SPWLA
Monthly Luncheon Meeting
Thursday
January 17 2019
PanAm Building- Suite 1600
601 Poydras St,
New Orleans, LA 70130
11:30 – 1:00 pm
RSVP: Elizabeth Tanis ([email protected]) Cost - $25
NOVEL
COMPOSITE CEMENT FOR IMPROVED WELL INTEGRITY EVALUATION
Presented By: Hani Elshahawi - Deepwater Digitalization Lead at Shell
ABSTRACT
For
E&P companies, well integrity during the production cycle is of paramount
importance for safeguarding health, safety, and the environment (HSE) and for
maintaining the license to operate. In this paper, we describe the development
of a composite well cement with specific enhanced acoustic signatures that can
be detected by traditional sonic logging tools as well as next generation
ultrasonic tools. This new acoustically responsive cement utilizes specially
engineered particle fillers that act as acoustic band gap filters and contrast
agents at specific frequencies. The resultant acoustic signature can thus be
analyzed to determine the mechanical integrity of the cement as well as the
mechanical stress experienced by the cement.
During
the development of this technology, finite element analysis and simulations
were used to determine the acoustic response and guide the design of the new
cement. The composite cement was produced on the lab scale, and the acoustic
band gap features were confirmed using vibrational measurements. Ultrasonic
sensors were then used to determine the acoustic response of subscale composite
structures, including under mechanical load and in simulated environmental
tests. Finally, shallow buried pipes with cemented annuli and engineered voids
were constructed for pilot testing. During that final stage, a slim hole
monopole sonic logging tool was used to map the cement location and determine
the location and relative degree of mechanical loading.
Stress
was applied using a variety of methods and mapped along the wellbore. The
results indicated improved acoustic detection using sonic bond log tools
including uniquely identifiable cement placement, enhanced void discrimination,
and localization of loaded regions. The acoustically responsive cement allows
distinguishing between fluids and lightweight cement, monitoring of formation
depletion and reservoir compaction, and increased knowledge of wellbore
stresses in the oil field. Furthermore, the material has the potential to be
continuously monitored with an acoustic interrogation system for remote
real-time indication of cement stress and integrity on a zone-by-zone basis.