CASING AND CEMENT

Casing function
• - To prevent the hole from caving in or being washed out
• - To confine production to the well bore
• - To exclude water from the producing formations
• - To provide a means of controlling the well
• - To permit installation artificial lift equipment for producing the well
• - To provide a flow path for producing fluids
 Casing Types
1- Conductor Pipe:
• - The hole for the conductor pipe may be drilled or pile driven with a pile driver
• - Conductor pipe is usually 16 inches to 48 inches in diameter
• - It could be 300 feet deep or more
Conductor Casing or Pipe: Uses
• - As a channel to raise the mud high enough to return to the mud pits
• - To prevent erosion around the base of the rig
• - To provide for attaching the BOP stack where shallow gas is expected
• - To protect the subsequent casing strings from corrosion
• - To support some of the wellhead load on locations where the ground is soft
 :Surface Casing-2 •
• - The diameter of the surface casing must be less than the conductor casing
• - Usually set from 300 to 4000 feet deep
• Surface Casing: Uses
• - Primarily for protection in case of a blowout, so this string is usually
designed to withstand a burst pressure equivalent to 1 psi/ft of depth
• - Set deep enough to protect the well from cave-in and washout of loose
formations that are encountered near the surface
• - Starting point for the casing head and other fittings that will be left on the
completed well
• 3- Intermediate Casing:
• - The number of intermediate casing strings set depends on the depth of the
well and the problems encountered in drilling - Size ranges from 5 to 13
3/8 inches in diameter
• Intermediate Casing: Uses
• - Generally used to seal off weak zones that might break with the use of
heavy mud and withstand pressure at the wellhead when kicks are being
handled
• - Sometimes used to seal off salt and anhydrite zones that may contaminate
the drilling mud or cause pipe sticking and key seats
• - Also used to seal off older production zones in order to drill deeper
• 4- Liner String:
• - An abbreviated string of casing used to case the open hole below existing casing
• - It extends from the setting depth up into another casing string, usually overlapping around 100
feet above the lower end of either the intermediate or production casing
• - Suspended from the upper casing by a liner hanger
• - Production liners are sometimes not cemented
• (Scab liner: it's reverse liner run above the liner to support, and it must be of high grade)
• 5- Production Casing (Tubing):
• This serves to isolate the hydrocarbons during production from undesirable fluids in the producing
formation and from other zones penetrated by the well bore.
• Liner: Advantages
• - Cheaper because only a short string of pipe is needed instead of a complete string back to
the surface (principal advantage) - Cheaper means of testing a lower zone
• - Less danger of the casing being stuck because a liner can be run in a shorter amount of time
• - If drilling has weakened the casing string, additional pipe may be tied back to the surface from the
top of the liner
• Liner: Problems Encountered
• - Liner seals sometimes leak - Difficulty in disengaging the liner string from the running tool
 Casing Accessories
• 1- Guide Shoes: is attached to the first length of casing to be lowered into the
hole.
• It is aluminum with a hole in the center and rounded, to guide the casing into the
borehole, around obstructions.
• 2- Float Collars: One way valve to move fluid downward only
• 3- Float shoe: To prevent mud entering CSG and keep it empty
• 4- Centralizers: to reduce the differential sticking and let CSG be centered.
• 5- Scratches: To remove any mud cake present on the hole.
• 6- Cementing Head:
• This provides the union for connecting the cementing lines from the cementing
pump to the casing. This type of head makes it possible to circulate the mud in a
normal manner, release the bottom plug, mix and pump the cement and pump it
down, release the top plug, and displace the cement without making or breaking
any connections.
 Cementing
• Cementing helps in the following ways:
• 1- Bonds the casing to the formation
• 2- Protects the producing formations
• 3- Helps in the control of blowouts from high-pressure zones
• 4- Seals off troublesome zones (i.e. lost circulation zones)
• 5- Provides support for the casing
• 6- Prevents casing corrosion
• 7- Forms a seal in the event of a kick during drilling
• Primary Cementing:
• 1. Single-Stage (normal displacement technique)
• Once casing is set and circulation has been assured, is to pump a 10 to 15 barrel
“spacer” ahead of the bottom (red) plug, which is immediately followed by the
cement. The spacer serves as a flushing agent and provides a spacer between the
mud and cement. It also assists in the removal of wall cake and flushes the mud
ahead of the cement, thereby lessening contamination.
• Cement plugs consist of an aluminum body encased in molded rubber. Two plugs
are usually contained in the cementing head to facilitate the operations. When the
bottom plug reaches the float collar, the diaphragm in the plug ruptures to permit
the cement to proceed down the casing and up the annulus.
• The top (black) plug, which is solidly constructed, is released when all the cement
has been pumped. It is dropped on top of the cement, followed by drilling mud, to
displace the cement from the casing. This plug causes a complete shut-off when it
reaches the float collar.
• Pumping is stopped as soon as there is a positive indication (pressure increase) that
the top plug has reached the float collar.
• 2- Multi-Stage
• Usually for a long column that might cause formation breakdown if the cement were
displaced from the bottom of the string. The essential tool consists of a ported coupling
placed at the proper point in the string.
• Cementation of the lower section of casing is done first, in the usual manner, using plugs
that will pass through the stage collar without opening the ports. The multi-stage tool is
then opened hydraulically by special plugs, and fluid circulated through the tool to the
surface. Placement of cement for the upper section occurs through the ports which are
subsequently closed by the final plug pumped behind the cement.
• Secondary Cementing
• 1- Plugging to another producing zone 2- Plugging a dry hole 3- Formation “squeeze”
cementing
• Squeeze:- the process of injection the cement, it's done by running (cement returned
tool) and its work through pumping cement then at bottom then it well plug the cement.
• Tag on cement: the process of RIH with string to touch the top of cement to be identified