The rheological behavior of cement slurries is important in trying to prevent and eliminate gas-migration related problems in oil well applications. In this paper, we review the constitutive modeling of cement slurries/pastes. Cement slurries, in general, behave as complex non-linear fluids with the possibility of exhibiting viscoelasticity, thixotropy, yield stress, shear-thinning effects, etc. The shear viscosity and the yield stress are two of the most important rheological characteristics of cement; these have been studied extensively and a review of these studies is provided in this paper. We discuss the importance of changing the concentration of cement particles, water-to-cement ratio, additives/admixtures, shear rate, temperature and pressure, mixing methods, and the thixotropic behavior of cement on the stress tensor. In the concluding remarks, we propose a new constitutive model for cement slurry, considering the basic non-Newtonian nature of the different models.

Gas migration in oil and gas wells is defined as gases and/or fluids from adjacent formations invading a freshly cemented annulus. During well completions, gas and/or fluids can migrate to zones with lower pressure or even to the surface. Static gel strength (SGS), related to the yield stress of the cement, is a widely accepted measurement used to predict and minimize gas migration. In this review article, we look at the mechanisms and some possible solutions to gas migration during oil and gas well cementing. The use of static gel strength (SGS) and experimental measurements for SGS and wellbore pressure reduction are discussed. Rheological properties, including the yield stress and the viscosity of cement slurries, are also briefly discussed. Understanding the rheological properties of cement is complex since its material properties depend on cement type, as well as the shape and size distribution of cement particles. From this brief review, it is evident that in order to reduce free water and settling of the cement particles, to lower fluid loss, and to develop compressive strength in the early stages of cementing, an optimal cement slurry design is needed. The SGS test is a standard method used in estimating the free water in the well and could be a reference for gas migration reduction for oilwell cement slurries.

Understanding the rheological behavior of cement slurries is important in cement and petroleum industries. In this paper, we study the fully developed flow of a cement slurry inside a wellbore. The slurry is modeled as a non-linear fluid, where a constitutive relation for the viscous stress tensor based on a modified form of the second grade (Rivlin–Ericksen) fluid is used;we also propose a diffusion flux vector for the concentration of particles. The one-dimensional forms of the governing equations and the boundary conditions are made dimensionless and solved numerically. A parametric study is performed to present the effect of various dimensionless numbers on the velocity and the volume fraction profiles.

This article presents a novel application of metaheuristic optimization and rating techniques to virtual test results for cement and mortar, and presents objective computational methods for the evaluation and selection of cementitious materials based on simulated material testing. A scalable approach based on particle swarm optimization of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Virtual Cement and Concrete Testing Laboratory (VCCTL) is successfully demonstrated using ∼150,000 combinations of cement phase distributions and water‐to‐cement ratios, with as few as 10% of the VCCTL runs required to obtain the optimal solutions. The application of Pareto front analysis reveals an inherent trade‐off between the modulus of elasticity, time of set, and kiln temperature (using alite:belite as a proxy) at the performance limits. This study also provides a means to objectively characterize cements in these contexts using a maximum likelihood estimator to calculate a score from the cumulative distribution function, using a random subset of the 150,000 simulated cement pastes. The proposed approach provides a new pathway to optimally proportion raw materials (and eventually waste by‐products) to reduce production costs, extend the life of a quarry, or reduce the carbon footprint of cement plants.