Advanced Mud Displacement Modeling for Slim Hole Cementing Operations

Ningyu Wang (), Christopher Lamb, Pradeepkumar Ashok, Eric van Oort (), Garrett Granier and Tatiana Gobert
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Ningyu Wang: Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Christopher Lamb: Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Pradeepkumar Ashok: Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Eric van Oort: Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Garrett Granier: Occidental, Houston, TX 77046, USA
Tatiana Gobert: Occidental, Houston, TX 77046, USA

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 5, 1-27

Abstract: Successful design and execution of slim-hole cementing operations depend on reliable prediction of the annular pressure and the efficiency of mud displacement by cement. A 3D model of the flow inside the casing and in the annulus during mud displacement/cement placement operations was created. The yield-power-law fluid model was used for the rheological behavior of mud, spacers, and cement. Mud displacement was analyzed by splitting the well into multiple sections and analyzing the efficiency of mud removal by spacers and cement, as well as the associated pressure gradients in each section for applicable combinations of pump rate and casing rotation speed. The results from the various computational steps were then integrated to compute the overall pressure and cement placement efficiency during the cementing operation. Using the new 3D model, a field case study was performed for a slim hole casing cementation on an unconventional shale well. The simulated peak surface pressure was only 0.3% lower than the measured data, and the trend of the pressure matched the measured data. This work provides a new tool for the well construction industry to predict and analyze the pressure during complicated cementing operations, thereby enabling safer and more cost-effective operations.

Keywords: mud displacement; 3D modeling; pressure analysis; surface pressure; pump rate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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