Design and Performance Evaluation

of a Unique Deepwater Cement Slurry

Chengwen Wang and Ruihe Wang, SPE, China University of Petroleum (East China); Huazhou Li,
SPE, University of Regina; and Yuhuan Bu and Weidong Zhou, SPE, China University of Petroleum (East China)

Summary
The exploration and development of deepwater hydrocarbon
resources necessitate the fast evolution of drilling and completion
technologies for deepwater wells. To drill and complete deepwater
wells successfully, sophisticated technologies need to be developed
to solve various problems arising from low temperature, weak
formations, shallow water/gas flow, environmental protection, and
high deepwater rig rate.
It is a challenge to develop a good cement slurry that can be
used successfully for deepwater wells under low-temperature
environment. Such cement slurry should have several distinct
properties, such as a short thickening time, a fast transition from
liquid to solid, a rapid development of compressive strength,
and environmental friendliness. It usually takes a long time for
conventional cement slurry to set and only limited compressive
strength can be achieved at low temperatures. In addition, most
additives used for the conventional cement have adverse effects on
the environment. Therefore, it is of upmost importance to design
an environmentally friendly and low-density cement slurry that is
appropriate for deepwater wells.
In this paper, a new deepwater cement [sulfur polymer cement
(SP-C)] was designed and tested for the first time. This new deepwater cement combines the advantages of the sulfoaluminate cement
and Class G oilwell cement. Green cement additives including
cement dispersant, fluid-loss-control agent, and accelerator were
also developed. Consequently, a unique low-density cement slurry
was obtained for deepwater-well applications. Laboratory tests
showed that the low-density slurry exhibited favorable properties
including the nonexistence of free fluid, an excellent fluid-loss-control capability, a short waiting-on-cement time at low temperatures,
and a shortened transition time of critical gel strength. This new
cement slurry can be easily prepared and applied in deepwater wells
without adverse impacts on the marine environment.
Introduction
The deepwater region in the oil and gas industry usually refers to
the sea area with a water depth of more than 500 m. The earliest
deepwater well operations in the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, and West
Africa date back to late 1970s (Shirley 2002). At present, the hydrocarbon reserves in deepwater are estimated to be 57 billion BOE,
while undiscovered hydrocarbons of 85100 billion BOE are probably buried in deepwater reservoirs (Pettingill and Weimei 2002;
Rae and Di Lullo 2004). The exploitation of deepwater resources
is inevitable because onshore oil production is diminishing gradually. There are abundant oil and gas resources located in deepwater
regions of the South China Sea. Part of Chinas future energy supply will depend on deepwater hydrocarbon resources in this area.
China National Petroleum Corporation has developed the deepwater
reservoirs in the South China Sea since 2006.
Deepwater cementing is one of the key techniques that ensure
successful drilling and completion of deepwater wells. Compared

Copyright 2011 Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper (SPE 130266) was accepted for presentation at the International Oil and Gas
Conference and Exhibition in China, Beijing, China, 810 June 2010, and revised for
publication. Original manuscript received for review 9 February 2010. Revised manuscript
received for review 2 October 2010. Paper peer approved 6 October 2010.

