Copyright: Dr.

Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305

PLACEMENT TECHNIQUES
 Cement may be placed by either one of the following techniques:
1. Primary cement

2. Multi-stage cementing

3. Inner string cementing

4. Squeeze cementing

5. Plug cementing

6. Annular cementing trough tubing

7. Reverse circulation cementing

8. Delayed setting cementing

Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
PRIMARY CEMENTING
 Objective: Place cement slurry in the annulus behind casing.

 Top of cement, TOC depends on objectives of cementing operations.

 Conductor & surface casing whole annulus is cemented
 Intermediate & production is 300-500 ft above troublesome
formation.

 Primary cementing can be done in:

 Single operation
Pump cement down casing, through casing shoe and up into annulus.

 Two-stage operation
• 1st Stage: Completed as primary. Cement does not fill annulus, but
reaches a pre-determined height above shoe (3000' - 4000').

• 2nd Stage: It is carried out through DV tool after 1st stage cement
has been set.
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
PRIMARY CEMENTING
 The reasons for using a multi-stage operation are to reduce:
 Excessive hydrostatic pressure on weak formations
 Lost Circulation Zone or Low Frac Gradient
 Cement very long intervals (time / volume limitations)
 Reduce use of expensive slurries due to special well problems:
• Salt Zone
• Gas Zone
 Economy - Incomplete fill up
 High pump pressures

Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305

PRIMARY CEMENTING
Inner string cementing
 For large casing (>13⅜"), conventional techniques may result in:
 Cement contamination during pumping and displacement
 Use of large cement plugs (can get stuck in the casing)
 Large displacement volumes
 Long pumping times
 Large volume of cement left inside casing

 A stinger cement job can be used where cement is

displaced through tubing or drill pipe string.

 After pumping cement, drill string can be gradually

removed.

 The main disadvantage: rig time is lost in running and

retrieving the inner string.
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
SQUEEZE CEMENTING
 It is done at a later stage in the life of a well.

 Squeeze cementing is the process by which hydraulic pressure is used

to force cement slurry through holes in casing, into annulus and/or
formation.

 The main applications of squeeze cementing are:

 Seal off gas or water producing zones
 Repair casing failures by squeezing cement through leaking joints
or corrosion hole
 Seal off lost circulation zones
 Carry out remedial work on a poor primary cement job
 Prevent vertical reservoir fluid migration into producing zones
(block squeeze)
 Prevent fluids escape from abandoned zones.
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
SQUEEZE CEMENTING
 There are two processes by which cement can be squeezed:
 High pressure squeeze:
• Formation is fractured, cement slurry is pumped into fractured
zone.
• Large volumes of cement may be necessary to seal off the
fracture

 Low pressure squeeze:

• Fracture gradient of the formation is not exceeded.

 After cement has hardened, it must be pressure tested:

 A positive pressure test by closing BOPs and pressuring up on
casing (Do not exceed fracture gradient).

 A negative pressure test (inflow test) by reducing hydrostatic

pressure inside the casing (DST tool or filling well with diesel).
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
CEMENT PLUG
 Setting plugs is commonly used for:
 Providing a kick off point for directional drilling
 Abandoning an entire well
 Seal off lost circulation zones
 Isolating a zone for formation testing

 Two Methods:
1. Balanced plug technique
Aims at achieving an equal level of cement in
drill pipe and annulus.

1. Dump bailer
A bailer containing the slurry is lowered down
the well on wireline. When it reaches bridge
plug, slurry is released and sits on top of the
bridge plug.
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
CEMENT JOB EVALUATION
 A failure of primary cement job may occur if:
 Cement does not fill the annulus to the required height.
 Cement does not provide a good seal.
 Cement does not provide a good seal at the casing shoe.
 Poor leak off test is achieved.

 A number of methods can be used to assess the effectiveness of the

cement job. These include:
 Temperature surveys
 Radioactive surveys
 CBL - cement bond log (TOC and bond)
 VDL - variable density log
 CET - Cement Evaluation Tool
 USI - Ultrasonic Borehole Imaging
 SBT - Segmented Bond Tool
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
CEMENT JOB EVALUATION
Cement bond logs (CBL)
 The cement bond logging tools not only detect top of cement, but also
indicate how good cement bond is.

