Title: |
Drifting Cement Plugs for Geothermal Wells |
Authors: |
William M. RICKARD, Sam ABRAHAM and Ernesto RIVAS |
Key Words: |
cement plug, balanced plug, drift plug, geothermal cementing, lost circulation |
Conference: |
Stanford Geothermal Workshop |
Year: |
2020 |
Session: |
Drilling |
Language: |
English |
Paper Number: |
Rickard1 |
File Size: |
544 KB |
View File: |
|
Lost of circulation while drilling a Geothermal well is very common, because typically geothermal formations are highly fractured or poorly consolidated; these conditions inherently lead to lost circulation. These potential ‘thief’ zones may allow drilling fluid (and later, casing cement slurry) to enter the formation instead of circulating back to surface When losses occur, lost circulation material is typically applied first, followed by cement plugs. Lost circulation cement plugs are used to isolate the well bore from highly porous or fractured zones that are under-pressured. Cement plugs may be used to seal lost circulation zones, allowing drilling to continue through and below the loss zone with good returns to surface. Innovative drift plug technologies may be used in place of conventional balanced plug methods, achieving better results in severe loss zones.
Press the Back button in your browser, or search again.
Copyright 2020, Stanford Geothermal Program: Readers who download papers from this site should honor the copyright of the original authors and may not copy or distribute the work further without the permission of the original publisher.
Attend the nwxt Stanford Geothermal Workshop,
click here for details.