220

with conventional cementing, however, deepwater cementing (especially for surface casing) presents many challenges because of the
unfavorable conditions associated with deepwater operations, such
as low temperature, shallow water/gas flow, weak formations, high
rig rate, and stringent environmental requirements. Accordingly, a
good deepwater cement slurry is required to solve these problems.
Design of Deepwater Cement and Its Additives
Deepwater Cement. The temperature at the deepwater seafloor
is around 4C, which varies slightly with different geographical
locations. The circulating temperature of deepwater cement slurry
usually ranges between 10 and 15C, and thickening time can be
quite sensitive at such temperature. Low temperature considerably
slows down the cement-hydration process and has an adverse affect
on the thickening time and compressive-strength development of
the cement slurry. Thus, the cement must set and provide sufficient
compressive strength to proceed with drilling without long waiting-on-cement time, preferably less than 24 hours. And the cement
slurry must have relatively long thickening time that allows it to
be placed successfully in the desired location. Table 1 shows
the effect of temperature on the compressive strength of Class G
cement and microfine oilwell cement (D50 = 3.67 m). It can be
seen that the conventional cement slurry develops no compressive
strength when cured for 12 hours at 4C and at 10C. A similar
observation is also found for the microfine oilwell cement slurry.
Therefore, the conventional cement systems are not suitable for
deepwater drilling and completion operations.
Many deepwater cement systems have been developed; they can
be classified as high-alumina cement system (Brothers and Palmer
2001), fast-setting gypsum cement (Carre et al. 2002), particlesize-distribution cement system with Class G cement and microfine
cement (Piot et al. 2001), and mixed system of Class G cement (or
Class H) and accelerator (Mohammedi et al. 2001; OLeary et al.
2004). The high-alumina cement can achieve rapid strength development under low temperatures, but is incompatible with many
cement additives. One disadvantage of fast-setting gypsum cement
is that each blend must be rigorously tested before cementing
operations because the gypsum quality is highly variable. With the
latter two systems, it is fairly difficult to prevent gas migration and
develop high early strength under low-temperature and low-density
conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new deepwater
cement system with desirable properties of low-temperature tolerance, low density, and good gas-migration control.
Calcium sulfoaluminate cements, with tetracalcium trialuminate
sulfate (C4 3 S ) phase as their main constituent, were developed
in China in the 1970s, and China is the main world producer of
such cement. Calcium sulfoaluminate cements are characterized
by many advantageous properties, such as high early compressive
strength, compatibility with different additives, high corrosion
resistance, and good expandability. Moreover, their production
requires a lower clinker burning temperature (approximately
1250C) and gives rise to lower emissions of CO2 compared with
ordinary Portland cements (Pra and Ambroise 2004). Ettringite
(AFt) and alumina gel are formed when C4 3 S hydrates, which
makes the calcium sulfoaluminate cement set quickly and develop
a high early strength at temperatures lower than 0C. Thereby,
C4 3 S has been widely used as the main component of cements
for low-temperature applications.
June 2011 SPE Drilling & Completion

TABLE 1EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON TH E COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF SLURRIES AT ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS

Compressive Strength

Compressive Strength

at 4C (psi)

at 10C (psi)

Sample

W/C

12 hr

Class G well cement

0.44

N/A

Microfine oilwell cement

0.50

N/A

24 hr

Compressive Strength
at 20C (psi)

12 hr

24 hr

12 hr

24 hr

36.23

N/A

120.29

75.36

744.93

333.33

31.88

785.50

455.07

2415.94

N/A: no compressive strength data available.

Based on the mutual acceleration theory that applies in the

hydration process of C4 3 S and calcium silicate, SP-C, a unique
deepwater cement, is developed for the first time. SP-C combines
the advantages of calcium sulfoaluminate cement and Class G
cement. Adding C4 3 S into Class G cement can enhance the
low-temperature hydratability and the early strength of Class G
cement. The thickening time, setting time, and expandability of
the composite cement are adjusted by changing the proportion
of C4 3 S and anhydrite in Class G cement. Moreover, sufficient
mineral clinkers are blended into the composite system to confine the hydration of C4 3 S clinker, reinforce the compactness
of hardened slurry, and improve the strength stability of cement
after setting. Mineralogical examination of the SP-C system was
conducted by using the X-ray diffractometry (XRD) method.
A PANalytical XPert PRO diffractometer with CuK radiation is
used. The wavelength of the CuK radiation is 0.15406 nm, the
power of X-ray tube is 40 kV40 mA, and the angular scanning
range is 575 2 with a step size of 0.017. Absolute ethyl alcohol is used to terminate internal hydrations of selected set-cement
samples. After being ground into 75-m powders, the samples are
dried in vacuum at 40C to a constant weight. The XRD patterns
of the SP-C system (Fig. 1) show that main components of the
SP-C are C4 3 S , C3S, C2S, and anhydrite.
When SP-C system hydrates, AFt and calcium silicate hydrate
(CSH) gel are formed from the following reactions:
C4 3 S + 2CaSO 4 + 36H 2 O 3CaO Al 2 O3 3CaSO 4

32H 2 O( AFt ) + 2 Al(OH)3 (gel )

