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This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2008 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Denver, Colorado, USA, 2124 September 2008.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
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reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.
Abstract
An operator developing a geothermal field to generate and provide electricity in Indonesia focused on minimizing the
potential for failure of planned wells throughout the expected field life. One of the main areas where this effort was directed
was in the design and execution of primary cementing jobs during well construction. Wells drilled and completed earlier, in
Phase I, were found to suffer from various wellbore integrity issues. Inspection log data and cement job records from existing
wells suggest the zonal isolation problems experienced on earlier wells may have been related to (1) structural failure of the
conventional cement sheaths used and/or (2) ineffective cement slurry placement caused by poor hole cleaning of the drilling
fluid and/or (3) ineffective removal of drill cuttings from the well during the hole cleaning.
Structural damage to the cement sheath can sometimes be in the form of debonding at the casing, formation interfaces,
cement sheath cracking, and/or compressive shear. The damage can be caused by stresses on the cement sheath brought on by
well events such as cement hydration, well completion, and steam production. These events change the temperature and
pressure under which the cement slurry is placed and cured. If these changes are severe, the cement sheath may be damaged,
leading to zonal isolation failure.
After detailed analysis, and by using an integrated design approach to effectively address the challenges identified, it was
decided to use innovative elastic cement systems incorporating various mechanical property enhancement additives expected
to withstand the predicted well operations with less possibility of failure than conventional cements.
These advanced cement systems were placed in the planned development using conventional cementing equipment.
Industry-recognized best practices were also used to maximize mud displacement and enhance hole cleaning. These wells
were steamed, and no wellbore integrity issues have been reported. Additional benefits observed while using the advanced
cement systems in these applications include a reduction in lost circulation and significantly reduced wellhead growth.
almost any other method of electricity generation (Fridleifsson et al. 2008). This means that the project, when certified by the
United Nations, can generate greenhouse gas "credits." These credits have a significant monetary value when they are traded
in world markets where they can be purchased by polluting industries to offset their own greenhouse gas emissions.
and repair costs can weigh heavily against the success of the entire project. These types of failures in geothermal wells have
been documented and categorized, and some measures to mitigate them have been proposed (Merz 2005).
The geothermal temperature in the Wayang Windu wells range from 250300C, depending on depth (Fig. 3), and the
wells are all expected to experience extreme thermal cycling during their life. Therefore, life-of-well reliability is a key issue.
Casing inspection logs undertaken on Phase I wells in 2001 (one year after the plant became operational) reported
significant anomalies (or zonal isolation problems) in 17 of 21 wells examined. These anomalies ranged from collapsed
casing to evidence of extensive corrosion, and even fluid movement. Table 1 provides a summary of the anomalies noted.
Although the Phase I power plant continues to operate with these anomalies in its feeder wells, the conditions are not
ideal. Therefore, in the planning stage for the Phase II wells, it was resolved to try and eliminate the reoccurrence of any such
anomalies in Phase II of the project. A collaborative effort was undertaken by the operating company and the service
company to study the possible causes for the anomalies in Phase I and put the necessary measures in place to help prevent
reoccurrence.
Casing collapse can have a more serious effect on the operational life of a wellsevere cases can choke the well
efficiency by up to 50% or more. Casing collapse in thermal wells can be caused when liquid is trapped in some way in the
casing-to-casing annulus of a well. As this liquid is heated up, it expands enough to exceed the collapse resistance of the
casing.
It is widely known in well design and construction that trapped fluid in the casing-to-casing annulus of a well should be
avoided. However, the routine practice of performing multiple top jobs on Phase I wells probably led to fluid being trapped
with void space left between the top of the primary cement and the base of the initial top out cement job. The evidence of the
large percentage of wells from Phase I with collapsed casing supports this theory.
Generally, it is not possible to optimize all five of these factors at the same time, and tradeoffs between each of them may
be required. Examination of the cement job records from Phase I indicate lost circulation that occurred during drilling caused
limited mud conditioning times and relatively low displacement rates to be used during cement jobs. With these two key
factors being less than optimal, there is no evidence that the other three factors were maximized to compensate. This would
likely lead to uncemented channels in the annulus filled with dehydrated drilling fluid. This would likely contribute to the
high percentage of casing anomalies observed during later casing inspection, either through the mechanism of trapped fluid
expansion or possible asymmetrical loading of the casing (Flekenstein et al. 2005).
