Impact of Voids on Mechanical Stability of Well Cement. (January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lavrov, Alexandre; Todorovic, Jelena; Torsæter, Malin
• Is Part Of: Energy procedia. Volume 86(2016)
• Page Start: 401
• Page End: 410
• Publication Date: 2016-01
• Subjects: cement -- well -- SEM -- wellbore integrity -- stress concentration -- void -- interface -- failure; Power resources -- Congresses; Power resources -- Periodicals; Power resources; Conference proceedings; Periodicals; 333.7905
• DOI: 10.1016/j.egypro.2016.01.041
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1876-6102

Abstract

Abstract: Techniques of well construction currently used in oil industry and for underground CO2 storage typically involve cementing a casing or liner in a borehole. Cement integrity affects the overall integrity of the well. Developing new sealing materials and predicting long-term integrity of CO2 injection wells requires a good understanding of defects in well cement, and how these defects may affect the well integrity. In this paper, voids and channels are observed in the cement near different cement-steel interfaces using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The effect of voids on the stress state under mechanical or thermal loading of the near-well area is assessed numerically using a finite-element model of the casing-cement-rock system.