of mud pumped to round-trip the slug determines the percentage of the open hole annulus being circulated.

Fluid Caliper Materials

Fluid caliper surveys can be run using various materials. The important factor is that the material selected can be easily identified when it returns to the surface. Materials that work well and are readily available include carbide, service company spacers and preflushes, oats, paint, and ethyl mercaptan.

Single Fluid Caliper Slug

In this example, a one-pound carbide slug is wrapped in paper towels and tied

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with rubber bands before placing in the surface mud line. To provide a convenient way to add the carbide, locate a hammer union in the surface mud circulating line on the rig floor. During the trip down the casing and up the annulus, the carbide turns to a gas. When the carbide has been pumped around and returns to the surface, it is detected with a gas-logging unit. One pound of carbide will show about 30 units of gas at the mud return line. When other materials are used, they are usually observed visually or by smell at the shale shaker. The volume of mud that is pumped during circulation of the caliper slug equals the hole volume, both inside and outside of the casing, that is being circulated at that time.

Multiple Fluid Caliper Slugs

A series of fluid calipers is used to monitor progress in the percent of open hole annulus being circulated. Four fluid calipers will be used to demonstrate the procedure. Calculations in this discussion will be based on the well configuration shown here. The first slug is injected shortly after mud circulation is started, when the casing reaches bottom. At intervals of about one hour, additional slugs of caliper material are injected at the surface. The second caliper slug usually is pumped before the first slug reaches the surface. This provides continuous monitoring of the progress of mud conditioning without having to wait too long between slugs. When the first caliper slug reaches the pit, the percent of the open hole annulus being circulated at that point can be calculated. In this example, the volume of mud pumped to round-trip the slug is 550 barrels. Using volume tables, it is calculated that 62% of the open hole annular volume is being circulated. The mud circulation rate has already been increased by the time the second slug is in the annulus. A third slug is now injected at the surface.

The second slug reaches the surface as the third slug is moving down the casing. The volume of mud pumped to round trip the caliper slug is now 583 barrels, so 80% of the open hole annulus is now circulating. This is an increase of 18% from the previous slug, but additional circulation is still necessary before cementing.

The circulation rate is again increased. This breaks up more of the gelled mud and causes more of the annulus to circulate. The third slug is moving up the annulus and a fourth slug has been injected at the surface. The third slug reaches the surface as the fourth slug is moving down the casing. The volume of mud pumped to reach the surface is now 610 barrels. Making the same

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calculations as before shows 95% of the open hole annulus is circulating. The cementing job can now begin. The fourth slug already in the casing will not be needed for additional calculations. The cementing job can proceed without waiting for it to reach the surface.

Fluid Caliper Calculations

A fluid caliper is run by injecting an easily identifiable material into the surface circulating line and pumping it down the casing with drilling mud. By measuring the volume of mud pumped to return the material to the mud pits, the volume of hole circulating can be calculated.

This example illustrates how to calculate the fraction of the open hole annulus that has circulated. The known casing and casing/casing annular volumes must be calculated using volume tables, and then subtracted from the fluid caliper volume. This determines the open hole annular volume that is being circulated. When the volume of mud circulated out of the open hole annulus is compared with the absolute volume of the annulus, we see that 90% of the volume has been swept. The absolute volume of the annulus is determined from a mechanical caliper or, if one was not run, by estimation based on drill bit size.

Mechanical Calipers

Mechanical calipers are run along with other logging tools before casing is run in the hole, and are used to determine the absolute volume of the open hole annulus. This volume is critical when calculating both fluid caliper and cement volumes. Because most drilled holes are oval-shaped rather than round, the most accurate mechanical caliper is obtained with the four-arm tool. The four-arm caliper should always be used when calculating both fluid caliper and cement volumes. A two-arm caliper will indicate a volume that is too large because the arms seek the long diameter of the hole. On a three-arm caliper, all three arms act together rather than independently. When two of the three arms are touching the bore hole walls, the third may not be touching because it won't expand further. Therefore, in oval holes, a threearm caliper will indicate a hole volume that is too small. In the four-arm caliper, sets of opposing arms act independently of the other set. Consequently, each set of two arms will measure the short and long diameter of the oval shaped hole. From this caliper, an accurate hole annulus volume can be calculated.

Mud Displacement

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Centralizers

A cement sheath of uniform thickness is essential to establishing a hydraulic seal between the casing and the well bore. Unless the casing is centralized, it will rest against one side of the hole, trapping mud between the pipe and the hole, preventing good cementing. Note that no hole is truly vertical; every hole is deviated to some degree. So, this problem is present not only in deviated holes, but also in what are normally considered vertical holes. Rotating and reciprocating casing equipped with centralizers and scratchers or cable wipers helps break down the gel that forms in the mud during the shut down to pull drill pipe and run casing. This results in a more complete displacement of the mud by cement.

