Durability of Lightweight Slurries for Oilwell Cementing

Abstract

In a deepwater environment, unconsolidated formations at seabed and naturally fractured carbonates at reservoir zones with high permeability are commonly found. In this context, the use of lightweight slurries is necessary to effectively cementing these formations, in order to mitigate slurry losses to the formations and to prevent their fracture. This work investigates the mechanical properties and durability of high performance lightweight slurries to be used in this environment. The mixtures were formulated within the framework of the Compressible Packing Model and were extended using hollow ceramic or glass microspheres. Tests were carried out to determine the slurries apparent density, rheology, free fluid, sedimentation, fluid loss, resistance to acid attack, sorptivity and total water absorption. A mechanical characterization was performed by uniaxial and triaxial compression and splitting tensile strength tests and were correlated with the durability tests. The reference slurry, extended with bentonite, presented a 1.46 g/cm3 density and compressive strength of 3 MPa (cure at 27oC/ 2.7 days). The slurries containing glass and ceramic microspheres were slightly lighter and presented a higher mechanical performance as compared to ordinary slurry. Besides, these mixtures presented a higher resistance to acid attacks and lower sorptivity, especially the lightweight slurry containing ceramic microspheres.