Investigation of wellbore microannulus permeability under stress via experimental wellbore mock-up and finite element modeling

Journal Article · Tue Nov 15 23:00:00 EST 2016 · Computers and Geotechnics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2016.10.001· OSTI ID:1340517

Gomez, Steven P. ^[1]; Sobolik, Steve R. ^[2]; Matteo, Edward N. ^[2]; Reda Taha, Mahmoud ^[3]; Stormont, John C. ^[3]

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1. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
3. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)

This research aims to describe the microannulus region of the cement sheath-steel casing interface in terms of its compressibility and permeability. Here, a wellbore system mock-up was used for lab-scale testing, and was subjected to confining and casing pressures in a pressure vessel while measuring gas flow along the specimen’s axis. The flow was interpreted as the hydraulic aperture of the microannuli. Numerical joint models were used to calculate stress and displacement conditions of the microannulus region, where the mechanical stiffness and hydraulic aperture were altered in response to the imposed stress state and displacement across the joint interface.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1340517
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1410722
• Report Number(s): SAND--2016-9890J; PII: S0266352X16302300
• Journal Information: Computers and Geotechnics, Journal Name: Computers and Geotechnics Journal Issue: C Vol. 83; ISSN 0266-352X
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
CO2 sequestration
fracture
joint model
microannulus
numerical model
wellbore