WELL CEMENTING

By: ASIF ZAMIR

Petroleum Engineering Department

Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia
2016

Learning Outcome
To evaluate between primary and secondary cementing, their
functions and areas of applications.
To review the API classifications of well cement and their areas of
applications
To perform detailed well cementing calculations based on the
properties of cement slurries

Introduction
Oil and gas well cementing is probably the most important operation in well
development.
The drilling team is usually responsible for cementing the casings and the liners.
The quality of these cementing operations will affect the success of follow-on
drilling, completion, production and workover efforts in the well.
Oil and gas well cementing can be grouped into two: (1) Primary cementing
i.e., cementing the casings and liners (2) Secondary or remedial cementing
i.e., squeeze and plug cementing.

Primary Cementing & Functions

Primary cementing refers to the cementing of
casing and/or liner strings to surrounding
formation. The functions of primary cementing
are as follows:
1. To support vertical and radial loads applied to casing
2. To isolate porous formations from producing zone
formations
3. To exclude unwanted subsurface fluids from the
producing interval
4. To protect the casing from corrosion fluids in the
formation
5. To confine abnormal formation pressures

Primary Cementing & Functions Contd.

The functions of primary cementing to specific
casing and liners are as follows:
1. Conductor casing: cementing prevents the drilling
fluid from escaping and circulating outside the
casing
2. Surface casing: cementing protects fresh-water
formation
3. Intermediate casing: cementing seals off abnormal
pressure formations
4. Production casing: cementing prevents produced
fluids from migrating to nonproducing formations

Secondary Cementing & Functions

Secondary or remedial cementing refers to cementing operations
as a means of maintaining or improving the wells operation. There
are two types namely, (a) squeeze cementing and (b) plug
cementing
a) Squeeze cementing: this operation injects or squeezes cement slurry into
a problematic void space at a desired location in the well using a
mechanical pump. Functions include:
1. Repair a faulty primary cementing operation
2. Seal thief or lost circulation zones
3. Changing water-oil, water-gas, and gas-oil ratios by shutting off the
breakthrough zone
4. Repair casing leaks such as join leaks, split casing, parted casing or
corroded casing

Secondary Cementing & Functions Contd.

b) Plug cementing: plug cementing are used for various reasons including the
following:
1. Plug-off abandoned wells by sealing off selected intervals, dry hole or depleted
well

2. Solving lost circulation problem by spotting a cement plug across the thief zone
and then drilling back through the plug
3. Sidetracking or to initiate directional drilling to help guide the bit in the desired
direction.

4. Provide an anchor for an open-hole test, particularly when the zone to be

tested is significantly off bottom.

Secondary Cementing & Functions Contd.

Plug cementing examples:

Lost circulation plug

Abandonment plug

Side tracking plug

Open-hole completion plug

Well Cementing Materials

Well cementing materials vary from basic Portland cement to sophisticated
resin-based or latex cement.
Cement is made of calcareous and argillaceous rock materials that are
usually obtained from quarries.
The calcareous materials contain calcium carbonate or calcium oxide,
whereas the argillaceous materials contain clay or clay minerals.
These materials are ground, mixed and subjected to high temperatures.

Cement rock
Chalk

Marl
Alkali waste

Clay

Shale
Slate

Ash

(Cement)

Limestone

(Argillaceous materials)

(Calcareous Materials)

Well Cementing Materials Contd.

Grind

+
Mix

+
High
Temperature

Classifications of Well Cement

The American Petroleum Institute (API) classifies well cement into nine classes.
Class A

Applicable from surface to 6,000 ft. depth. No special properties are required

Class B

Applicable from surface to 6,000 ft. depth. For moderate to high sulphate resistance

Class C

Applicable from surface to 6,000 ft. depth. For high early strength. Available in ordinary,
moderate & high sulphate resistant types.

Class D

Applicable from 6,000 to 10,000 ft. depth. For moderately HPHT wells. Available in both
moderate & high sulphate resistant types.

Class E

Applicable from 10,000 to 14,000 ft. depth. For HPHT wells. Available in both moderate
& high sulphate resistant types.

Class F

Applicable from 10,000 to 16,000 ft. depth. For extreme HPHT wells. Available in both
moderate & high sulphate resistant types.

Class G & H

Class J

Applicable from surface to 8,000 ft. depth. Can be modified with additives to cover
wide range of depths and temperature. Available in moderate & high sulphate
resistant types.

