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Fluid Flow and Displacement in the Annulus

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Physics and Mechanics of Primary Well Cementing

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Petroleum Geoscience & Engineering ((BRIEFSPGE))

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Abstract

During a primary cementing job, a sequence of fluids is pumped into the annulus in order to displace the mud and prepare the annulus for cement placement. The factors affecting the mud displacement efficiency are discussed in this chapter. The effects of pipe eccentricity, breakouts, and irregular wellbore cross-section on the displacement efficiency are demonstrated using a simple kinematic model of annular cementing. In particular, it is shown that breakouts may have a substantial detrimental effect on the displacement efficiency since the displacing fluids might be flowing only in the breakouts. Channelization is also shown to occur when the wellbore has neither breakouts nor washouts, but rather a slightly irregular cross-section, like real wells normally do in sedimentary formations. In this case, viscous instabilities occur for unfavorable mobility ratios. Channelization may in this case be prevented most effectively by increasing the yield stress of the displacing fluid. The effects of well inclination, pipe movement and flow regime are discussed. A brief overview of numerical models of well cementing is provided. Unresolved issues in modelling are summarized.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SINTEF Petroleum Research, Trondheim, Norway

    Alexandre Lavrov & Malin Torsæter

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  1. Alexandre Lavrov
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  2. Malin Torsæter
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Correspondence to Alexandre Lavrov .

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Lavrov, A., Torsæter, M. (2016). Fluid Flow and Displacement in the Annulus. In: Physics and Mechanics of Primary Well Cementing. SpringerBriefs in Petroleum Geoscience & Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43165-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43165-9_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-43164-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-43165-9

  • eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)

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