SPE 151031

Integrated Cementing Hydraulics Design for Massive Salt Zones

A. L. Martins, P. E. Aranha, M. G.Folsta, C. A. Simão, N. A. Batalha, G. H.V. P. Pinto, Petrobras

Copyright 2012, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference held in Mexico City, Mexico, 16–18 April 2012.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
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Abstract
Salt formations are common trap zones for prolific reservoirs. Recent discoveries in the Brazilian coast include light
oil carbonate reservoirs below massive salt zones. Well construction challenges in such environments include salt creeping,
leaching and proper zonal isolation.
This article presents a comprehensive integrated methodology for cementing design which accounts for the following
hydraulic aspects:
• Adequate fluid substitution design supported by numerical simulation considering two phase flow in eccentric
annuli and lubrication theory
• Downhole pressures in the operational window considering free fall effects for deepwater environments
• Open hole volume prediction based on salt leaching phenomena due to the circulation of unsaturated fluids. Flow
rate fluctuation as a result of free fall is considered
• Increase in salt concentration due to conduction effects after placement and its impact on slurry properties.
The methodology is exemplified by two typical scenarios for offshore salt cementing in the Brazilian pre-salt
cluster. Slurry design, slurry placement schedules and borehole stability considerations are addressed.

Introduction
Cementing operations in challenging scenarios require proper planning to guarantee the achievement of the
proposed goals. Zonal isolation is a must in most projects and its failure may lead not only to additional remediation costs but
also to severe operational issues and, in extreme cases, to catastrophic events (McAndrews (2011), Sweatman et al., (1999)).
Deepwater operations are frequently associated to narrow operational windows and flow rate fluctuations in the
annulus due to free fall effects, which may lead to losses during cement placement (Ryan et al., (1992), Campos et al.,
(1993))
Salt zone cementing brings additional concerns about total fulfillment of the annular zone with competent cement.
The existence of non-isolated portions of the annulus in front of a mobile salt zone may create weak points which will
concentrate stresses resultant from salt creeping. This fact may lead to casing collapse, and consequent loss of the well
(Oliveira et al., (1985), Sunal et al., (2008)).
The present boom in well construction in Brazil concentrates in the development of prolific carbonate reservoirs
located below massive salt zones, frequently in deepwater locations (Formigli et al., (2009)). Cementing these wells puts
together all the challenges described above and still others such as losses in the rubble zones in the boundaries of the salt
domes and in caves or fractures in the reservoir section.
Besides technical issues, the lack of experience of operating crews (a present worldwide profile in the petroleum
industry), the impressive amount of operations associated with high costs and the claims from the society and media for safer
operations add complexity to the subject. All these aspects pushed PETROBRAS to invest in personnel training, development
of reliable design tools, establishment of state of the art cementing labs and flow loops, definition of consistent operational
procedures, etc.
All this effort, carried in cooperation with service companies and the local scientific community (Martins et al.,
(2011), aims the operational excellence including cementing quality, costs , risks and consequently, the minimization of
undesired events.
This article deals with the steps covered, with the aid of in house developed software tools, by cementing design for
salt zones in deepwaters, such as: annular flow rate fluctuations due to free fall, minimization of slurry contamination with
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drilling fluids and flushes, evaluation of salt zone enlargement due to drilling and cementing with non-saturated systems and
achievement of the required cement structural properties after its placement in front of a salt zone.
The modeling of losses control in fractures, caves and rubble zones is quite complex, specially due to imprecise
definitions of their geometries and boundary conditions. The topic is still in a fundamental step, as described in Oliveira Jr. et
al., (2012), and will not be addressed in this article. Formulation issues for cements and flushes are also relevant, as described
by van Kleef (1989), Ismail and Khalaf, (1993), Gomez et al., (2011) and Aranha et al., (2011) and will not be part of the
scope of the present study.

Important Steps In Hydraulics Design

Free-fall and its Impact on Annular Flow Rate Fluctuations

During deepwater cementing processes, due to the large differences among the densities of drilling fluid, spacer and
cement slurry, a free-fall effect frequently occurs (Beirute, (1984), Campos et al., (1993)). This effect results in a low
pressure zone in the wellhead, which gradually decays to values near to zero provoking an acceleration process in the flow.
After some time, the non-balance state is reduced and the flow rate of the system decays, normally when cement slurry starts
to flow through annular region

