CEMENTING CALCULATION LESSON

An External Presentation Prepared for Universiti Teknologi Petronas

Adrian Pattinasarany

LESSON OBJECTIVES

At the end of the lesson, you should be

able to:

How to calculate the amount of cement for a
Primary cementing job.

How to calculate the mixing water required
for the cement.

How to calculate the pressure required to
land the top plug

CONTENTS
Surface Casing Calculation:

Critical Circulating Pressure

Cement volume
Sacks of Cement
Mixing water
Displacement fluid
Pressure to land the plug

Surface Casing
Primary Cementing Calculations
Some of calculations that need to be made with every surface casing job
1

Critical Circulating Pressure Pressure required to lift (pump) the casing

out of the hole

Cement volume The volume of cement required to fill the required

footage of the annulus plus the shoe track capacity.

Sacks of Cement Converting the required volume of cement into sacks.

F
A

Mixing water required for given slurries.

Displacement fluid required to the top plug from surface to the top of the
shoe track.

Pressure to land the plug Differential pressure required to pump the plug
to the top of the shoe track.

Well Parameters
3
4
6

Pipe Size

Well Fluid

Hole Size

Pipe Depth

Shoe Track Length

Required Cement fill-up

Excess volume required (percent)

Surface Casing Job

This casing job consists of a single slurry which is to be
circulated from total depth to surface.
1

Well Parameters
7

Pipe Size

F
A
B
5

9 5/8 OD, 8.921ID, 36 #/ft,

Well Fluid

8.7 #/gal

Hole Size

12.25 #

Pipe Depth

300

3
4
6

Shoe Track Length

40

Required Cement Fill-Up

Excess Volume Required (percent)

To surface
100%

1. Calculations for Pressure Required to Lift Pipe

These calculations are performed as a precaution. They are done before mixing any cement. Just in
case the annulus has bridged, you need to know how much pressure would be required to lift
the pipe out of the hole, you cannot pull it out without parting it.
1.
Find Area of Casing (square in) = 0.7854 X 9.6252 = 72.76 sq in
2.
Buoyancy factor

BF =
3.
4.
5.

Density of Steel Pipe Density of Fluid

Density of Steel Pipe

65.449lb / gal 8.7lb / gal

= 0.8671
65.449lb / gal

You also need to know how much your casing weights in air. From the casing stamp, you
can find that this casing weigh 36 lb/ft
Since it is not known at what depth the annulus might become bridged, use the overall
length of your casing (300 ft) for these calculations.
The buoyancy factor (Step 2) multiplied by the weight per foot of casing (Step 3) times the
length of the casing (Step 4) equals the weight of the pipe hanging in fluid:
0.8671 BF 36 lb/ft 300 ft = 9364.68 lb

6.

The downward force of the pipe (step 2d) divided by the area of the pipe (step 1b) is the
pressure needed to start the lift:
9364.68 lb : 72.76 in. = 129 psi

2. Calculations for Amount of Cement

To find the amount (sacks) of cement needed for this surface casing cementing job, you need to know the type of
cement, its weight and its yield
1.
First, find the bulk weight of API cements 94 lb/cu ft.
The factor for absolute volume of API cements is 0.0382 gal/lb.
2.
Then calculate the correct figures for each of the additives and the water being used.
1.
Calculate how much the calcium chloride will weigh by multiplying the weight of cement by 2%:
0.02 94 lb = 1.88 lb
2.
Find the factor for absolute volume of Calcium Chloride, which is 0.0612 lb/gal.
3.
Find the absolute volume factor for Flocele, which is 0.0845 gal/lb.
3.
To find the absolute volumes of the cement, Calcium Chloride and Flocele, multiply the numbers in the materials column
by the numbers in the factor column:
94 lb 0.0382 gal/lb = 3.6 gal
1.88 lb 0.0612 gal/lb = 0.12 gal.
0.25 lb 0.0845 gal/lb = 0.02 gal
4.
To find the mixing water requirements for a sack of cement with its additives. These requirements are 5.0 gal., for the
cement, 0 gal Calcium Chloride and 0 gal Flocele. Add these figures together for the waters absolute volume:
5 gal + 0 + 0 gal = 5 gal
5.
To obtain the weight of the water required, multiply the weight per gallon of water by the volume of water (step 4):
8.33 gal/lb 5 gal = 41.65 lb
6.
Total the materials and absolute volume columns:
Total mixing water must be entered under absolute gallons before totaling.
Find the weight of the mixed cement by using this formula:
Total Pounds Total Absolute gallons = lb/gal
Find the cement yield in cubic feet per sack by using this formula:
Total Absolute gal 7.4805 gal/cu ft (constant) = cu ft/sk
The mixing water per sack is the sum of the gallons in the far right column.
7.
To find the weight of the cement slurry in pounds per gallon, divide the total pounds by the total absolute volume in
gallons:
137.78 8.7270 gal = 15.79 lb/gal
8.
Then find the yield by dividing the total absolute volume in gallons (step 6) by the constant 8.7270 gal 7.4805 gal/cu ft
= 1.17 cu ft/sk
7

