Influence of fluid viscosity hierarchy on the reverse-circulation displacement efficiency

Abstract

Reverse-circulation cementing is an alternative strategy for well cementing where the cementing fluids are injected directly into the annulus from the surface. This cementing strategy can reduce downhole circulation pressures compared to conventional circulation cementing and potentially eliminate the need for retarders in the cement slurry. In reverse-circulation operations, the fluid hierarchy will normally involve density-unstable combinations along the annulus. Since the annular geometry prevents the mechanical separation of fluids, reverse-circulation cementing is associated with a risk of slurry contamination and mixing during placement. Although reverse-circulation cementing has been known for several decades and is used for cementing of both onshore and offshore wells, it remains unclear whether conventional circulation job design guidelines apply to reverse-cementing or indeed how fluid properties should be optimized for such operations. The purpose of the current study is to contribute to the understanding of buoyant annular displacements, with a particular focus on the role of viscosity hierarchy on the annular displacement in vertical and near-vertical annuli. We present a combined experimental and numerical study of density-unstable downward displacements in a downscaled, narrow concentric annulus. A transparent annulus flow loop was used to conduct downward displacements. A high-speed camera and a mirror arrangement were used to track the displacement. Numerical simulations of the experiments and selected other cases were performed using the open-source OpenFOAM computation framework. We study Newtonian and mildly shear-thinning fluids, and our study aims to determine whether it is more efficient to use a displacing fluid with higher viscosity or lower viscosity than the displaced fluid while maintaining a constant average viscosity for the fluid pair. The experimental and numerical results, which are in good qualitative agreement, demonstrate that the viscosity hierarchy of the fluids significantly affects the displacement flow features. Our results show that a more viscous displaced fluid leads to faster growth of the instabilities and, as a result, less efficient displacement. Oppositely, we observe less tendency for finger growth and a more diffusive mixing region for more viscous displacing fluids. The effect of the viscosity hierarchy can get stronger by increasing the inclination of the annulus and the viscosity difference between the fluids from 0.006 to about 0.02 Pa s. The findings can assist in the selection of fluid properties for future reverse-circulation displacement operations.