C3S(C2S) + H 2 O CSH(gel) + Ca(OH)2

2Al(OH) (gel) + 3Ca(OH) + 3CaSO + 26H O 3CaO Al O
3
2
4
2
2 3

3CaSO 4 32H 2 O(AFt).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1)

product of C3S and C2S, to form AFt (Gastaldi et al. 2007). The
consumption of Al(OH)3 and Ca(OH)2 is able to further accelerate
the hydration rate of Class G cement and sulfoaluminate cement.
The XRD analyses of hydrated SP-C slurry (Fig. 2) also reveal that
AFt is formed with anhydrate and C4 3 S being consumed during
the hydration process.
Properties of the cement slurry (SP-C with fresh water, water/
cement = 0.50), including thickening time, compressive strength,
and volume expansion of set cement, were also measured. A
pressurized consistometer (Model OWC-2000A, Shenyang Oilwell Cementing/Logging Instrumentation Institute) was used to
measure the thickening time of SP-C slurry (Fig. 3). Fig. 4 shows
the compressive-strength development of SP-C slurry at 4C and
atmospheric pressure. These measurements clearly demonstrate
that the SP-C presents desirable physical properties of high early
strength at low temperatures, appropriate thickening time, and
small (but positive) expansion of set cement.
Environmentally Friendly Accelerator. Currently, offshore
drilling rigs are fully used, and rig rate has increased greatly.
For instance, the daily cost in the Gulf of Mexico in May 2006
reached USD 500,000. Shortening the waiting-on-cement time of
cement slurry can undoubtedly reduce the oilwell-construction
cost. Addition of accelerator is a conventional method to shorten
the waiting-on-cement time of cement slurry and enhance the early
strength of cement. Although calcium chloride is the most common accelerator for Portland cement, it does have some secondary
effects on cements properties, including heat of hydration, rheology, compressive strength, and permeability. Organic accelerators such as triethanolamine [N(C2H4OH)3] is not biodegradable,
though it is capable of enhancing the compressive strength when
mixed with other additives.

The calcium sulfoaluminate (C4 3 S ) phase, a principal constituent of sulfoaluminate cement, is most reactive within short
hydration time. It reacts with water to form ettringite (3CaO
Al2O33CaSO432H2O, AFt) and alumina gel [Al(OH)3]. With the
presence of anhydrite, Al(OH)3 reacts with Ca(OH)2, the hydration

A -C a(O H )2 ,B -A Ft,C -C3S

D -C2 S ,E -C S H

C
DB
C
C D
C
D

C
D

B
A

B
A

4000

AB
E

DB

B
A
B E 40C
A

C3S+C2S

SP-C Deepwater Cement System

C3S+C2S
C4 A 3S

C2S
C4A 3S
C3S+C2S

4C

C2S

C4A 3S

CaSO4

C3S

C4A 3S

1000

0
20

20C

C3S

C4A 3S

2000

CaSO4

Intensity

3000

5
25

30

35

40

2 /

Fig. 1XRD patterns of SP-C deepwater cement system.

June 2011 SPE Drilling & Completion

45

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

2 /

Fig. 2XRD analyses of SP-C after 24 hours of hydration at

water/cement = 0.50.
221

1800
SP-C Cement, W/C=0.50
Class-G Cement, W/C=0.44

135

270
(Thickening Time): 186 min

1500

120

(Temperature): 10C

Compressive Strength (psi)

240
210

105

180

90

150

75

120

60

90

45

60

30

30

15

C (Bc)

T (C) / P (MPa)

(Pressure): 725 psi

Cured at 4C

1200

900

600

300

0
30

60

90

120

150

180

Time (min)

12 h

48 h
24 h
Curing Time (Hours)

72 h

Fig. 3Thickening time of the SP-C slurry at 10C and 725 psi.
Fig. 4Compressive strength of SP-C slurry at 4C and atmospheric pressure.

A new type of lithium salt accelerator (LS-A) was developed.