Applicable from 12,000 to 16,000 ft. depth. For extreme HPHT wells. Can be modified
with additives to cover wide range of depths and temperature.

Effect of Sulphate Minerals to Well Cement

Sulphate minerals are abundant in some formation waters that can come into
contact with set cement.

These minerals include magnesium, calcium and sodium sulphate which react with
lime in the set cement.
Calcium sulphate reacts with the tricalcium aluminate component of the cement to
form sulfoaluminate.
This reaction causes expansion and ultimately disintegrates the set cement.
To increase the cement resistance to sulphate attack, the amount of tricalcium
aluminate and free lime in the cement should be decreased.

Properties of API Cement Classes

Table 1 below gives the basic properties of the various classes of dry API cements

Properties of Cement Slurry & Set Cement

1. Specific Weight:
This is one of the most important properties of a cement slurry. A neat cement slurry is a
combination of only cement and water.
The specific weight of a neat cement slurry is defined by the amount of water used
with the dry cement, that is, water-to-cement ratio.
Table 2 below gives the maximum and minimum water-to-cement ratios and the
resulting neat slurry specific weight (lb/gal) and specific volume (ft3/sk) or yield (ft3/sk) for
three API cements

Specific Weight, Absolute Volume & Yield

Specific Weight:
the specific weight of a cement slurry is expressed as:
/ + / + (/)
(/) =
/ + / + (/)
Absolute volume:
For powdered materials that are additives to cement slurries, the absolute volume is
(/)
. (/) =
8.34 / .
Yield:
This is defined as the volume of slurry that results from 1 sk of cement additive
( 3 /)

/ + / + (/)
=
7.48 / 3

Example 1
Calculate the specific weight and yield for a neat slurry
of Class A cement using the maximum permissible waterto-cement ratio.
/ + / + (/)
(/) =
/ + / + (/)
(/)
. (/) =
8.34 / .

( 3 /) =

/ + / + (/)
7.48 / 3

Specific Weight of Cement Slurry

It is often necessary to decrease the specific weight of a cement slurry to avoid
fracturing weak formations during cementing operations.

There are basically two methods of accomplishing lower specific weights which are:
1. Adding clay or chemical silicate type extenders together with extra water.
2. Adding large quantities of pozzolan, ceramic microsphere or nitrogen.
Similarly, it may also be necessary to increase the specific weight of cement slurry,
particularly when cementing through high-pressure formations. These include:
1. Using the minimum permissible water-to-cement and adding dispersants to increase
the fluidity of the cement slurry
2. Adding high-specific-gravity materials to the cement slurry together with optimal or
slightly reduced water-to-cement ratio for the particular cement class.

Thickening Time
It is important that the thickening time for a given cement slurry be
known prior to using the slurry in a cementing operation.
When water is added to dry cement and its additives, a chemical
reaction begins that results in an increase in slurry viscosity.
When the slurry viscosity becomes too large, the slurry is no longer
pumpable.
Thus if the slurry is not placed in its proper location within the well prior to
the slurry becoming unpumpable, the well and the surface equipment
could be seriously damaged.

Thickening Time Contd.

Thickening time is defined as the time required for the cement slurry to reach
maximum pumpable viscosity.
This thickening time must be considerably longer than the time required to carry
out the actual cementing operation.
Retarders such as lignosulphonate, cellulose derivatives, and sugar derivatives
increase the thickening time of cement slurry.
Accelerators, such as calcium chloride and sodium chloride are however
added to decrease the thickening time of cement slurry. This is necessary when
early compressive strength of cement is needed. Mostly applicable during
surface casing string cementing and directional drilling plugs.

Cementing Operation Time

The cementing operation time is the total time required for the cement
slurry to be placed in the well.
Usually a safety factor (SF) is added to this estimate, where a SF of 30min
is added for shallow operations while 2hr SF is added to deep complex
operations.
The cementing operation time is given by:
0 = + + +
= time required to mix the dry cement (and additives) with water (hr)
= time required to displace cement slurry by mud inside the casing (hr)
= plug release time (hr)
= safety factor of 0.5 to 2 hr.

Cementing Operation Time Contd.

