| Popis: |
Significant amount of oil and gas reserves contain CO2 and H2S. Leakage of these gases to fresh water aquifers and their escape to the surface compromises human health and safety and create unthinkable environmental hazards. Cement exposed to these acid gases degrade, thereby promoting their release through the wellbore to overlying fresh water formations and/or the environment. This study investigates how these contaminants aid the corrosion of well cement in high pressure-high temperature (HPHT) environment. Experiments were conducted under two broad test conditions. In the first case, cement cores were aged at 100°F in CO2-H2S brine solution. The total test pressure was varied from 3000 psi to 9000 psi. In the second case, cement cores were exposed to brine saturated with gas mixture comprising H2S, CO2, and CH4 at total test pressure of 6000 psi. Temperature was varied from 100°F to 350°F. The compressive strength, shear bond strength, porosity, and permeability of the aged and unaged specimens were measured to quantify the alteration in these critical cement properties. Observations are supported with FTIR, SEM and EDS analyses. As temperature increases, the presence of H2S shows more impact on the loss of mechanical strengths and increase in transport properties of Class G cement than Class H cement. Variation of H2S concentration also shows significant impact on cement integrity. Compared to previous study involving the exposure of cement to pure CO2, the presence of H2S improves the relative strength of cement. However, transport properties are compromised. FTIR mineralogy confirms that the extent to which cement is carbonated by CO2 is limited by the presence of H2S. In addition, SEM and EDX indicate that ettringite was formed at low temperature (100°F). However, it dissolves at high temperature (350°F) without significantly compromising the structural integrity of cement. The most significant new finding in this study is that the presence of H2S and its coexistence with CO2 under HPHT conditions minimizes the loss of the structural integrity of well cement by pure CO2. This is important because it narrows down the most significant factor to consider when designing acidresistant cements for HPHT wells. |
