Colloidal gas aphron (CGA) based foam cement system

Abstract

Abstract To solve the problems such as high denstiy, foam instability, low compressive strength, high porosity and poor durability associated with conventional foam cements, a novel colloidal gas aphron (CGA) based foam cement system was investigated and tested for properties. CGA is used in a base slurry as the foam component and the recipe was optimized with hollow sphere and micro-silica in terms of particle size distribution (PSD). Porosity, permeability, strength, brittleness, elasticity, free water content, foam stability and density tests on the CGA based foam cement system were carried out to evaluate the performance of the system. According to the experiment results, at the foam proportion of 10%, the cement density was reduced to 1 040 kg/m3, and stable microfoam net structure not significantly affected by high temperature and high pressure was formed in the cement system. The optimal CGA based foam cement has a free water content of 0%, porosity of 24%, permeability of 0.7×10−3 μm2, low elasticity modulus, high Poisson's ratio, and reasonable compressive strength, and is more elastic and flexible with capability to tolerate regional stresses.