Reverse Circulation Primary Cementing of Offshore Oil Wells

The conventional cementing process for hydrocarbon wells involves the pumping of fluids (cement and drilling mud slurries) down the metal casing and up through the annulus between the casing and the well. In deepwater, offshore wells, high pressure may complicate the primary cementing process and render conventional cementing techniques unusable. In response, reverse-circulation primary cementing (RCPC) has being explored as a means of overcoming these challenges. In RCPC, fluids are pumped downhole through the annulus, and then up through the casing, in contrast to the conventional cementing. A model to simulate this cementing job has been developed. A full hydraulic analysis of RCPC has also been performed. This model includes support for multiple fluids, coupled temperature and flow equations, and produces both pressure and temperature data. It was developed on the COMSOL Multiphysics software package and uses a Finite Element Analysis to solve the governing partial differential equations.