CEMENTING MECHANICS|

CENTRALISENT|WATION| CASING
MOVEMASHERS AND SPACERS
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CEMENTING MECHANICS
CONDITIONING THE DRILLING MUD
The viscosity of the mud should be reduced to the lowest practical level before the drillpipe is removed from the
hole. Effort should be directed at reducing the low shear-rate rheology of the mud (i.e. gel strengths and yield
points). However, care must be taken not to reduce the mud rheology below the minimum level required to
suspend the weighting agent such as barite.
Once the casing has been run, the mud should be further conditioned to remove gelled mud which will have
formed beneath the casing in areas of poor centralisation. Two to three hole volumes are normally considered
sufficient conditioning however, this is highly dependent upon the viscosity of the mud in the hole and the
casing centralisation. If it has not been possible to reduce the mud viscosity to the levels recommended above
and casing centralisation is poor, extended conditioning may be required. After conditioning the hole, cementing
should start without any break in circulation
CENTRALISATION
Good centralisation (Figure 6.4) is the most important factor in achieving efficient mud displacement and cement
placement. The best possible casing centralisation should be obtained by running a centralisation program. A
minimum standoff of 70% is a good rule-of-thumb to allow unhindered circulation beneath the casing, when the
mud rheology and displacement rates have been optimised. Centralisers should be fastened to allow pipe
reciprocation, or rotation, in strings where
casing movement is to be employed.
If washouts are expected, or are known to have occurred, then the number of centraliser required should be
calculated to take the increased hole size into account. It has been demonstrated that good centralisation can
reduce casing running difficulties by helping to prevent differential sticking.
CASING MOVEMENT
Whenever possible the casing should be reciprocated or rotated. Numerous laboratory and field studies have
shown that pipe movement increases displacement efficiency by helping to break-up gelled pockets of mud.
Movement should be attempted for all stages of the cementing operation from hole conditioning to
displacement. There is still a debate as whether casing reciprocation or casing movement provide the best
displacement aid. However, rotation does require special equipment. For liners, rotation is recommended due
to concerns over setting the liner and the increased danger of swabbing gas during the upstroke of reciprocation.
From field experiences the following rules-of-thumb are suggested:
reciprocate 20-40 ft strokes over a period of 2-5 minutes
rotation rates of 10-40 rpm.
WASHES AND SPACERS
Optimal mud removal will be obtained by the use of a simple wash, as this type of fluid will achieve turbulence
around the complete annulus at relatively low annular velocities. However, well control considerations may
dictate the use of a weighted spacer. In such cases, the use of a thin wash pumped in combination with a
weighted spacer may provide good mud removal. When a turbulent wash, or spacer, is used a minimum contact
time of 10 minutes must be achieved. This contact time should take account of the effects of U-tubing. Any
spacer designed for turbulent flow must be sufficiently viscous to suspend the weighting agent. If turbulence
across the complete annulus cannot be achieved, weighted spacers in laminar flow can provide effective mud
displacement. However, the physics of such displacements are complex and the density, viscosity and annular
flow rate must be carefully designed taking into account the properties of the mud and cement slurry. For laminar
displacements, the ideal volume of spacer required can not be predicted and minimum quoted volumes range

from 300-1000 ft of annular fill. It is important to use a volume of spacer sufficient to ensure separation of the
mud and cement when intermixing of the three fluids is taken into account.
DISPLACEMENT RATE
Displacement rates should be maximised to obtain the most effective cement placement. Limiting displacement
rates to those necessary to achieve turbulence is not sufficient, due to the inadequacies of estimating the onset
of turbulence and the variable casing eccentricity. A useful guideline is to ensure that the annular velocity
(assuming concentric casing) is above 260 ft/min.
BUMPING THE PLUG
The bottom plug (Figure 6.5) is first released and is followed by cement. When the bottom plug lands on the float
collar a pressure increase on surface is indicated. A small increase in pressure will rupture the bottom plug and
allow cement to flow through it, through float collar, shoe track, casing shoe and then around the casing. The
top plug is released from surface immediately after the total volume of cement is pumped. The top plug is
displaced by the drilling fluid and it, in turn, pushes the cement slurry into the annulus. When the top plug lands
on the bottom plug a pressure increase is observed at surface. This is called bumping the plug.Bumping
indicates that the total volume of cement is now displaced behind the casing. Usually, at this time, the casing is
pressure tested to a precalculated design value to check its integrity. Pressure testing casing while the cement is
still wet is recommended as this reduces the chances of breaking the set cement or creating micro-channels if the
test is carried out a few hours later when the cement sets. Figure 6.7 shows the plugs arrangement prior to being
drilled out. The following are guidelines on cement displacement and plug bumping:
Displacement of the plug should be slowed when within 10% of the required
strokes to bump the plug to avoid the risk of shearing the relief valve or
overpressuring the casing.
For full casing strings, displacement should continue until the plug is observed to bump. If no bump is detected,
the displacement should continue until the cement is circulated out of the hole and clean mud returns are
observed. The operation should then be repeated.
For liners, if no bump is observed, pump the calculated displacement volume
plus 50% of the shoe track volume.
If the plug bumps, the pressure should be increased to the test pressure as specified in the Drilling Programme
and held for 15 minutes. The pressure is then released and a check made for back flow. If the floats fail to hold,
the volume back flowed will be pumped and the bumping pressure held until the cement thickens.