Two main types of centralizers are shown here. When using bow spring models, the largest diameter that can be squeezed inside the previous string of casing is used. Large diameter springs are sometimes used in enlarged hole intervals. Rigid centralizers don't deform as they're run into the well. The outside diameter of the bars is slightly smaller than the open hole diameter and tends to provide positive standoff.

Centralizer Spacing

Vertical wells are usually not perfectly straight. They often have a spiral configuration, with the casing touching the side of the hole at various points. Centralizer spacing is therefore important in vertical wells. A spacing of one centralizer per casing joint is recommended through the pay zone and other critical intervals.

Through other intervals, centralizer spacing can vary from one every joint to one every third joint. Centralization of the casing is more difficult in deviated wells because of the increased casing load on the centralizers. To maintain centralization when the hole angle is high, space centralizers about 20 feet apart through the pay zone and other critical intervals.

Standoff

A casing string's standoff is the distance that separates it from the side of the hole at the point where it is closest to the hole. Standoff is determined by centralizer strength, spacing, and the geometry of the particular well.

Standoff can be expressed in percent by dividing the string's standoff distance by what it would be if the pipe were perfectly centered, and multiplying the result by 100. A perfectly centered string would therefore have a standoff of 100%,

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whereas a string in contact with the side of the hole would have a standoff of 0%.

During cementing, flow up an uncentralized casing-hole annulus will preferentially be up the wide side of the annulus, leaving a mud channel behind the casing that may allow communication between zones. In general, the higher the standoff, the less chance that channels will form.

At 100% standoff, maximum mud displacement is achieved. At 75% standoff, better displacement of mud by cement occurs but it is not complete. At 50% standoff, very little cement is displaced up the narrow side. Most operators try to reach 67% standoff, and the API standards for centralizers are based on 67% standoff.

Turbulators

A new casing device is available that not only centralizes the casing, but dramatically improves cementing success. Most manufacturers call this device a turbulator. A turbulator has rigid bars, 4 to 8 inches long, welded or molded at a 45 to 50 degree angle to flow, as shown here. Turbulators are more expensive than conventional bow centralizers but have significant advantages to offset the higher cost.

The spiral rigid blades or bars provide high positive standoff. Spacing is usually every 20 feet through critical zones. Turbulators force annulus fluids to swirl around the casing, thereby dramatically improving mud displacement efficiency. Field results and studies show turbulators perform extremely well in both vertical and deviated wells. Swirl lengths of 15 to 20 feet have been measured with some muds. When thin spacers and preflushes are used ahead of cement, this length is much longer. A big benefit of turbulators is that pipe movement is not essential for good mud displacement. The swirling effect of the turbulator not only causes the fluids in the wide side to swirl, but also removes most of the mud in the narrow side of the annulus.

Pump Rate

The scrubbing action of turbulent flow displaces more of the mud from the annulus than either laminar or plug flow, so turbulent flow in the annulus is desirable, if possible. In some cases, however, the additional annulus friction due to the higher flow rates required for turbulent flow can cause sufficient back pressure to fracture the formation. Note that the more centralized the pipe is, the lower the pump rate required to attain turbulent flow.

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In plug flow, most of the fluid moves smoothly and at a uniform speed. Fluid very near the edges moves slower. In laminar flow, the fluid moves smoothly, with fluid in the center moving faster than fluid at the edges. In theory, the fluid touching the wall is not moving. In turbulent flow, the fluid flows erratically with eddy currents. Turbulent flow during cementing will produce the best results. The cementing pump rate necessary to maintain turbulent flow is very sensitive to standoff. This is another reason to center the casing as closely as possible. In this typical example, if 100% standoff was assumed, as it normally is in designing cementing jobs, a pump rate of 7 barrels per minute would be sufficient for turbulent flow. The example chart shows that if standoff was 70%, a pump rate of 11 barrels per minute would be necessary for turbulent flow. At a standoff of 60%, the pump rate necessary to create turbulent flow would be 15 barrels per minute, or double the rate required at a standoff of 100%.

Summary

Objectives

In this module, you learned to: State the objectives of primary cementing. Describe the operational sequence for primary cementing. List the requirements of an ideal cementable well bore. Describe the procedures used to condition the mud prior to primary cementing. Explain the keys to attaining complete mud displacement during the cement job.

Review

This module covered the basics of Primary Cementing. It began by explaining the primary cementing process and its importance to well completion. The module described six characteristics that affect the suitability of a well bore for cementing. The methods of conditioning drilling mud to facilitate cementing were described. Finally, the module explained means of centering the casing in the well bore and maximizing mud displacement.

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