Laboratory tests of the LS-A reveal that it can dramatically shorten
the thickening time, the development time of slurry-consistency
values from 30 to 100 Bc, and the transition time of critical gel
strength from 100 to 500 lbf/100 ft2. Moreover, the new accelerator
is able to improve early strength of set cement significantly without
any adverse effects. The eco-friendliness of this new accelerator
is also observed.
Biodegradable Dispersant. Environmental issues involved in
offshore cementing operations have become an issue of growing
concern in recent years. Stringent regulations have been issued to
ensure that the cement slurries used and the overboard wastes have
no adverse impact on the marine environment. Although many
types of dispersants have been developed and applied successfully
to well-cementing operations, they are usually not environmentally
acceptable and exhibit a strong retardation effect on well cement.
A novel degradable cement dispersant, gelatin-grafted and sulfonated condensation polymer (GSP), was synthesized. The gelatin
was originally used as the basic material to conduct sulfonation
grafting reaction with formaldehyde, acetone, and sodium pyrosulfite, and the synthetic process is shown in Fig. 5. The liquid GSP
dispersant is tested to be a new biodegradable dispersant in accordance with OECD 306 (Table 2). It shows strong brine tolerance
and nonretardation effect on cement slurry. Table 3 compares the
dispersivity of the GSP sample with that of a conventional dispersant, sulfonated aldehyde and ketone condensation polymer, which
suggests that the new GSP dispersant has dispersivity similar to
that of the conventional dispersant.
Biodegradable Fluid-Loss-Control Agent. A new biodegradable
fluid-loss-control agent, BD-L, was developed by using the natural
macromolecular substance cellulose as the raw material. The BD-L

O
O
Na2S2O5,NaOH
HCH+CH3CCH3
30-40

fluid-loss-control agent is mainly composed of low-molecularweight hydroxyethylcellulose with 8000 mPas viscosity (2%
solution, 25C). BD-L is capable of controlling the API fluid-loss
content of freshwater cement slurry within 50 mL/30 min. In
addition, it exhibits favorable biodegradation rate and shows only
a slight retardation effect.
Results and Discussion
Cement Slurry. According to API standard 10B-3-2004, the new
deepwater cement slurries are prepared as per the compositions
given by Table 4. The microsphere (product code: CP-52, Weihui
Chemical Limited Company) with density 0.70.9 g/cm3 is used as
an additive for reducing density of the cement slurries. Low densities of the cement slurries ranging from 1.30 to 1.56 g/cm3 can be
achieved by adding varying amounts of microsphere CP-52.
Fluid-Loss and Free-Fluid Control. It is well known that both
fluid loss from the cement slurry into formation and free fluid of the
cement slurry contribute to water/gas migration in a wellbore. To
minimize their impact on water/gas migration, excessive fluid loss
must be maintained at low levels approximately between 20 and
50 mL/30 min and free fluid is not allowed (OLeary et al. 2004).
The newly developed deepwater cement slurries do not contain free
fluid and maintain API fluid loss less than 45 mL/30 min.
Rheology. A proper understanding of cement-slurry rheology is of
great importance for the design, implementation, and evaluation
of deepwater cementing operations. The rheological properties of
deepwater cement slurries with four different densities are shown
in Table 5.

CH3
O
60-65 , 1.5 h
CH3C-OH + HO-CH2CH2CCH3

CH3

O
HCHO, Gelatin
NaSO3-COCH2CH2CCH3
CH3

-H2O

SO3Na

pH=6-7, 85 , 3 h

O
CH3
NHCH2CH2CCH2CH2OC(CH3)-SO3Na

NHCH2CH2CCH2CH2OC(CH3)-SO3Na
O

CH3

Fig. 5Synthetic routes of GSP.