Fluid Substitution
The analysis of the dynamics of fluid substitution in annular regions consists on two-phase flow simulation in which
one fluid displaces another with distinct physical properties (including non-Newtonian behavior). The solution of the
equations of motion for the problem provides the evolution of the shape of the interface between two fluids along their path.
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools are powerful for describing such processes, but the associated computational
cost to represent the flow in the hole wellbore trajectory may be prohibitive. Experimental work is also complex but add good
qualitative insights to the process. Several studies (Dutra et al., (2005), Dutra et al., (2004)) have been conducted by using
both CFD and experimental approaches to reproduce fluid substitution in short intervals.
Approaches considering the well-known lubrication theory (Frigaard et al., (2002), Frigaard et al., (2003)) simplify
the motion equations and allow the solution for relevant wellbore lengths with feasible computational cost. This approach has
been successfully used to design primary cementing operations but fails to reproduce cement plug operations, where the
annular gaps are generally wider. The formulation proposed by Gomes and Carvalho (2010) incorporates curvature effects
and succeeds to solve the problem. Aranha et al. (2012) present a new formulation which incorporates turbulent effects and
capture with good precision the efficient substitution of more viscous fluids by less viscous ones at high rates, typical of
some operations. This modeling also allows the change of properties of the contaminated interface to be updated while
pumping occurs.
Aranha et al., (2011) present an interesting parametric study including free-fall effects in the displacement of cement
plugs simulations. Results indicate that the variable displacement rate generated by the free fall effects tends to increase the
contamination during displacement, when compared to the constant displacement rates. These results reinforce the necessity
of considering free fall effects on the displacement process.

Salt leaching during drilling and cementing

Drilling and cementing salt zones with non-saturated fluids will result in formation dissolution and its incorporation
into the fluid. Excessive leaching during drilling may generate an over gauged hole which can interfere in several subsequent
operations including cementing. This is one of the reasons why drilling with synthetic fluids is preferred (Amaro et al.,
(2011)). In some cases however, drilling with seawater or with semi saturated water based muds may be economically
attractive (Willson et al., (2004)).
Cementing with saturated slurries and spacers would prevent additional leaching, but control of slurry properties is
very complex. Several authors (Martins et al., (2002), van Kleef (1989)) suggest the use of intermediate salt concentration
slurries, which would present adequate properties and generate controlled leaching.
Reda and Russo (1986) present an initial effort to estimate salt leaching based on global advection correlations.
Martins et al., (2002) and Folsta et al., (2011) evolved the concept to a mechanistic model accounting for the relevant mass
transport phenomena. The last one is used in the case study further presented.

Salt incorporation in the slurry after placement is finished

An additional concern is the salt transfer from the wellbore walls to the settling slurry after its placement. If salt
incorporation is expressive, the solid cement may not reach its mechanical requirements (Hunter et al., (2010)). In a design
process, the mechanistic model proposed by Folsta et al., (2011) may be used to reproduce the purely conductive salt transfer
to the cement which viscosity increases with time.

Case Study
SPE 151031 3

This section aims to highlight important points for the design of salt zone cementing in deepwater conditions.
Results are all based on an unique in house software suite to account for the items previously described.
A typical scenario for the Brazilian offshore operations was used, as follows: a vertical well with casing program as
described in Table 1, where the 20 in shoe is set in front of anhydrate and the study proposes to analyze the cementing job of
the 10.75 in casing was set in front of a massive halite section (3200 to 4900m). Fig. 1 shows the well schematics. Table 2
details the fluid sequence and properties. Two different slurry densities are considered for two different operational window
scenarios.

Table 1 – Casing Program for the case Study

Depth (m) OD (in) ID (in) Weight (lb.ft)
Riser 2141 21 19
Previous Casing 3187 20 18 209
Work String 2141 6.625 5
Casing 4900 10.75 9.156 85.3
Open Hole 4900 14.75 -

Figure 1 – Well Schematics

Table 2 – Fluid properties – Case study

Density (lb.gal-1) n K (lbfsn.100ft-2) Readings (deg)
θ600 θ300 θ200 θ100 θ60 θ30 θ6 θ3
Drilling Fluid 10.5 0.43 3.74 82 51 39 26 9 8
Spacer 11.5 0.37 5.43 75 58 43 31 25 20 15 9
Cement Slurry A 15.8 0.45 8.03 125 96 80 65 50 23 14
Cement Slurry B 12.5 0.37 5.88 67 45 42 33 31

Step 1 – Free Fall, Flow Rates and Pressures

For the proposed case, free fall tends to occur due to the density difference between the cement slurry (A or B) and
the other fluids involved in the placement process. The pumping schedule and volumes for Simulation A and B are presented
in Table 3.

Table 3 – Pumping Schedule – case study

Fluid Injection Flow Rate Volume
(bbl.min-1) (bbl)
Spacer 6 80
Cement Slurry (A or B) 5 234,2
Drilling Fluid (Displacement) 8 901,1

Figure 2 and 3 presented the flow rate results for cement placement for Slurries A and B, respectively. Figs. 4 and 5
4 SPE 151031

shows pressure charts for the same operations. Certainly, the free fall effects are more pronounced with the heavier slurry
(slurry A), generating severe flow rate fluctuations and pressure peaks.

