Cementing oil & gas wells and other tales ...

Abstract: Oil & gas wells are cemented at least once in their construction, both in order to strengthen the borehole and to prevent gases and other reservoir fluids from percolating to surface. The process involves the displacement of the drilling mud by the cement slurry within a long annular region. The process is made harder by the fluids being non-Newtonian, often having a yield stress which allows them to become stuck in the annulus, by the annulus typically being narrow and eccentric, and by the varying effects of wellbore deviation, from vertical to horizontal. Surprisingly, it is possible to model this process and analyse conditions under which the displacement will be effective. In this seminar we give an overview of our research in this area over the past 7-8 years. We focus in particular on laminar annular displacement flows, highlighting our work on vertical and horizontal wells.

Refreshments will be served at 2:45 p.m. (Math Lounge, MATX 1115).