IADC DRILLING SERIES

WELL
CEMENTING
OPERATIONS
Ron Sweatman

Published under the auspices Copyright 2015.

of the IADC Technical International Association of
Publications Committee Drilling Contractors.
 WELL C EM ENTING OP ER A T I ONS

About Well Cementing Operations

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter
covered, and for the general information and education of the reader. Although the author and publisher
believe the information presented is accurate as of the date of publication, each reader is responsible for his
own reliance, reasonable or otherwise, on the information presented. If professional engineering expertise is
required, the services of a competent individual or firm should be sought. Neither the author nor the publisher
warrant or guarantee that application of any theory, concept, method, or action described in this book will lead
to the result desired by the reader.

This book was prepared under the auspices of the IADC Technical Publications Committee as part of the IADC
Drilling Manual. The IADC Drilling Series is a collection of books covering key topics that the drilling engineer
needs to know. For more information, go to www.IADC.org/ technical-publications-committee/.

Other books in the series include:

Underbalanced Drilling: Limits and Extremes, Bill Rehm, et al, Gulf Publishing Company, 2012

Managed Pressure Drilling, Bill Rehm, et al, Gulf Publishing Company, 2008

Casing and Liners for Drilling and Completion, Ted G. Byrom, Gulf Publishing Company, 2007

Visit www.IADC.org/ebookstore Visit www.IADC.org/bookstore

Well Cementing Operations by Ronald Sweatman

1st Edition, 1st Printing

ISBN: 978-0-9909049-8-4

Copyright 2015 International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), Houston, Texas.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
without the prior written permission of the publisher.

International Association of Drilling Contractors

10370 Richmond Avenue, Suite 760
Houston, Texas 77042
USA

COPYRIGHT 2015 i
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ii COPYRIGHT 2015
 WELL C EM ENTING OP ER A T I ONS

Acknowledgements
This book was written with support, encouragement, and contributions from many sources. Special thanks go
to Dr. Leon Doc Robinson for the offer to join the IADC Technical Publications Committee (TPC), his idea for
having an IADC book on cementing, his great leadership as Chair of the TPC for many years, and his continued
encouragement in getting this book written as a TPC project. Many other members of the IADC TPC also deserve
special thanks for their help which included expert technical guidance in preparing the books outline, suggesting
content, peer reviews, and editing.

Others that warrant special thanks include Halliburton Company, the Halliburton Cementing Product Service
Line, and their management and relevant employees for approval to use company time preparing the book,
providing access to many internal documents such as training manuals, contributing cementing data, and
approving the use of many Halliburton graphics in the books figures. Any illustrations lacking an explicit credit
line were supplied by Halliburton. Mike Killalea, IADC Group Vice President/Publisher, and his staff are thanked for
their help to review and publish the book as one of the IADC Drilling Series Books. Appreciation is acknowledged
for the use of graphics from publications by the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Baker Hughes Incorporated,
and Weatherford International. We also thank the Americas Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), American Petroleum
Institute, and Spears & Associates for their contributions.

It has been my great pleasure to have worked with everyone that helped. We all hope that the books technical
content will help efforts to achieve good well cementing performance and to make operational improvements.
For giving me their support, understanding, and patience, this book is dedicated to my wife, Sharon, my two
daughters, Cynthia and Susan, and my five grandchildren, Broday, Caitlin, Keagan, Savanah, and Rowan.

Ronald Ron Sweatman

Montgomery, Texas

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

WELL CEMENTING
OPERATIONS
IADC DRILLING SERIES

About Well Cementing Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i

Other Drilling Series Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Chapters

1. Introduction to Cementing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. Casing and Tubing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
3. Cements and Additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4. Primary Cementing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5. Primary Cementing Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
6. Liner Cementing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
7. Plug-Back Cementing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
8. Squeeze Cementing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
9. Surface Cementing Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
10. Downhole Cementing Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
11. Cement Mixing and Pumping Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
12. Bulk Cement Storage and Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
13. Offshore Cementing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
14. Foam Cementing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
15. Primary Cementing for Horizontal & ERD Wells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
16. Cementing Technology Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Appendices
Appendix A: General Safety & Work Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Appendix B: Cementing Personnel Job Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Appendix C: RedBook Website Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Appendix D: Glossary of Relevant Oilfield Terms, Slang, & Acronyms . . . . . . . . . 310
Appendix E: Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