-1
Figure 2 – Return flow rate for a displacement flow rate of 8 bbl.min - Slurry A

-1
Figure 3 – Return flow rate for a displacement flow rate of 8 bbl.min - Slurry B

Figure 4 – Downhole pressure for a displacement flow rate of 8 bbl.min-1 - Slurry A

SPE 151031 5

Figure 5 – Downhole pressure for a displacement flow rate of 8 bbl.min-1 - Slurry B

Step 2 – Fluid Substitution

Figs 6 and 7 illustrate the contamination in the fluid substitution process for slurries A and B. In both cases the
return flow rates calculated by the free fall model was used as inputs for the two phase interface propagation model, were
considered for casing centralization a 90% Standoff. According to the results, the contamination of slurry by drilling fluid did
not occur due the optimized density and rheology properties of the Spacer and proper centralization. Additional care should
be taken in inclined wells where poor casing centralization may induce stagnant zones and enhance the chances of
contamination of the cement slurry with the drilling fluid.

Figure 6 – Results for fluid substitution with displacement flow rate of 8 bbl.min-1 - Slurry A, (A) – 142 min(slurry crossing the shoe),
(B) – 158 min and (C) 173 min (end of displacement)
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Figure 7 – Results for fluid substitution with displacement flow rate of 8 bbl.min-1 - Slurry B, (A) – 144,5 min(slurry crossing the
shoe), (B) – 158 min and (C) 173 min (end of displacement)

Step 3 – Salt Incorporation in the Slurry During Placement

Fig. 8 illustrates the salt incorporation process due to leaching during cement placement of slurries A and B. The
results reflect the modeling proposed by Folsta et al., (2011) considering different initial salt concentrations in slurry. Since
the phase was drilled with a synthetic drilling fluid, no initial leaching was considered. In both cases plots present results
obtained with effective flow rate of cement slurry in the annulus. Simulations for cement slurry A were performed with flow
rate fluctuations due to free fall. Simulations with slurry 2 were performed without flow rate variation, as indicated in Figure
3 (almost constant flow rate on the rightside of the gray vertical, when the cement slurry reaches the annulus). Simulations
considered three different initial salt concentrations to evaluate their impact on the placed slurry salt concentration profile.
A comparison between the results obtained for slurries A and B shows quite similar results. The free fall occurrence
results in a slow slurry velocity flow in the annulus and so, it was expected to result in less salt incorporation. However, there
are several other variables affecting the salt solubilization. For instance the slurry that resulted in almost no free fall (cement
slurry B) is lighter and less viscous. Furthermore, higher flow velocities result in lower contact times during displacement.
The combined effects resulted in almost no difference between slurries A and B, as presented in figure 8. Final hole caliper
profiles can also be estimated by the simulation, as detailed in Folsta et al., (2011).

Figure 8 – Simulation of salt incorporation during slurries A and B placement. Initial salt concentration from left to right: 0%, 15%
and 30% (w/v)
SPE 151031 7

Step 4- Salt Incorporation After Slurry Placement

In this step, all the advective terms were turned off while running the mass transfer model. Fig. 9 shows a sensibility
analysis of salt incorporation for different slurry viscosities (and zero initial salt concentration). The effect of viscosity on
diffusion was not very significant for this period of time, although it can be noticed the slurry with higher viscosity resulted
in less diffusion through the annulus. This result is physically consistent since the increase in viscosity will difficult mass
transfer phenomena. There is almost no change in salt concentration from distances superior to 1 in (2,54cm) from the salt
surface.

1 cP
10 cP
2,5 50 cP
Distance from salt surface (cm)

100 cP
150 cP

1,5

0,5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Salt concentration (% w/v)

Figure 9 – Simulation of salt incorporation in the placed slurry (static period of 2 hours).

During the static period, the slurry viscosity tends to increase with time as a reflex of hydrating, gelling and curing
processes, as highlighted in the experimental result obtained in a high precision rheometer (Fig. 10 , Pinto et al,( 2012)).

Figure 10 – Typical viscosity behavior profile for cement slurries after placement (Pinto et al, (2012))

The increase in salt concentration changes several cement properties and so, the final salt concentration after
displacement is a very important property to be estimated. For instance, the compressive strength increases until salt
concentration still below 10% and, after that point, it starts decreasing (Fig 11). This behavior, combined with salt
incorporation from formation, may result in compressive strength below the project requirements.
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Figure 11 – Effect of salt concentration on cement properties.

Final Remarks

This article highlights a comprehensive design methodology for salt zone cementing. Dedicated software provides
the required precision to the process, by properly estimating free fall, circulating pressures, cement slurry contamination
during placement and salt incorporation during and after placement.
The hydraulics guidelines can be optimized by the use of proper fluid/spacer/slurry properties, including rheology,
density, stability and required volumes. Cement slurry composition has to be adjusted to provide proper mechanical
properties after salt incorporation.
Cementing salt zones in challenging scenarios require proper planning, good design tools, formulation optimization
and operational procedures. Teamwork is fundamental to achieve performance and HSE indexes. Drilling salt zones with
water based muds and cementing inclined salt sections bring additional concerns to be covered in future publications.

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