 It is a sonic tool run on wireline. Distance

between transmitter and receiver is about 3 ft.

 Both the time taken for the signal to reach the

receiver, and the amplitude of the returning
signal, give an indication of the bond.

 If the amplitude is large (strong signal), the

pipe is free (poor bond).

 When cement is firmly bonded, the signal is

attenuated, and is characteristic of the
formation behind the casing (good bond).
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
CEMENT CALCULATIONS
 The following calculations must be undertaken prior to a cementation
operation:
 Slurry requirements
 No. of sacks of cement
 Volume of mixwater
 Volume of additives
 Total time for the job and thickening time
 Displacement volume
 Annular velocity
 Two-stage calculations
 Hydrostatic pressure for various cement positions,
 Differential pressure at the end of cement displacement
 Plugging back calculations
 The expected mud returns during the cement job
 The expected overall increase in pit volume
 Flow calculations.
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
CEMENT CALCULATIONS
1- Cement Slurry Requirements
 Sufficient cement slurry must be mixed and pumped to fill up:
 Annular space between casing and borehole,
 Annular space between two casings (two stage operation),
 Open hole below the casing (rat hole)
 Shoe track

 A 10 – 20% excess is generally mixed.

 The volumetric capacities (bbls/linear ft, cu

ft/linear ft or m3/m) of the annuli, casings,
and open hole are available from service
company cementing tables.

2- Number of Sacks of Cement

 Number of sacks of cement required depends on amount of slurry
required and cement yield.
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
CEMENT CALCULATIONS
3- Mixwater Requirements
 Mixwater required depends on type of cement powder used.
Mixwater Vol. = Mixwater per sack x No. Sxs

4- Additive Requirements
 The number of sacks of additive can be calculated from:
Number of sacks of additive = No. sxs Cement × % Additive

5- Duration of Operation
 Duration time is the total cementing job time. It is used to determine
required setting time for cement formulation.
Duration = Slurry vol. / mixing rate + slurry vol. / pumping rate
+ displacement vol. / displacement rate + plug release time +
contingency time (1.0 hr)

Should not be large enough, otherwise cement may set inside casing
Should be always lower than thickening time.
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
CEMENT CALCULATIONS
7- Displacement Volume
 It is the volume of mud used to displace cement.

 Stinger Operation
The cement is generally under displaced by 1-2 bbls of liquid
Displacement Vol. = Volume capacity of stinger × depth of casing – 1.0

 Conventional Operation
Displacement Vol. = Volume capacity of casing × depth of float collar

 Two-stage Cementing Operation:

1st Stage:
Displacement Vol. = Volume capacity of casing × depth of float collar

2nd Stage:
Displacement Vol. = Volume capacity of stinger × depth of DV tool
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
CEMENT CALCULATIONS
8- Plugging Back Operations
 Volume of cement:

V  H  ( A  C)

H = height of cement plug, ft

A = annular capacity between drill pipe (or tubing) and open hole
C = capacity of drill pipe or tubing

Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305

CEMENT CALCULATIONS
9- Flow Calculations
Displacement velocity
17.15q
v
d i2
For annulus:
d i2  d h2  d op2
q = rate, bbl/min v = velocity, fps di = ID, inch
dh = hole diameter, inch dop = OD of inside pipe, inch

Reynolds number
1.86v 2n 
N Re 
k (96 / d i ) n
For annulus:
di  diop  d oip

ρ = slurry density, ppg v = velocity, fps

Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
CEMENT CALCULATIONS
9- Flow Calculations
Casing/open hole annular area:

A  0.7854(d h2  do2 )

A = area, sq. inch dh = hole dia., inch do=OD of csg, inch

Hydrostatic pressure:
ph  0.052h

Frictional pressure drop

0.039 Lv 2 f
p f 
di
∆Pf = press. Drop, psi L = pipe length, ft f = Fanning friction factor

Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305

CEMENT CALCULATIONS
EXAMPLE #1
The 13 3/8" casing string of a well is to be cemented using class ‘G’ cement. Calculate
the following:
a. The required number of sacks of cement for a 1st stage of 700 ft. and a 2nd stage of
500 ft.(Allow 20% excess in open hole)
b. The volume of mixwater required for each stage.
c. The total hydrostatic pressure exerted at the bottom of each stage of cement (assume
a 10 ppg mud is in the well when cementing).
d. The displacement volume for each stage.