Worksheet
Material
Name

Material
(lb)

Class G Cement

Factor
(gal/lb)

Absolute
Volume
(gal)

94

0.0382

3.5908

2% Calcium Chloride

1.88

0.0612

0.11506

.25lb Flocele

0.25

0.845

0.02113

8.33

5.00

Mixing Water
Required
(gal)
5.00

Factor
(lb/gal)
Water

41.65
Totals

137.78

8.7270

5.00

Cement Density

137.78

8.7270

15.8

lb/gal

Cement Yield

8.7270

7.4805

1.17

cu ft/sk

5.00

gal/sk

Mixing Water Required

Annulus Volume
1. To determine how much slurry is needed to fill the annulus, the cu ft/ft for the annulus is multiplied by
the length of the annulus.
2. The cu ft/ft for this annulus is 0.3132.
3. You know that the length of the annulus is 300 ft. Multiplying this by the cu ft/ft value found in Step 9a
results in the volume needed to fill the annular space.
300 ft 0.3132 cu ft/ft = 93.96 cu ft.
4. Excess cement knowing we need 100% excess (double the calculation volume) we calculate the
following:
93.96 cu ft 2 = 187.92 cu ft
Shoe Track Volume
1.
2.
3.
4.

To determine how much slurry is needed to fill the Shoe Track, the cu ft/ft for the casing is multiplied
by the length of the shoe track. The casing capacity factor is 0.4340 cu ft/ft.
The length of the shoe track was given as 40 ft.
Multiply the capacity factor for the shoe joint by the length of the shoe joint for the capacity for the
shoe joint:
0.4340 cu ft/ft 40 ft = 17.36 cu ft

Total Cement Volume

= Annulus Volume + Shoe Track Volume

= 187.92 cu ft + 187.92 cu ft
= 205.28 cu ft

3. Sacks of Cement
Sacks of Cement = Volume Cement (cu ft): Yield (cu ft/sack)
= 205.28cu ft : 1.17 cu ft/sack
= 175 sacks

4. Calculations for Amount of Mixing Water

The water requirement from previous calculation 5 gal/sack


5 gal/sk 175 sk = 875 gal


Since there are 42 gal in a barrel, convert to barrels:


875 gal 42 gal/bbl = 20.83 bbl

5. Calculations for Amount of Fluid to Displace Top Plug

When all of the cement has been mixed, the top plug will be pumped down to a
depth of 260 ft. The number of barrels needed to do this is the same as the
capacity of the casing to the float collar.
The capacity factor of casing is 0.0773 bbl/ft
0.0773 bbl/ft 260 ft = 20.1 bbl
10

6 Calculations for Pressure to Land the Plug

Hydrostatic Outside
Cement
300 ft 0.8208 psi/ft

Total: 300 ft

246 psi
246 psi

Hydrostatic Inside
Cement
40 ft 0.8208 psi/ft
Well Fluid
260 ft 0.4519 psi/ft
Total 300 ft

33 psi

117 psi
150 psi

Differential Pressure (At top of shoe) = 246 psi 150 psi

= 96 psi

11

Primary Cementing Calculations: Surface Casing

Some of critical calculations that need to be made with every surface casing job
1

Critical Circulating Pressure = Weight casing in fluid : Area of casing

Cement volume = Annular Volume + Shoe Track Volume

Sacks of Cement = Cement Volume : Yield

Mixing water required for given slurries = Sacks of cement x mixing water Requirement

Displacement fluid = Volume Factor of casing X length to float collar

Pressure to land the plug = Hydrostatic Pressures outside Hydrostatic Pressures inside

12

Surface Casing Job

Exercises:

This casing job consists of LEAD and TAIL slurries in which cement is to be
circulated from total depth to surface.
Well Parameters
Pipe Size

13 3/8 OD, 12.415 ID, 68 lb/ft

Well Fluid

8.5 lb/gal

Hole Size

17.5 in.

Pipe Depth

2400 ft

Shoe Track Length

80 ft

Required Cement Fill-Up (TAIL)

400 ft

Required Cement Fill-Up (LEAD)

2000 ft

Excess Volume Required (percent)

120%

13 3/8-in. Casing

17 1/2-in. Hole

2,000 ft

2,320 ft

Lead
Tail
Displacement

Absolute Volume Factor (lb/gal)

Water Requirement (gal/sack)

65% Class H Cement

0.0382

2.75

35% Poz

0.0488

1.27

6% Bentonite

0.0453

3.6

2% Calcium Chloride

0.0612

.25lb Flocele

0.0845

Class H Premium

0.0382

4.3

1% Calcium

0.0612

1/4 lb/sk Flocele

0.0845

Lead Slurry Composition

Tail Slurry Composition

2,400 ft

13