CEMENT ANALYSIS UNDER SIMULATED PUMPING CONDITIONS

A recently developed portable cement laboratory instrument has been us ed to test dynamic cement performance under actual downhole conditions . This instrument allows the user to change such control variables as pressure, temperature, and shear to follow conditions actually experie nced by a cement slurry during a job. During a simulated temporary sus pension of pumping, the testing device can perform static gel strength evaluations to help predict the pumping capability of the cement. Sta tic gel strength evaluations can also be performed after the job to al low additional cement quality evaluations. By using this new microcomp uter-controlled method, the user can provide values for simulated job variables if necessary. Different test environments can be specified f or the lead, intermediate, or tail cements to improve accuracy of the test. The user can still use the conventional, standard API schedules to control the test. This paper will demonstrate the importance of usi ng values obtained from true job simulations for controlling the tests . This information will be supported by test results from various ceme nt slurries tested with the portable cement laboratory. As a result of using this new simulation method, a closer prediction of cement on-th e-job performance can be provided.