20“/19.124” casing shoe : 1500 ft 13-3/8" Casing 77 lb/ft : 0 - 1000 ft

13-3/8" Casing 72 lb/ft:1000-7000 ft. 17 1/2" open hole Depth : 7030 ft.
Stage Collar Depth : 1500 ft. Shoetrack : 60 ft.

Cement stage 1 (7000-6300 ft.) Cement stage 2 (1500-1000 ft.)

Class ‘G’ Class ‘G’ + 8% bentonite
Density : 15.9 ppg Density : 13.3 ppg
Yield : 1.15 ft3/sk Yield : 1.89 ft3/sk
Mixwater : 0.67 ft3/sk Mixwater:1.37 ft3/sk
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
CEMENT CALCULATIONS
EXAMPLE #1

Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305

CEMENT CALCULATIONS
EXAMPLE #2

It is required to balance 100 sacks of Class G neat cement in an 8.5 open hole by use of
a 3.5 in OD/3.068 in ID, 8.9 lb/ft tubing. The hole depth is 6,000 ft and 10 bbl of water
is to be used as preflush ahead of the cement slurry. Calculate:
a. total slurry volume, annular volume and tubing volume
b. height of the balanced plug
c. volume of water to be used as a spacer behind the cement
d. volume of mud chase (or displacement volume)
e. number of strokes required to displace cement to just below the drill pipe shoe,
assuming that the pump capacity is 0.1 bbl per stroke
f. volume of cement and number of sacks required if the height of the plug is 500 ft.

Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305

CEMENT CALCULATIONS
EXAMPLE #2

Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305

SPECIAL APPLICATIONS
Cementing Deep Wells
 Cementing deep wells is very similar to cementing shallow wells.
However, the hole and working conditions in deep wells are more
critical.

 These conditions are:

 Higher temperature, higher pressure
 Corrosive fluids
 Increased csg length
 Reduced annular clearance
 Greater mechanical loads
 Longer time intervals
 Heavier mud system
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
SPECIAL APPLICATIONS
Cementing Deep Wells
 In planning a deep cementing job, the following should be considered:
 The slurry should be designed to allow adequate displacement time.
Most deep wells, require a slurry with 3-4 hrs pumpability.

 The best technique should be selected for displacing the mud with
cement slurry.

 Optimum slurry properties should be attained during mixing

process (weight, viscosity, fluid loss, etc.)

 The setting properties of cement should be designed to resist gas

leakage, loss of strength, and corrosive environments.

 Other factors to be considered in designing slurries for deep wells are:

 Slurry pumpability
 Strength stability
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
SPECIAL APPLICATIONS
Cementing Horizontal and High Angle Wells
 In cementing horizontal, the control of slurry properties must be more
stringent.

 Batch mixing is recommended to maintain close control and

consistency of slurry properties.

 Low settlement (< 3 mm) and low pressure gradient is preferable.

 Zero free water is recommended.

 Fluid loss is important as slurry is exposed to long permeable section

of formation.
 API fluid loss of around 150 ml/30min is adequate.

 For a length of highly permeable formation, the API fluid loss

should be 30ml/30 min. or less.
Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305
SPECIAL APPLICATIONS
Recommendations for a good cement job
 Make sure cement is not contaminated by mud.

 Use centralizers, especially at critical points in the casing string.

 Move the casing during cement job. Rotation is preferred to

reciprocation to avoid surging against the formation.

 Before cementing, condition the mud to

ensure good flow properties, so that it can
be easily displaced.

 Use spacers to prevent mud

contamination in the annulus.

 Displace the spacer in turbulent flow.

Copyright: Dr. Ahmed Kamel PENG 3305