Mixing Time:

()
=
=

(/) 60
Displacement Time:

( 3 )
=
=

( 3 /) 60
The cement slurry chosen must have a thickening time greater than the
estimated time for the actual cementing operation, i.e, >0

Example 2
The minimum thickening time is required for a primary cementing
operation to cement a long intermediate casing string. The intermediate
casing string is a 9-5/8 in. (ID=8.535 in.), 53.5-lb/ft casing set in a 12-1/2 in.,
hole. The casing string is 12,000 ft long from the top of the float collar to the
surface. The cementing operation will require 1,200 sacks of Class H
cement. The mixing capacity of the single cementing truck is 25 sacks per
minute. The rig duplex mud pump has an 18-in., stroke (2.5-in rod) and 61/2 in., liners, and will be operated at 50 strokes per minute with 90%
volumetric efficiency. The plug release time is about 15 minutes. From the
above field cementing operation, evaluate the minimum thickening time
assuming a safety factor of 1 hr.
To be solved in class>>>>>

Strength of Set Cement

A properly designed cement slurry will set after it has been placed in its
appropriate location within the well.
Cement strength is the strength the set cement has obtained. This usually
refers to compressive strength or tensile strength.
For most well applications, cement having a compressive strength of 500
psi (35 bar) is considered adequate.
The compressive strength of cement is dependent on water-to-cement
ratio of slurry, curing time, temperature and pressure during curing and
additives in the cement.

Strength of Set Cement Contd.

In cement compressive strength test, four or five samples of cement slurry
cubes are allowed to cure for a specified period of time.
The cement cubes are placed in a compression testing machine and the
compressive strength of each sample cube is obtained experimentally.
The average value of the samples is obtained and reported as the
compressive strength of the cement.

Strength of Set Cement Contd.

Influence of Time and Temperature on Compressive Strength of API Class H
Cement

Cement Shear Force

In shear bond strength test, the cement slurry is allowed
to cure in the annulus of two concentric steel cylinders.
After curing, the shear force required to break the
bond between the set cement and one of the cylinders
(usually the inner cylinder) is obtained experimentally.
This shear force can be expressed as:

= 0.969
Where = compressive strength (psi); = outside
diameter of casing (inch); = height of the cement
column (inch)

Example 3
Design the total weight that can be supported by the Class H set cement
bonded to a 9-5/8 in. (8.535 in) casing string, 53.5 lb/ft and hole size of 121/2 in. The cement operation will require 1,200 sacks of cement with slurry
yield of 1.05 ft3/sk. There are 120 ft of casing below the float collar. Assume
a compressive strength of 500 psi.

= 0.969

Cement Additives
Cement additives are chemical additives that are used to alter the
basic properties of the neat cement slurry and its resulting set cement.
Cement additives can be divided into six (6) functional groups as:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Specific weight control

Thickening and setting time control
Loss of circulation control
Filtration control
Viscosity control
Special problems control

Cement Additives Contd.

Specific weight control additives:
These additives are required to lower/increase the specific weight of cement to prevent
formation damage. They include:
1.

Bentonite

2.

Diatomaceous earth

3.

Solid hydrocarbons (e.g. asphaltite and coal)

4.

Expanded perlite

5.

Pozzolan

6.

Hematite

7.

Ilmenite

8.

Barite

9.

Sand

Cement Additives Contd.

Thickening and setting time control additives:
These additives are required to either accelerate, or retard the thickening and setting
time of cement slurry. They include:
1.

Calcium Chloride (accelerator)

2.

Sodium chloride (accelerator)

3.

Sodium silicate (accelerator)

4.

Gypsum (retarder)

Cement Additives Contd.

Filtration control additives:
These additives are required to limit the loss of water filtrate from the cement slurry to
permeable formation. They include:
1.

Latex

2.

Bentonite with dispersant

3.

Polymers

Cement Additives Contd.

Viscosity control additives:
These additives are required to lower the viscosity of the cement slurry to enhance the
pumpability of the slurry. They include:
1.

Calcium lignosulfonate

2.

Sodium chloride

3.

Long-chain polymers

Example 4
A specific weight of 17.1 lb/gal is required for a Class H cement slurry. It is decided that the
cement be mixed with sand in order to increase the specific weight of the slurry. Determine the
weight of sand (in lb/sk) that should be added with each sack of cement. Assume the specific
gravity of sand to be 2.63 and weight of water is 8.34 lb/gal. Refer to the tables below for more
information.
/ + / + (/)
(/) =
/ + / + (/)
(/)
. (/) =
8.34 / .

(Lb/gal)

(ft3/sk)

End of Presentation