Changing the water-to-cement ratio is one of the major ways to develop cement slurry with different densities, which in turn will greatly affect the pore structure and mechanical properties of cement slurry. In the current study, the cement hydration model HYMOSTRUC3D was used to investigate the effects of water-to-cement (w/c) ratio (0.40, 0.44, 0.50) on the pore structure evolution and strength development of cement slurry. The microstructure of the cement stone was characterized via scanning electron microscope (SEM) and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), and the mechanical strength of the cement stone was tested and analyzed via a mechanical tester. The simulated compressive strength and capillary porosity are in good agreement with the measured data, where the relative error between the simulated results and measured results are within 0.6~10.7% and 13.04~25.31%, respectively. The capillary porosity is proved as the main factor affecting the compressive strength of cement stone with different w/c ratios. Herein, the mathematical relationship between the measured capillary porosity and compressive strength could be well fitted via the mathematical prediction models of the Balshin function (R² = 0.95), Ryshkewitch function (R² = 0.94), Schiller function (R² = 0.96), and the linear regression function (R² = 0.95). Moreover, the linear regression function (y = −2.38x + 82.76) can be used to characterize and predict the quantitative relationship between the compressive strength and capillary porosity of cement stone. The findings in this study will provide a reference value in the fields of oil and gas cementing and building concrete.

Improving the efficiency of well drilling process in a reservoir is directly related to subsequent well flow rates. Drilling of deviated and horizontal wells is often accompanied by an increase in pressure losses due to flow resistance caused by small size of the annular space. An important role in such conditions is played by the quality of borehole cleaning and transport capacity of drilling fluid, which is directly related to the rheological parameters of the drilling fluid. The main viscosifiers in modern drilling fluids are polymer reagents. They can be of various origin and structure, which determines their features. This work presents investigations that assess the effect of various polymers on the rheological parameters of drilling fluids. Obtained data are evaluated taking into account the main rheological models of fluid flow. However, process of fluid motion during drilling cannot be described by only one flow model. Paper shows experimentally obtained data of such indicators as plastic viscosity, dynamic shear stress, non-linearity index and consistency coefficient. Study has shown that high molecular weight polymer reagents (e.g., xanthan gum) can give drilling fluid more pronounced pseudoplastic properties, and combining them with a linear high molecular weight polymer (e.g., polyacrylamide) can reduce the value of the dynamic shear stress. Results of the work show the necessity of using combinations of different types of polymer reagents, which can lead to a synergetic effect. In addition to assessing the effect of various polymer reagents, the paper presents study on the development of a drilling fluid composition for specific conditions of an oil field.

Due to the inappropriate treatment of dairy wastewater, which can easily cause underground water pollution, there is an increasing need for a novel approach to reuse dairy wastewater. The technology of microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation with environmentally friendly characteristics and high efficiency has been widely used for underground infrastructure remediation. However, there is a lack of in-depth research on the application of this technology under extreme underground environments, such as the borehole of oil wells with high temperature, high pressure, alkaline, and aerobic conditions. In addition, to reduce the cost of this technology when applied on a large scale, we adopted dairy wastewater to cultivate bacteria. Then, we put the bacterial solution into cement slurry in the borehole to improve the cementing quality. In this paper, the rheology properties, mechanical strength, permeability, porosity, and pore distribution of microbial cementing slurry were studied. Moreover, we applied this microbial cement slurry in the Chunguang 17-14 well of China, and the sealing channeling ability of cement sheath on site was evaluated. The results showed that dairy wastewater could serve as an alternative medium to provide nutrients and energy for the growth of bacteria with low cost. Additionally, the microbial cement slurry exhibited a good right-angle thickening performance and high mechanical strength. The field application displayed an anti-gas channeling ability after microbial remediation. The application of dairy wastewater incubated bacteria to cement slurry not only provides an alternative method for the reuse of dairy wastewater but is also conducive to prolonging the lifespan of oil wells.

Summary: Cementing operations in deepwater formations with low fracture pressure gradients typically require the application of early-strength lightweight cement (LWC) to ensure wellbore integrity. In this paper, we compare the effects of two different sizes of silica fume (SF)—traditional SF and nanosilica fume (NSF, with finer size)—on the physicomechanical properties and microstructural features of density-controlled LWC. First, the rheological properties, settling stability, homogeneity, and compressive strength of LWC with different SF and NSF contents were experimentally evaluated. Subsequently, hydration products and microstructure characteristics were analyzed using thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Multiscale pore structure analysis was performed via X-ray microcomputed tomography (μ-CT) and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), achieving the quantification of pore-size distribution, fractal dimension, and porosity at different scales. In addition, the correlation between compressive strength and key pore structure parameters (e.g., Rm100 and Rn50) was comparatively investigated. The results indicate that both SF and NSF effectively mitigate the deficiencies of lightweight fillers by enhancing the stability and homogeneity of the cement pastes, promoting the formation of more and denser calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gels, and reducing the overall porosity of LWC. Notably, NSF, with its finer particle size, exhibits a higher level of pozzolanic activity than SF, thereby facilitating early strength development. While the SF blends show lower overall porosity than the NSF blends, the NSF blends demonstrate a higher percentage of small pores. NSF can reduce the formation of harmful pores with sizes greater than 200 nm. A positive correlation was observed between compressive strength and the pore parameters Rm100 and Rn50. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing SF-modified early-strength LWC, with direct implications for improving the design and reliability of deep-water cementing operations.