SPACERS

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

GENERAL INFORMATION

SPACERS

FLUSHES

CHEMICAL WASHES

OTHER REMARKS ABOUT SPACERS, FLUSHES AND CHEMICAL

WASHES

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 GENERAL INFORMATION

To achieve good primary cementing, the cement has to completely fill the space
that was previously occupied by the mud, or other fluid previously in the well.

Cement slurries and mud are often incompatible and when they come into contact
with each other; they can form a viscous interface which causes increases in the
pumping pressure with the danger of breaking into weak formations and losing the
slurry in the uncased hole.

Therefore, the mud must be removed using suitable and efficient systems; this is
done using SPACERS, FLUSHES AND CHEMICAL WASHES.

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 GENERAL INFORMATION

A SPACER, FLUSH or CHEMICAL WASH is therefore a fluid which flows between

mud in the well and the slurry and is used at all times.
Having as its main purpose that of removing the mud, it must be pumped in ahead of
the slurry but it is also useful behind the slurry to prevent contact with the mud even if
there is a mechanical displacement plug between the two fluids.
Three types of spacers exist

¾ Spacer
¾ Flush
¾ Chemical wash

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 GENERAL INFORMATION

Cement slurry
rising through the annulus

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 GENERAL INFORMATION

LOW
MOBILE
MOBILITY
MUD
MUD

FILTRATE CEMENT

FILTRATE
FILTER
CAKE
FORMATION CASING

Cement slurry cannot remove a viscous mud

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 SPACERS

A Spacer is weighted with a material, generally barite, but sometimes hematite

or fine grain sand.

A spacer is used for the following reasons:

¾ it is a fairly viscous fluid so it does not leak into, and channel the mud
however irremovable it has become.
¾ its density is mid-way between that of the mud and that of the cement and
so it does not excessively reduce the hydrostatic pressure in certain
formations.
¾ it can contain abrasive particles.

Spacers are available for both WBM (water base muds) and OBM (oil base
muds).
When used with OBM, one or more surfactants are added to the spacer which
leave the surfaces of the casing and uncased hole water wet.

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 SPACERS
Displacement efficiency

Formation

Standoff = C / (A-B)
Mud
B
C A

Casing

Cement

Cemented Area
Displacement
Efficiency =
Annular Area

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 FLUSH

A Flush is a fluid which has not been weighted with material.

Typical examples of flushes are:

¾ plain water
¾ diesel
¾ brine; if the slurry is prepared with.

A flush is used for the following reasons:

¾ it is a Newtonian fluid which will readily go into turbulent flow and so in theory it is
highly effective in removing, and above all washing, the annulus.
¾ it is a light fluid which helps contain the total hydrostatic pressure in cases where
the density of the slurry risks triggering absorptions in some sections.
¾ it is a readily available fluid and is often inexpensive or even cheap.

When OBM is used, surfactants should be added also to flushes.

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 CHEMICAL WASH

Chemical wash means a fluid with or without weighting material but which is
above all able to react with the filter cake, dissolve oily films on the walls and
leave them water wet, dissolve and remove emulsions created on close contact
of water fluids and oil (water block), or even react with fluids already present in
the formation or which will be pumped in subsequently.

For example, you could imagine a sodium silicate which reacts forming a filter
cake, with the formation chlorides, CaCl2 pumped previously for the same
purpose or with the slurry itself, greatly accelerating the setting time.

Common examples of chemical washes are:

¾ Silicates
¾ highly basic solutions
¾ organic and weak inorganic acids
¾ Phosphates

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 OTHER REMARKS ABOUT SPACERS, FLUSHES AND
CHEMICAL WASHES

¾ their volume should be such as to provide a contact time with the walls of at least ten
minutes; in practical terms, this means a column with a height of between 150 and
300 metres is needed.

¾ must contain NaCl or KCl in the case of formations containing expanding clays.

¾ if they have to come into contact with the slurry, as is generally the case, they must
be absolutely compatible with it, as well as with the mud.

¾ they must not be damaging for pay formations or hamper the passage of the
hydrocarbons

¾ they must be easy to prepare, easy to find, stable and cheap.

¾ they are valid on their own but better results are obtained if several, each with a
specific characteristic, are used one after the other.

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 OTHER REMARKS ABOUT SPACERS, FLUSHES AND
CHEMICAL WASHES

other remarks:

¾ fresh water should be limited to wide shallow casings and where it is more
certain that the hydrocarbon-bearing formation has a minimum clay content
and also when there is no risk of creating emulsions with the formation oil.

¾ brines can be used also when the slurry has been mixed with the same
type of chloride as in the brine (Na Cl, KCl).

¾ Warning: brines can easily create emulsions which in turn create

precipitates in the presence of certain products of the mud.

¾ rather than for dissolving dehydrated clay particles, chemical washes are
designed to alter the polarity which keeps the layers apart (swelling), with
the result of bringing them closer together.

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 OTHER REMARKS ABOUT SPACERS, FLUSHES AND
CHEMICAL WASHES

The table below gives the viscosity values, measured using a Fann
Viscosimeter at variable rotation velocity, of the mixtures of a spacer and of a
mud, at the standard concentrations of 75/25, 50/50 and 25/75, as well as the
viscosity of the spacer and mud alone.

The spacer was weighted with barite at 1.54 kg/l and enriched with two
surfactants, while the mud was a traditional OBM at 1.44 kg/l.

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 RHEOLOGIES

Mud % Spcr.% Temp oC 300 200 100 6 3 Pv Yp

100 - 27 97 72 45 13 11

75 25 27 119 90 55 15 13

50 50 27 42 34 23 9 7

25 75 27 45 35 24 9 8

- 100 27 32 23 15 5 4

.B.: The RATIO COMPATIBILITY index is calculated by dividing the max value at the viscosimeter

(at 300 RPM) of the mixture of the two fluids, by the max value (at 300 RPM) of the mud alone.

The fluids are considered compatible if this ratio is less than 2.5.

Max viscosity value of the mud and spacer mixture 119

Max viscosity value of the mud alone 97

RCI (Ratio Compatibility Index) = 1.227

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