Wellhead Growth
In thermal wells, it is not unusual for wellhead growth to occur. This phenomenon occurs when the production casing to
which the wellhead is attached expands vertically. For Phase I wells in operation, wellhead growth was measured from 1540
cm. With everything else being equal, larger wellhead growth is expected to occur in casing strings that are not bonded well
to the cement sheath when compared to casing strings that are bonded well.
Fig. 6Remaining capacity of different sealants for Wayng Windu Geothermal Well Case (risk of damage over load phases).
SPE 115638 9
Fig. 9Wayang Windu first Phase II well producing steam sufficient to generate 40 MWe, wellhead to right showing a WHP of 15 bar
with steam rising from the rock muffler in the background. (IGA News No. 67 JanFeb. 2007.)
10 SPE 115638
Phase II Results
The first well drilled in Phase II achieved production of 72 kg/s dry steam at a wellhead pressure of 15 bar (see Fig. 9). This
well was directionally drilled to 1377 m MD, with a 12 1/4-in production hole. Production is from a widespread two-phase
reservoir that overlies a brine reservoir in the northern part of the field. The production from this first well is equivalent to
more than 40 MWe, and was demonstrated during an extended well test. According to information available to the public, this
actually makes it the worlds largest capacity dry-steam well. Each of the other four Phase I wells, drilled from the same pad,
produce on average only half as much as the first Phase II well. Based on the better-than-expected deliverability of the Phase
II wells, it proved possible to reduce the number of wells required to feed the Phase II power plant from ten to six.
Table 3 details the 13 3/8-in. production casing wellhead elongation or growth records from the Phase II wells drilled
on the project (Fig. 10). The wellhead growth ranges from 1 cm to 7.4 cm, significantly less than the 1540 cm range seen
with the Phase I wells. It is worth noting that Well 7 of the 8-well series was cemented with conventional cement, not the
ACS, and is also showing favorable wellhead growth. This indicates that perhaps the application of good cementing practices
and mud displacement is currently playing a greater role in the lower wellhead growth. Any changes in this will be worth
tracking as the wells undergo more cycles over time.
In Phase II wells where the 13 3/8-in. liner and tieback string was used, only two (Well 1 and Well 2) had the lower liner
string cemented with the ACS material. When used on these strings, a possible additional benefit of the material was
indicated, specifically the ability to reduce lost circulation. Typically, with this type of geothermal well configuration in Java,
it is not possible to achieve cement slurry returns on the initial primary liner job and a liner lap squeeze is necessary to
provide cement coverage in the liner lap. Table 4 provides details of this phenomenon from a similar project in Indonesia.
In the first well, where the ACS was used to cement the lower liner, some cement returns were noted during the primary
cementation. The liner lap still required squeezing on this first well, but the fact that there were returns provided some
indication that the selected and optimized materials in the ACS were possibly acting as a bridging or LCM package. For the
next well, again cement returns above the top of liner were achieved. This time a good liner lap test was also achieved on this
well (Fig. 11), negating the requirement for the time and expense of a squeeze job.
Table 4 shows previous results from geothermal liner cementing operations in Java that illustrate the necessity for liner
lap squeeze with conventional cement systems.
Table 4Results from Geothermal Liner Cementing Operations in Java Illustrate Necessity for Liner Lap
Squeeze with Conventional Cement Systems
Well. No. Lap Squeeze, psi
Per Job, bbl Number Total, bbl
A 85 1 85 650
B 100 2 200 650
C 100 2 200 650
E 50 1 50 650
F 50 1 50 650
12 SPE 115638
Fig. 11Successful liner lap pressure test for Phase II Well 2, indicating no requirement for liner lap squeeze.
Conclusions
The careful applications of ACS and cementing best practices have improved the reliability of the wells drilled as
part of Phase II of the Wayang Windu geothermal project.
Significantly less wellhead growth has been reported in Phase II than experienced with the Phase I wells.
There is evidence that some of the selected materials used to optimize the Advanced Cement System may also help
achieve full circulation of cement slurry where not previously possible, which would also contribute to the reduction
of any remedial work.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the management of Star Energy and Halliburton for permission to publish this paper. The help and
encouragement of all those involved in the successful outcome of this project is greatly appreciated.
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