PE 341

Oil Well Drilling

Well Cementing Application

Read: ADE, Ch. 3

1
 Cementing
➢ Functions of cement.

➢ Cement Types.

➢ Additives.

➢ Basic Definitions.

➢ Cement calculations.
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 Functions of cement

• Protect and support the

casing.
• Prevent the movement of
fluid through the annular
space outside the casing.
• Stop the movement of fluid
into fractured formations.
• Close an abandoned portion
of the well.

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 Casing Attachments
• Guide Shoe: Direct the casing away to
minimize sidewall caving and they are
recommended to aid in better
displacement.
• Centralizer: Used to centralize the casing
as much as possible to provide a uniform
fluid flow profile around the annulus and
leads to a better drilling fluid removal
and proper cement placement.

Cementing 4
 Casing Attachments
• Float Collar: Prevent the drilling fluid
from flowing into the casing when it is
run into the hole and prevent the cement
from flowing back into the casing.
• Bottom Plug: It is inserted ahead of the
cement slurry to minimize intermixing
of the slurry with the fluid ahead of it and
to minimize contamination. Used also to
wipe any accumulated film of drilling
fluid from the inner walls of the casing.
Cementing 5
 Casing Attachments
• Top Plug: Minimize intermixing of
cement slurry with the fluid behind it
(displacement fluid). It is inserted behind
the cement slurry and they are solid and
seal against bottom plugs. When the top
plug reaches the bottom plug, a pressure
increase is observed and this pressure
signals the end of the cement job.

Cementing 6
 Cement Techniques

➢ Casing Strings.

➢ Liner String.

➢ Plug Cementing.

➢ Squeeze Cementing.

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 Liners

Liners are commonly used to seal the open hole below a

long intermediate casing string to:
1. Case off the open hole to enable deeper drilling.
2. Control water or gas production
3. Hold back unconsolidated or sloughing formations.
4. Case off zones of lost circulation and/or zones of
high pressure encountered during drilling operations.

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Casing Primary Cementing

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Liner Primary Cementing

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Plug Cementing

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Squeeze Cementing

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 Cement Types
• The main ingredient in all oilfield cement is “portland
cement”, which is an artificial cement made by burning a
blend of limestone and clay.
• Portland cement is the same type of cement used in
making concrete.
• A mixture of portland cement and water is ideal for use
in oil wells because it can be pumped easily and hardens
readily in wellbore environment.
• A common portland cement is composed chemically of
several oxides such as Lime, Silica, Alumina, Sulfur
trioxide and others

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 Cement Types
• API has defined eight standard classes (A to
H) and three standard types of cement to be
used in oil drilling operations.
• The three standard types are:
– Ordinary “O”
– Moderate Sulfate resistant “MSR”
– High Sulfate resistant “HSR”
Cement Types

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16 16
17 17
 Additives
• Cement Accelerator: A chemical additive mixed with
cement slurry to reduce the time required for the set cement.
• Cement Dispersant: A chemical additive that reduces the
cement slurry viscosity to improve fluid-flow characteristics.
• Cement Extender: A chemical additive or inert material
used to decrease the density or increase the yield of a cement
slurry.
• Cement Retarder: A chemical agent used to increase the
thickening time of cement slurries to enable proper
placement.
• Fluid-loss additive: A chemical additive used to control the
loss of fluid to the formation through filtration.
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 Additives
• There are more than 40 chemical additives
used with various API classes of cement to
provide acceptable slurry characteristics for
almost any subsurface environment.
• Additives are essentially free-flowing powders
that either can be dry blended with the cement
before transporting it to the well or can be
dispersed in the mixing water at the job site.

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 Basic Definitions

• Slurry density: Mass per unit volume of the liquid after

the addition of cement and other additives to the base
fluid. This liquid is termed as “slurry” and its density is
typically expressed in lbm/gal
• Slurry Yield: Volume of slurry produced when cement
is mixed with water. This value can be used to
determine the total number of sacks required for the job.

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 Basic Definitions
• Absolute volume: Volume occupied by the
material itself and does not include the volume
occupied by the air surrounding its particles
• Bulk volume: Volume occupied by the dry
material plus the air surrounding it. Portland
cement has a bulk volume of 1 ft3 for 94 lbm,
which is commonly referred to as a “sack”.
The absolute volume occupied by a 94 lbm
sack of cement is 3.59 gal or 0.48 ft3 in.