222

June 2011 SPE Drilling & Completion

TABLE 2BIODEGRADATION RATE OF GSP SAMPLE

Time (days)

Biodegradation Rate (wt %)

1.90

6.25

10

15.83

14

19.37

28

63.74

Thickening Time. A pressurized consistometer (Model 8040D10,

Chandler Engineering Company) was used to measure the thickening time of deepwater-cement-slurry Sample 1. The measurement
results are illustrated in Fig. 6. The transient time for development
of cement consistency from 30 to 100 Bc is less than 15 minutes,
which is conducive to preventing shallow water/gas migration
(Bannerman et al. 2005; Gonzalo et al. 2005).
Static Gel Strength (SGS) Development. Shallow water/gas flow
may occur during deepwater cementing and has been recognized
as one of the most troublesome problems in deepwater cementing
operations. The formation fluids may invade the annulus because
of the pressure underbalance during the transient gelation period
of cement slurry. The SGS of cement slurry starts to build up
once the cement slurry has been pumped into the desired position.
SGS development is associated with the hydrostatic pressure loss
between formation and wellbore. Once the hydrostatic pressure in
an abnormally pressurized formation or shallow gas zone becomes

underbalanced, fluids invade the cement in the annulus. Transition

time of critical gel strength is defined as the time for the slurry to
develop gel strength from 100 to 500 lbf/100 ft2. This transition
period should be controlled to be as short as possible to minimize
the chance of shallow water/gas influx (Ravi et al. 1999).
An SGS analyzer with UCA functionality (Model 5265, Chandler Engineering Company) was used to measure the SGS of
deepwater-cement-slurry Sample 1. Fig. 7 shows the measurement
results. These curves reveal a rapid development of gel strength of
the cement slurry. The transition time of critical gel strength from
100 to 500 lbf/100 ft2 is less than 14 minutes. This short transition
time helps to maintain the formation hydrostatic pressure and, as
a result, decrease the chance of water/gas migration.
Compressive-Strength Development. It is important for the deepwater cement slurry to develop satisfactory compressive strength in
a short period at low temperatures, so that subsequent operations
can be carried out without delay. This is particularly crucial in a
deepwater environment because of higher rig rate. Fig. 8 shows
the measured compressive strength. At 15C and 1,000 psi, the
deepwater-cement-slurry Sample 1 with a density of 1.30 g/cm3
develops a compressive strength of 500 psi after 5 hours and 52
minutes and 1,000 psi after 11 hours and 20 minutes. The test
results indicate that the cement-slurry Sample 1 shows optimum
early strength at low temperatures.
Table 6 shows the compressive-strength development of the
deepwater cement slurries at 4 and 10C. As shown by Table 6, at
these low temperatures, high compressive strength can be developed
rapidly even for such low-density slurries. The long-term mechanical properties of Sample 1 are listed in Table 7. It can be seen that

TABLE 3COMPARISON OF DISPERSIVITY OF GSP SAMPLE AND SFA* SAMPLE AT 15C

Dispersant
Concentration (wt%)

NaCl
Concentration (wt%)

61

50

1.0% GSP

31

1.0% SFA

30

18

1.0% GSP

K (Pas )

11

0.430

2.134

1.124

0.014

1.146

0.012

27

10

0.679

0.422

26

13

1.0

0.5

1.021

0.035

39

26

12

1.071

0.025

67

48

31

11

10

0.700

0.435

37

43

27

13

0.5

1.087

0.025

37

41

26

12

1.116

0.020

300

200

100

38

18

20

19

8.5

57

42

18

40

1.0% SFA

18

37

1.0% GSP
1.0% SFA

* Dispersant sample of sulfonated aldehyde and ketone condensation polymer.

TABLE 4COMPONENTS OF DEEPWATER CEMENT SLURRIES

Sample

Cement

Microsphere
CP-52 (wt%)

BD-L (wt%)

GSP (wt%)

LS-A (wt%)

Defoamer
SWX-1 (wt%)

Water
(wt%)

Density
3
(g/cm )

SP-C

60

2.2

0.8

3.0

2.5

90.0

1.30

SP-C

40

2.0

0.6

3.0

2.5

80.0

1.35

SP-C

30

2.0

0.5

2.5

2.2

73.0

1.45

SP-C

15

2.0

0.5

2.0

2.2

61.6

1.56

TABLE 5RHEOLOGY OF THE DEEPWATER CEMENT SLURRIES AT 15 C

Sample

300

200

100

K (Pas )
n

141

95

55

0.855

0.348

135

93

50

0.902

0.249

132

91

49

0.900

0.246

118

86

44

0.896

0.226

June 2011 SPE Drilling & Completion

223

60

3000

100

2700

90

2400

80

2100

70

50

Time to 70 Bc is 4:20 HH:MM

1800
1500
1200

Consistency (Bc)

30

Pressure (psi)

Temperature ()

40
60
50

Time to 30 Bc is 4:07 HH:MM

40

20
900

30

600

20

300

10

10

0
0:00

1:00

2:00

3:00

4:00

5:00

Time (HH:MM)

Fig. 6Thickening time of cement-slurry Sample 1 at 15C and pressure of 1,000 psi.

the compressive and flexural strength have been increased steadily

during the curing period from 1 day to 18 months.

