Design Procedure for Cementing Intercalated Salt Zones

Abstract

Wells often require being drilled through and cemented across salt formations. In many parts of the world, salt sections consist of multiple salt types. These include Halite, Carnallite and Tachyhydrite. The last two salt types could move one hundred times faster than Halite and are chemically reactive. Typically, Carnallite and Tachyhydrite occur as streaks inserted between Halite. In these cases, cement sheath should withstand salt creep loading. Creep load is primarily compressive in cases of single salt types. For intercalated salts, varying creep rates can result in tensile loads, particularly at salt-salt junctions. Presalt exploration in offshore Brazil is an apt example displaying this behavior. In such a scenario, the cement sheath along a longitudinal well section should be analyzed for both tensile and compressive responses. It is well known that tensile strength of conventional cement systems is low, hence there is the need for detailed analysis and action to prevent damage to cement sheath.This work demonstrates cement design procedures by evaluating cement sheath mechanical integrity in intercalated salts. A typical presalt Brazilian well with different lengths of Tachyhydrite, Halite, and Anhydrite sections is used as an example in this work. A creep model for these salts is validated with data from triaxial creep testing. Responses of two cement systems, which are cured and tested, are compared. The analysis accounts for classical well loads during drilling and production etc., along with salt creep loading.This analysis shows that intercalated salts subject cement sheath to a series of tensile and compressive loads whose magnitude depends on the size and relative position of different salts. The salt-salt interface effects dominated the general tenet of increasing creep rate with increasing depth.This kind of detailed design procedure representing intercalated salt zones is the first of its kind known to the authors. Results from this analysis help fortify the importance of considering salt layering patterns during cement design for long term mechanical integrity. The design procedure discussed and presented in this study should help the industry design cement systems to withstand loads across single and intercalated salt zones and maintain well integrity.

Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Compression on the Petro-Physical and Micromechanical Properties of Wellbore Cement Containing Salt

“…. Several drilling and cementing challenges are associated with drilling through and cementing across such formations especially salt-containing formations [3]. In order to overcome these challenges, salted cement systems are employed in cementing through such zones.…”