Precise Cement Displacement with a New Cement Plug Tracking Method

During the primary well cementing operation, when the cement slurry is pumped into the annulus around the outside of the casing string, it is very critical not to over displace and let the displacement fluid enter the annulus. Traditionally, to determine when to stop the cement displacement operation, the top cement plug position is tracked volumetrically by dividing the displaced volume by the casing internal cross-sectional area. However, the volumetric method is prone to uncertainties related to displacement fluid compressibility, high-pressure pump inefficiency, flowmeter inaccuracy, and variance in casing joint diameters. The new cost-effective cement displacement monitoring method is based on the analysis of the pressure pulses generated by the top cement plug passing the casing. These pressure pulses are detected by the standard pressure transducer installed at the cementing head. When correlated with the casing tally, these pulses identify the plug position related to the completion elements that provide better accuracy than the volumetric method used conventionally. The case studies include the successful cement displacement monitoring example and the case where the plug was prematurely stopped 90 meters above the landing collar, which was revealed by the subsequent drilling and confirmed independently by the new plug tracking method.