20

2500

180

45

9000

1350

18

2250

160

40

8000

1200

16

2000

140

35

7000

1050

14

1750

120

30

6000

100

25

5000

900

750

600

12

10

C o mpr es s ivStrength
e S tr ength(psi)
( ps i)
Compressive

1500

T r ans itTime
T im e ((m
ic r os ec /in)
Transit
microsec/in)

10000

StaticGel
G elStrength
Str ength (lbf/100ft
( lb/100ft2)2)
Static

50

G el Value
Value
Gel

200

Pr es s ur e (M
Pa)
Pressure
(MPa)

Temperature (C)

Expansion of Set Cement. It has been recognized for a long time

that the shrinking of cement results in poor bonding between the

cement and casing after setting. Expansion of cement can help to seal
small fissures between the cement sheath and casing or formation.
Expanding cement has been proved to be both an economical and
effective means for eliminating gas migration because of a microannulus (Seidel and Greene 1985; Jennings et al. 2003). Expansion of

1500

1250

80

20

4000

1000

60

15

3000

450

750

Time to 500 lbf/100ft 2 is 2:40 HH:MM

40

10

2000

300

500

Time to 100 lbf/100ft 2 is 2:26 HH:MM

20

1000

150

250

0
0:00

0:15

0:30

0:45

1:00

1:15

1:30

1:45

2:00

2:15

2:30

2:45

3:00

Time (HH:MM )
Fig. 7SGS of cement-slurry Sample 1 at 20C and 1,450 psi.
224

June 2011 SPE Drilling & Completion

2500

180

90

18

2250

160

80

16

2000

140

70

14

100

60

50

12

10

Compressive
Strength
(psi)
Compressive
Strength

120

(psi)

20

Transit
Time
( microsec/in)
Transit Time
(microsec/in)

100

Pressure (MPa)
(MPa)
Pressure

Temperature (C)

200

1750

1500

1250

Time to 1,000 psi is 11:20 HH:MM

80

40

1000

60

30

750

40

20

500

20

10

250

Time to 500 psi is 5:52 HH:MM

0
0:00

1:25

2:50

4:15

5:40

7:05

8:30

9:55

11:20

12:45

14:10

15:35

17:00

Time (HH:MM )

Fig. 8Compressive strength of cement-slurry Sample 1 at 15C and 1,000 psi.

TABLE 6COMPRESSIVE-STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT OF THE SAMPLES

Sample
3

Cement Slurry Density (g/cm )

Compressive strength at 4C (psi)
Compressive strength at 10C (psi)

510.14

817.40
1571.00

12 hr

543.48

668.12

1066.67

1274.00

24 hr

1015.94

1142.02

1460.87

1804.35

463
750
914

3 months

5,527

1,012

6 months

5,794

998

12 months

5,908

1,061

18 months

6,012

1,072

June 2011 SPE Drilling & Completion

1.56

1229.00

1,245

956

1.45

414.50

1 day

5,130

1.35
1031.88

Flexural
Strength (psi)

1 month

1.30
362.32

Compressive
Strength (psi)

4,518

968.11

Duration
of Curing

3,750

12 hr

TABLE 7LONG-TERM MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF

THE TESTED SAMPLE 1 AT 25C

7 days

24 hr

the developed cement slurries are measured at atmospheric pressure

by using the API test apparatus (balloon and ring mold) and by flask
methods. Table 8 shows the expansion of the deepwater cement
slurries at different temperatures. It can be seen from Table 8 that
the set cement of deepwater slurries has small and positive volume
expansions, even at 4C. In comparison, the bulk shrinkage of the
tested conventional cement varies between 4.59 and 5.88% (Al-Yami
et al. 2010). The cement expansion can effectively isolate weak
formations encountered in deepwater cementing operations.