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Use for Section Notes

vi COPYRIGHT 2015
 INTR ODU CTION TO CEM ENT I NG

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO
CEMENTING
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Before Starting This Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
How This Course Book is Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Study Suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The Purpose of Cement in an Oil & Gas Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Cementing and the Drilling of an Oil & Gas Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Drilling Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Running Drill Pipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Running Surface Casing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Cementing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Tripping In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Running and Cementing Intermediate Casing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Drilling To Final Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Completing the Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Setting Production Casing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Perforating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Installing the Completion System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Sand Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Installing the Production Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Acidizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Fracturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Historical Background of Cementing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
General Safety and Work Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Cementing Personnel Job Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
RedBook Website Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Glossary Oilfield Terms, Slang, and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Common Oilfield Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Common Oilfield Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

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possible exception of a dictionary and the Halliburton

INTRODUCTION Cementing Tables (RedBook). Each unit is made up
of text, figures to help explain the text (pictures,
Welcome to the IADC Cementing Book and Course. drawings charts, etc.) and most have a unit quiz.
This book provides excellent value for students When all the units in a chapter are complete, perform
working for oil and gas operators, well cementing a self-check test. Both the quizzes and tests will help
service companies, drilling contractors and others evaluate personal progress. The time spent learning
throughout the world. Cementing is the process that each unit and chapter is not important; it is important
enables well integrity for many years of well operating that the content is remembered.
time periods and beyond.
The answers to all unit quizzes and the self-check tests
This course book is an introduction to the cementing are at the end of relevant chapters. After completing
process: what it is, why is it done and how to do it. a quiz or a test, refer to the appropriate answer key.
This course contains many new terms, types of Successful completion of all the chapter tests and a
equipment, types of materials and processes. Course comprehensive final examination makes the reader
completion will help the student communicate more eligible to study the advanced chapters in the book
effectively in the office and at the job site, improving and those in other books on the subject.
participation during cementing jobs, and helping
prepare the student to assume greater responsibility.
Understanding the books content may start the Study Suggestions
journey to learning how to design and deliver
cementing services. This course was designed to make learning as easy
as possible. However, one must read all sections
Take time to carefully read this introduction. It will and complete the tests to retain the knowledge. The
acquaint readers with this course and suggest ways reader is responsible for learning this course.
to get the most out of it.
Keep this book available at all times as unexpected
This book allows learning at ones own speed, without opportunities to work on a unit may arise such as
an instructor, and at any time or place that may be waiting on a well location to perform a cementing
convenient. operation. Try to set aside enough time to complete
an entire unit during a study period.

Before Starting This Course Some study suggestions include:

Parts of this course, starting with Chapter 5, require Review both the section and unit introductions.
calculation of answers using basic math and They will very briefly describe what is in the unit;
geometry, along with the Halliburton Cementing Tables
(RedBook). If additional training in math or using Skim through the unit. Look at the figures and
RedBook is needed, complete the Essential Math course headings to see whats familiar and what isnt.
or the Essential RedBook course. These learning tools They will tell you what to expect;
are available on the Internet as described later.
Read the content carefully. Go back to the
Experts in cementing may use more exotic beginning of the unit and read the content,
mathematical models, but for the purpose of this paragraph by paragraph. Study the figures. If you
course only the basics are necessary. are unfamiliar with the meaning of a word, look it
up in a dictionary;

How This Course Book is Organized Check your understanding. Try to put into your
own words the paragraph you have just read. Go
Become familiar with the way this book is organized. back and underline or make notes of important
The table of contents begins each chapter, followed by points. This will help you to review the content
an introduction, a list of topic areas and the learning later;
objectives for that chapter.
Review the unit. At the end of each unit, take a few
Each chapter in this book contains several units. Each minutes to look over your notes;
unit contains all the information needed at this time.
Other books or manuals are not necessary, with the

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