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 Cement Calculations
• Mixing cement (basis is 1 sk of cement)
Ww + Wc + Wb + ... + Wn = Wmix
w v w + c v w + n v b + ... + n v n = mix v mix

• Slurry Yield (volume of mixture/sk):

v w + v c + v b + ... + v n = v mix (gal / sk)

= v mix / 7.48 (cu.ft./sk)
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 Cement Calculations
• Density of Each Component in Slurry:
– e.g. Density of Barite = Barite * water
– Barite = 4.23 * 8.33 = 35.2 lb/gal
• Density of Cement Slurry:

  i i
mix  mix
mix = i
=
 i
i  mix

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24
Cementing 25 25
 Cement Calculations
• Example 3.4

It is desired to mix a slurry of Class A cement

containing 3% Bentonite, using normal mixing water
as specified by API. Determine the weight of
Bentonite and the volume of water to be mixed with
one 94 lbm sack of cement. Also compute the percent
mix, yield and density of the slurry. It is
recommended that, 5.3% water must be added for
each percent bentonite.
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 Cement Calculations
• Example 3.4 - Answer
• The weight of Bentonite to be mixed with one sack of
class A cement is 0.03*94=2.82lbm
• From API cement water requirements, the normal water
content for class A cement is 46% (Table 3.6) and 5.3%
water must be added for each percent bentonite. Thus
the percent mix is:
%mix=46+3(5.3)=61.9%
• Water volume needed to be added per sack of cement:
0.619(94 lbm / sk)
= 6.98gal
8.33lbm / gal 27
 Cement Calculations
• Example 3.4 - Answer cont.
• From Table 3.8, the specific gravities: cement and bentonite are 3.14
and 2.65 respectively thus the volume of the slurry is:
94 lbm 2.82 lbm
+ + 6.98gal / sk = 10.7 gal / sk
3.14(8.33) lbm / gal 2.65(8.33) lbm / gal
The slurry yield is
*(Slurry Yield=volume of mixture/7.48)
10.7 gal / sk
= 1.43cuft / sk
7.48gal / cuft
The slurry density is *(Slurry Density is the total mass divided
94 + 2.82 + 8.33(6.98) by the total volume)
= 14.48 lbm/gal
10.7
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 Cement Equations
Weight of additive per sack of cement
– Weightadditive (lb) = %additive x 94 lb/sk
Total water requirement (gal/sk)
– Water (gal/sk) = Cement water requirement (gal/sk)
+ Additive water requirement (gal/sk)
94(lb)
Volume of Slurry (gal/sk) =
SG of cement x 8.33 lb/gal
Additive weight (lb)
+
SG of additive x 8.33 (lb/gal)
+ water volume (gal)
Wt material (lb / sk) = 94 + % additive x94 + 8.33xVol water (gal / sk)
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 Cement Equations

94 + Wt additive (lb) + 8.33xVol water/sk

Slurry density (lb/gal)=
Volslurry (gal / sk)
Volslurry (gal / sk)
Slurry yield (ft / sk) =
3

7.48gal / ft 3

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 Cement Calculations
• Example 3.5

It is desired to increase the density of class H cement

slurry to 17.5 lb/gal. Compute the amount of
hematite that should be blended with each sack of
cement and the yield of the slurry. The water
requirements are 4.5 gal /94 lbm Class H cement (4.5
gal/sk) and 0.36 gal / 100 lbm hematite (0.0036
gal/lbm).
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 Example 3.5
From mass balance we have
Wt slurry = wt cement + wt hematite + wt water
For each sack we have
wt cement = 94lbm / sack
wt hematite = x
wt water = 8.33(4.5 + 0.0036x )
Vslurry = Vcement + Vhematite + Vwater
94
Vcement =
(3.14)(8.33)
x
Vhematite =
(5.02)(8.33)
Vwater = 4.5 + 0.0036x
94 + x + 8.33(4.5 + 0.0036x )
slurry = = 17.5lb / gal
   
 + (4.5 + 0.0036x )
94 x
  + 
( )( ) ( )( )
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 3. 14 8. 33   5. 02 8.33 
 Example 3.5

94 + x + 8.33(4.5 + 0.0036x )
17.5 =
   
 + (4.5 + 0.0036x )
94 x
  + 
 (3.14)(8.33)   (5.02)(8.33) 
or
x = 18.5lbm / sk of hematite
   
 + (4.5 + 0.0036(18.5))
94 18.5
  + 
Vslurry  (3.14)(8.33)   (5.02)(8.33) 
Slurry Yield = =
7.48 7.48
8.60
Yield = = 1.15ft 3 / sk
7.48

