Shrinkage of Oil Well Cement Slurries

Abstract

Abstract Gas leakage into and through the cemented annulus in oil and gas wells is a safety problem. The conditions for gas migration develop when the hydrostatic pressure of the hydrating cement slurry column slowly declines and finally falls below the pore pressure of a gas bearing formation. This pressure decline is mainly caused by chemical shrinkage of the cement. A low shrinkage will reduce the pressure decline and hence the risk of gas migration. A new and simple method for measurement of total chemical shrinkage at high temperatures has been developed. It has proved to be reliable and sensitive for monitoring the cement hydration process. The equipment was used to show that there is a marked difference in shrinkage behaviour for the tested slurries up to 180 ° C, probably due to a temperature effect on the cement hydration chemistry. The results confirmed the correlation between total shrinkage and cement content, and thus it follows that using more extender will reduce the likelihood of gas migration. Introduction Cement slurries are used in oil and gas wells for cementing the steel casing to the wellbore and thus sealing the rock formations from the well. Gas leakage into and through the cemented annulus is still a problem, in particular where shallow gas sands are penetrated and in deep gas wells, i.e., under high temperature and high pressure (HTHP) conditions. The leakage may manifest itself either as vertical communication between permeable gas reservoirs or migration all the way to the surface. Gas pressure in excess of the cement hydrostatic slurry pressure is the driving force behind gas migration. Reasons and mechanisms of gas migration are discussed by Levine et al.,(1) Sabins et al.(2), and Cheung and Beirute(3). Annular gas flow may be initiated when the hydrostatic pressure of the cement slurry declines and falls below the pore pressure of a gas bearing formation due to the combined effect of shrinkage, fluid loss to the porous well bore and gel strength build up. Normally a slurry volume reduction would be compensated for by contraction and downward movement of fluids from above, thus maintaining its hydrostatic head. However, during the setting process the cement slurry develops a gel structure causing it to stick to the wall thus hindering compensation of the shrinkage. The second requirement for gas migration is that the cement must enable gas flow into the cement either by permeability, channels, microannuli or microfractures before the slurry has reached a sufficient strength. Thus, the gas migration phenomenon is thought to be initiated during the transition state, from being fluid to becoming hard, i.e., between initial and final set of the cement. A low shrinkage is preferable because the resulting hydrostatic pressure decline will be lower than for a slurry with high shrinkage, i.e., pressure equilibrium between gas and slurry column is reached at a later point of time. The chemical shrinkage may be divided into two parts: external shrinkage and total shrinkage.