Under
the condition of heavy oil thermal recovery, the cement sheath
is easy to crack in the high temperature environment, resulting in
the decrease of cement paste strength, which may further cause sealing
failure and oil and gas production safety accidents. In this paper,
the influence of graphite on the mechanical properties of cement paste
under the simulated thermal recovery of heavy oil was studied, and
its mechanism is explored by testing and analyzing the microstructure.
The phase composition and microstructure of graphite–cement
composites were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and
scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the thermogravimetric analyzer
(TG/DTG) was used to analyze the heat resistance of the graphite–cement
composites. The results show that the addition of graphite significantly
improved the strength and deformation resistance of the Class G oil
well cement at high temperature (300, 400, and 500 °C) and low
temperature (50 °C), and the optimal addition amount is 0.07%.
The microscopic analysis shows that the incorporation of graphite
promoted the formation of hydration products, and played a role in
filling pores and reducing microcracks in cement pastes. At the same
time, due to the better thermal conductivity of graphite, it can balance
the internal thermal stress of the cement pastes and inhibit the strength
decline of cement pastes under high temperature environments. The
integrity of cement pastes was guaranteed through the mechanism of
“crack deflection” and “crack bridging”.
The research results of this paper have presented a certain theoretical
basis and new ideas for the development of cementing slurry systems
in heavy oil thermal recovery wells.