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 Example 3.5 – Alternate Solution (A.D.E)
➢ Let x represent the pounds of hematite per sack of cement. The
total water requirement of the slurry then is given by 4.5+0.0036x.
➢ Wtslurry=94+x+8.33(4.5+0.0036x)
➢ Vslurry = (94)/(3.14*8.33)+(x)/(5.02*8.33)+(4.5+0.0036x)
➢ From Table 3.8, the specific gravities: cement and hematite are 3.14
and 5.02 respectively.
➢ Expressing the slurry density in terms of x yields:
17.5=(Wtslurry/ Vslurry)
17.5={94+x+8.33(4.5+0.0036x)/
[(94)/(3.14*8.33)+(x)/(5.02*8.33)+(4.5+0.0036x)]}
➢ x = 18.4 lbm/sk (i.e. 18.4 lbm hematite/94 lbm cement).
➢ Answer is closed from the previous solution. 34
 Example 3.6
• A casing having an OD of 13.375” and in ID of 12.415”. is to be cemented
at a depth of 2,500 ft. A 40-ft shoe joint will be used between the float
collar and the guide shoe. It is desired to place a 500 ft column of high
strength slurry at the bottom of the casing. The high strength slurry is
composed of Class A cement mixed using 2% calcium chloride flake (by
weight of cement) with a specific gravity of 1.0329, and a water / cement
ratio of 5.2 gal/sack. The upper 2000 ft of the annulus is to be filled with a
low density slurry of Class A cement mixed with 16% Bentonite and 5%
sodium chloride (by weight of cement) with a specific gravity 1.0279, and
a water cement ratio of 13 gal/sack. The bit size used to drill the hole is
17”. To account for enlarged hole use an annulus excess factor of 1.75. The
cementing truck has a mixing capacity approximately 20 ft3/min. Rig pump
is operated at 60 strokes/min and the pump factor is 0.9674 ft3/stroke.
Compute the following
– Yield of both high strength slurry (HSS) and low strength slurry (LSS)
– Slurry volume requirements
– Cementing time

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 Example 3.6 – Yield of HSS
VHSS  gal / sk 
Yield of HSS (YHSS ) =
7.48 gal / ft 3 
VHSS = VCement + VCaCl2 − Brine

94 ( 0.02 )( 94 ) + ( 5.2 )( 8.33) 

VHSS = +
3.14 ( 8.33) 1.0329 ( 8.33)
VHSS = 3.59 + 5.25 = 8.84gal / sk
8.84
YHSS = = 1.18ft 3 / sk
7.48 36
 Example 3.6 – Yield of LSS
VLSS  gal / sk 
Yield of LSS (YLSS ) =
7.48 gal / ft 3 
VLSS = VCement + VBent. + VBrine
94 0.16 ( 94 ) ( 0.05 )( 94 ) + (13)( 8.33) 
VLSS = + +
3.14 ( 8.33) 2.65 ( 8.33) 1.0279 ( 8.33)
VLSS = 3.59 + 0.68 + 13.2 = 17.47gal / sk
17.47
YLSS = = 2.33ft 3 / sk
7.48
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 • Slurry volume required for both
HSS and LSS (VHSS, VLSS)

2000 ft of Low Strength Slurry

– Low cement slurry will cover the
upper 2000 ft of the hole with an
excess factor of 1.75
 17 2 − 13.3752 
VLSS = A a L LSS =   ( 2000 )(1.75 )
 1029.4 
VLSS = 374.38 bbl = 2102 ft 3
– High cement slurry will cover the
lower 500 ft of the well plus the
40 ft of shoe joint
VHSS = A a L HSS + A CSG 40
Strength Slurry
500 ft of High

 17 2 − 13.3752   12.4152 
VHSS =  ( 500 )(1.75 ) +   ( 40 )
 1029.4   1029.4 
40 ft Shoe VHSS = 93.59 + 6 = 99.59 bbl = 559 ft 3
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Joint
Example 3.6 – Number of Sacks

Number of sacks for Low Strength Slurry

3
2102 ft
3
= 903sacks
2.33ft / sk
Number of sacks for High Strength Slurry
3
559.2 ft
3
= 474sacks
1.18ft / sk
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 Example 3.6 – Cementing Time
• The cement volume to be mixed is 903 sacks
for LSS and 474 for HSS. Each sack of cement
has an approximate bulk volume of 1 ft3.
• The LSS will be mixed with 16% Bentonite
and 5% salt and the HSS will be mixed with
2% Calcium Chloride. The bulk weight of
Bentonite, salt and Calcium Chloride (flake)
are 60, 71, 56.4 lbm/ft3 (Table 3.8).

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 Example 3.6 – Cementing Time
The additional solid volume to be mixed is
903 ( 94 )( 0.16 ) 903 ( 94 )( 0.05 ) 474 ( 94 )( 0.02 )
VAdd = + +
60 71 56.4
VAdd = 226.35 + 59.78 + 15.8 = 302 ft 3
903 + 474 + 302
t mix = = 83.95  84 min
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Mixing time accounts for the period before placing
the top plug at the top of the casing.
The time required to displace the top plug from the
surface to the float collar is given by
  12.415 
2
 1  1 
 
  
ft 2
 ( 2500 − 40 )  ft     = 35.6  36 min
4  12   60stk / min  0.9674ft / stk 
3

Total cementing time = 84+36=120 min = 2 hrs 41