Shear strength and permeability of the cement-casing interface

Welch, Nathan James; Frash, Luke Philip; Harp, Dylan Robert; Carey, James William

doi:10.1016/j.ijggc.2020.102977

Shear strength and permeability of the cement-casing interface

Journal Article · Fri Jan 31 00:00:00 EST 2020 · International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2020.102977· OSTI ID:1699482

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Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Here, the shear strength and hydraulic permeability of the interface between well cement and casing was investigated using a triaxial direct shear apparatus. For the first time, these experiments provide measurements under controlled stress conditions with fluid flow measurements along the interface. The low cohesion (1.1 ± 1.1 MPa) and the high friction angle (43.4 ± 2.0°) indicates that the shear strength of the interface is provided by friction. This implies that the state of stress of the cement is critical to well integrity. The hydraulic aperture of the undamaged cement-steel samples was 6.8 ± 1.0 microns. Shear damage to the interface caused a decrease (-20 %) in hydraulic aperture for samples aged up to 1 month, and an increase (+300 %) for samples cured for two years. We performed numerical simulations to estimate the leakage potential from a carbon storage operation. This model predicts negligible leakage amounts (47 tonnes) in a shear-damaged well for the modeled injection of ~1.26 million tonnes of CO₂. Thus, our measurements indicate that the cement-casing interface is not a significant leakage pathway in its intact or damaged state, and that shear-driven failure scenarios for this interface are not a significant risk to CO₂ storage security.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE); USDOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM)

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001

OSTI ID:: 1699482

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1780316

Report Number(s):: LA-UR--19-31213

Journal Information:: International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Journal Name: International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control Vol. 95; ISSN 1750-5836

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
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well integrity
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Shear strength and permeability of the cement-casing interface

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