15 days

Conclusions
A unique deepwater cement slurry was investigated extensively in
the laboratory. The following conclusions were obtained.
1. A new deepwater cement, SP-C, which combines sulfoaluminate cement and Class G cement, was developed. Laboratory
tests demonstrated that the SP-C meets the following key
requirements for deepwater cement at low temperatures: early
development of high strength, appropriate thickening time, and
small (but positive) expansion of set cement.
2. Environmentally friendly additives for the base SP-C, such as
LS-A accelerator, GSP dispersant and BD-L fluid-loss-control
agent, were also developed. These additives were tested and
were shown to be able to enhance the function of the base SP-C
without adverse effect on the environment.
3. The novel deepwater cement-slurry system, mainly composed
of the SP-C, environmentally friendly additives, and hollow
microspheres, exhibits high early strength under low temperatures,
short transition time of critical gel strength from 100 to 500 lbf/100
ft2, and small expansion of set cement. These desirable properties
of the deepwater cement slurries provide practical solutions to the
various problems caused by unfavorable deepwater conditions.
Acknowledgments
The financial support provided by the National High Technology
Research and Development Program of China (863 program,
grant No. 2006AA09Z340) and the PhD Programs Foundation of
225

TABLE 8VOLUME OF SET CEMENT VARIED WITH CURING TEMPERATURE

Percentage Variation
of Volume (%)

Deepwater Cement Slurry Sample

1

4C

0.02

0.05

0.07

0.13

5.88

15C

0.04

0.06

0.14

0.22

4.97

25C

0.07

0.12

0.25

0.34

4.59

Ministry of Education of China (No. 20100133120004) are highly

appreciated. The authors would also like to thank all the valuable
suggestions and comments made by the anonymous reviewers.
References
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Chengwen Wang is an associate professor in petroleum
engineering at China University of Petroleum (East China). He
holds several patents and has published more than 20 papers
related to drilling and completion engineering.Wangs research
interests include cementing, drilling fluids, formation damage,
and oilfield chemistry. He graduated from the Sichuan Normal
University at Chengdu, China, with a BS degree in chemistry
in 1999. Wang earned his MS degree in oilfield chemistry from
Southwest Petroleum University at Chengdu, China, in 2004 and
his PhD degree in petroleum engineering from China University
of Petroleum (East China). Ruihe Wang is a professor and the
vice-president of China University of Petroleum (East China). He
has 30 years of experience in the field of petroleum engineering.
Wangs research interests include high-pressure water-jet
technology, rheology, cementing, rock mechanics, drilling
equipment, drilling fluids, formation damage, and enhanced
oil recovery. He holds more than 20 patents and has published
more than 150 technical papers. Wang has supervised many
MS degree and PhD degree students. He has received
many awards for his significant contributions to petroleum
engineering technologies and for his work in teaching and
mentoring. Wang holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees from China
University of Petroleum (East China). He serves as a vice-director in both the Petroleum Engineering Education Committee of
China Ministry and the Rock Mechanics Committee of China.
Wang is also a technical editor of Journal of Hydrodynamics
and Acta Petroleum Sinica. Huazhou Li is a PhD degree candidate in petroleum engineering at the University of Regina. His
research interests include thermodynamics and phase behavior in oil-recovery processes, well-cementing techniques, and
application of abrasive-jet technology in petroleum engineering. Li holds a BS degree and an MS degree, both from China
University of Petroleum (East China). Yuhuan Bu is a professor at
China University of Petroleum (East China) in petroleum engineering. Her research interests include cementing, completion,
rheology, drilling fluids, and rock mechanics. Bu holds BS, MS, and
PhD degrees from China University of Petroleum (East China).
Weidong Zhou is an associate professor at China University of
Petroleum (East China) in petroleum engineering. His research
interests include water jet, cementing, enhanced oil recovery,
drilling equipment, and drilling fluids. Zhou holds BS, MS, and
PhD degrees from China University of Petroleum (East China).

June 2011 SPE Drilling & Completion