Cased hole evaluation

EVALVA TING AND RESTORING THE CEMENT JOB Evaluating the cement j !
Maj " #la$% enc unte"e& a#te" '"ima"( cementing
Because of the difficulty in cementing a casing and even more so, a liner. a large number of flaws can often be found. Here we will mention only the major ones and the most frequent causes. A. Inadequate filling This can be due to: incorrect estimate of volume caved hole, etc.! losses when the slurry is dis"laced une#"ected setting that interru"ts the o"eration had "roducts. mi#ing in the wrong "ro"ortions overly ra"id dehydration, etc.!. B. Inadequate seal and/or strength This can be due to: insufficient distance between the float collar and the shoe e#cessive dis"lacement incom"lete dis"lacement of the mud by the slurry because the casing was not "ro"erly centered, the "um"ing rate was ina""ro"riate. the s"acer was not suited to the job. etc. transition $one. fingering, gelled mud. mud ca%e on the formation microannulus. etc.! a gas %ic% loss of hydrostatic "ressure when the slurry was setting. etc.! the slurry not setting or only "artially setting insufficient tem"erature in the u""er "art! "oor quality slurry "roduct quality or quantity. mi#ing water, slurry mi#ing. ete.! deterioration with time tem"erature. ty"e of fluids in "lace. im"acts. "ressure variations, etc.!.

&rinci"al methods of evaluating a cement job

The quality of the "roduction casing cement job is crucial in "roducing the well, so it is essential to be sure that the cement job meets the required standards. However, since the quality of the job varies as time goes by, the results of an evaluation o"eration are valid only for the time when the job was evaluated. The conditions that "revailed when the cement job was done are already a good indication. 'n "articular any irregularity should raise doubts about the quality of the job. However, an absence of irregularities in the way the job was done is not enough to qualify it as satisfactory, unless the reservoir has been studied to a certain e#tent and there is a sufficient statistical basis.

Cased hole evalution

A. Direct evaluation
&ressure tests and es"ecially negative "ressure tests can be ta%en as indications of a good seal for a liner head or for "erforations that were used for remedial cementing. 't should be em"hasi$ed that "ressure tests are not "articularly significant for situations at a later date when negative "ressure will "revail in the well during "roduction!, since the filter ca%e acts as a one way valve. 'n addition, even negative "ressure tests are highly debatable as an indication of the seal behind the casing itself. They only show whether the liner head or the remedial cementing "erforations have been "ro"erly cemented. The tests do not guarantee that there will be no inflow or unwanted fluids or that there will be no interference between levels during well testing of normal "roduction.

B. Indirect evaluation
Here we will deal with evaluation through logging. Tem"erature logs sim"ly give an indication of how far the cement has bac%ed u" in the annulus and therefore of the fact that the different $ones or levels have actually been covered u". Cement hardening is an e#othermic reaction. (s a result,. there is a higher tem"erature o""osite cemented $ones when the cement is setting than what would be e#"ected from the normal geothermal gradient. However, this does not tell much about how com"letely the annulus has been filled u" and how good the cement bond is, i.e. about the quality of the cement job . (coustic logs and mainly logs with signals that are emitted and received! can be used to get a better "icture. The time, frequency and am"litude of the sound waves are measured when they come bac% to the tool after a signal has been emitted. These measurements are inter"reted according to a large number of "arameters sha"e of the borehole, "osition of the casing. ty"e of formation. ca%e, mud and cement. etc.!. Therefore, inter"retation is not an easy job. )e"ending on the ty"e of tool it can give: an overall idea of the cement*bond quality the com"ressive strength and an image of the cement sheath. The most common ty"es of acoustic logs are: +chlumberger,s CB-*.)- Cement Bond -og*.ariable )ensity -og! +chlumberger,s C/T Cement /valuation Tool!.

a. The

CBL-VDL

In this tool the transmitter generates a low*frequency 01 %H$! acoustic wave train over a short "eriod of time. The signal is "ro"agated through the casing, the cement and the formation before it gets bac% to the receivers, one of which is located three feet a""ro#imately 1.2 m! away and the other five feet a""ro#imately 3.4 m! away from the transmitter. 5hat is measured is therefore the longitudinal vertical! "ath of the sound wave.

Cased hole evalution

&rinci"le of the CB-* .6- and a standard.*"resentation of a recording (Source: (fter Revile dt' I'lnstitllt Franrais dll etrole! 73. 8o.9. 32:;!.

The CB- is a recording of the am"litude and the transit time of the first sound wave that reaches the receiver that is three feet away. The .)- is o"tional, it gives further information to su""lement the CB-. The com"lete wave train that reaches the receiver is re"resented on a film by light and dar% stri"es, with the contrast de"ending on the am"litude of the "ositive "ea%s . 'f the cement job is good, the am"litude measured by the CB- is low. The .)shows an attenuated signal that has travelled through the casing and a strong signal that has travelled through the formation. In contrast, when the cement job is "oor, the am"litude measured by the CB- is strong and the .)- shows a signal that has travelled through the casing in the form of regular. highly contrasted stri"es. Care is required since a large number of "arameters such as a cou"ling, a logging tool that is im"ro"erly centered in the casing, fingering or a microannulus, etc.! can affect the am"litude measurement. (n attentive study of the transit time and the overall .)- "icture can hel" ta%e these "arameters into account for inter"retation. (dditionally the tool "rovides only an idea of the average bond quality. This de"ends on the "ercentage of the circumference where the cement has bonded and the com"ressive strength of the cement so the log should not be run until the cement has enough time to set!.

Cased hole evalution

". The C#T

This tool has got eight high*frequency transmitter*receivers 411 %H$! located on a hori$ontal "lane. This time the attenuation of the casing,s radial hori$ontal! resonance is analy$ed according to the eight sectors. The attenuation de"ends on whether cement is "resent in the sector and on its com"ressive strength. The tool "rovides three main recordings . the average casing diameter and whether it is out of round the ma#imum and minimum com"ressive strength averaged out over a height of four feet and a hori$ontal sector of 74<! an =image= of the cement sheath. The image consists of eight traces one for each sensor! varying between lighter and dar%er de"ending on the com"ressive strength of the cement in each sector. +hades range from white no cement! to blac% good cement!. 'n order to im"rove the "resentation, shading is gradually inter"olated between the trac%s corres"onding to the different sensors . The tool also has the asset of being insensitive to any microannulus less than 1.3 mm thic%. 6n the other hand it does not characteri$e the cement*formation bond quality as well.

>emedial cement
Int" &ucti n The basic method used to restore an inadequate "rimary cement job consists in "ositioning cement slurry in?on the defective $one: "ossibly by circulating when the "roblem is incom"lete filling for e#am"le! but more commonly by "um"ing under "ressure squee$e!, with the slurry subjected to differential "ressure. 't is the differential "ressure that allows the slurry to cover the defective $one by the "rocess of the liquid base filtering into the formation. ( cement ca%e is thereby formed on the wall. (s such it is necessary to: monitor the growth of the ca%e allow it to form evenly on all of the "ermeable areas. 'n addition to restoring a "rimary cement job, the method can also be used in wor%over in order to: restore isolation between $ones reduce the "ro"ortion of water or gas "roduced due to coning isolate a water or gas $one abandon tem"orarily or "ermanently! a "ay $one re"air a lea%y casing.

Cased hole evalution

+tandard "resentation or, a.C/T recurding (Source: +chlumberger document!.

Cased hole evalution