LOWER WEIGHT, HIGHER PERFORMANCE

Schlumberger Well Services

*
Mark of Schlumberger
 Outline
• Why Lightweight Cement?
• Conventional Remedies
– Extended Slurries
– Foamed Cement
– Staged Treatments
• CemCRETE* Technology
– Slurry Design & Cement Properties
– Benefits
• Summary
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 Why Lightweight Cement?
• Weak Formations
• Low Frac Gradient
• Natural Fractures
• Maintain Returns
• Minimize Losses
∴ Lower Hydrostatic
Pressure
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 Conventional Remedies
• Extended Slurries:
– Additives enable density reduction beyond that of
stable neat slurries
– ie: bentonite, pozzolan, silica, etc…

• Effectively increases water content of slurry:

– ↑ porosity & permeability, thickening time
– ↓ viscosity, compressive strength

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 Extended Slurries
• Reduce slurry density: < 11-12 ppg
• Allows increased water content
• Higher water content =
– Higher set cement porosity and permeability
– Longer thickening times
– Lower slurry viscosity
– Lower compressive strength
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 Extended Slurries
↑ Water Content = ↓ Slurry Performance

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 Foamed Cement
• Addition of N2 to conventional cement system
– Foam Quality (Gas Volume %)
– Foam Stability (Function of Temperature, Pressure)
• Slurry volume partially occupied by gas

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 Foamed Cement
• Considerations:
– Operational Complexity

– Foam quality varies with hydrostatic head

– Higher set cement porosity and permeability

– Lower compressive strength

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 Staged Treatments
• Reduce total bottomhole
hydrostatic pressure
• Considerations:
– Operational complexity
– Greater operational risk
– Increased waiting & rig time

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 Lightweight Cement
• We want a lightweight cement that has:
– Wide range of slurry densities
– Good control over viscosity, fluid loss,
free water, etc.
– Impervious to invasion / attack
– High compressive strength

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 CemCRETE Technology
• Commercialized in 1995 with worldwide application
• Slurry technology based on physics of concrete
– various types and sizes of aggregate material
• Employs Particle Size Distribution to optimize the
Packing Volume Fraction (% solids)
• Winner of Hart’s E&P 2002 Meritorious Award for
Engineering Excellence

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 CemCRETE Technology
• In conventional systems:

Sufficient water
must be added
to fill the void
between the
cement grains

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 CemCRETE Technology
• Uses particle size
distribution to
maximize the solids
fraction within the
cement matrix
• Ball bearing effect
improves mixability
and reduces water
requirement

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 CemCRETE Technology
Specifications:
• Density: 8 ppg through 28 ppg
• Temperature: 40°F through 450°F
• 24-h Compressive Strength: > 1500 psi to > 14,000 psi
Applications:
• Weak or naturally fractured zones
• Corrosive water flows, gas invasion
• Production liners, elimination of stage tools
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 CemCRETE Technology
• Tri-modal design employs 3 particle sizes
• Material, specific gravity and dry blend fraction
of each particle is selected to optimize blend
• Slurries exhibit excellent natural rheological
and fluid loss properties
• Compatible with most cement additives

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 CemCRETE Technology

Cement properties do not

depend on slurry density

Greater design flexibility to

optimize slurry performance
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 CemCRETE* Technology
Cement Density (PPG)
8 10 12 16 22 28

Ultra LiteCRETE*
LiteCRETE* / LiteCRETE HP*
SqeezeCRETE*

DeepCRETE*

DensCRETE*

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 LiteCRETE
• Solids Content:

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 LiteCRETE
• 24hr Compressive Strength @ 150°F:

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 LiteCRETE
• Set Cement Permeability to N2

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 LiteCRETE
• Natural Fluid Loss – no FL additives

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 LiteCRETE
• Acid Resistance: 12:3 Mud Acid @ 4-HR Contact Time

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 LiteCRETE
• Bulk Shrinkage: % Reduction in Volume

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 Benefits of CemCRETE Technology

• Foamed cement vs LiteCRETE (8.0 ppg)

• Within minutes, water begins to invade foam porosity
• Saturated foam cube sinks while LiteCRETE cube floats

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 Perforated Cement Sheath
Conventional Cement

LiteCRETE
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 Drillability
• LiteCRETE shoe
drill-out is easy due
to presence of
hollow spheres
• Drill-out time is
equivalent to high
water content (high
porosity) slurries

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 Replacement of Stage Tool

• Eliminates weak
point in casing
• Improves zonal
isolation
• Lower porosity
and permeability
• Less susceptible
to acid attack

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 On-site QA/QC
• With conventional cements:
– s.g.cement = 3.16
– s.g.water = 1.00 Cement + Water = Slurry

Slurry density → solids fraction

Solids fraction → compressive strength

• What happens
when s.g.cement Cement + Water = Slurry
approaches 1.0?
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 On-Site QA/QC

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 On-site QA/QC
Solids Fraction Monitoring
• Small changes in density result in large changes in
solids fraction (ie: in cement quality)
• Better approach is to measure solids fraction directly

• Dynamically perform solids

mass balance using:
– Water/Slurry flowmeters
– Tub level sensor

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 Cement Evaluation
• Bond log evaluation based on speed
and attenuation of sonic impulse
• Solids content of CemCRETE slurries
alters Acoustic Impedance of cement
• A.I. is determined from the specific
design of the dry blend
• Knowledge of actual A.I. is required
for successful evaluation
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 Summary
• LiteCRETE offers superior cement performance when
compared to conventional extended/foam slurries
• LiteCRETE allows the elimination of 2-stage cement
jobs, improving cement quality and decreasing cost
• High solids content of LiteCRETE slurries provides:
– high compressive strength at low density
– improved resistance to acid attack and gas invasion
– decreased fluid loss and bulk shrinkage

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 QUESTIONS ?

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