The use of the granite waste material as an alternative for silica flour in oil-well cementing

Abstract

Silica flour is one of the most commonly used material in cementing oil wells at high-temperature conditions of above 230 °F to prevent the deterioration in the strength of the cement. In this study, replacement of the silica flour with the granite waste material at which an inexpensive and readily available material in cementing oil-wells is evaluated. Four cement samples with various amounts of silica flour and granite powder were prepared in this work. The effect of including the granite waste instead of silica flour in the cement elastic, failure, and petrophysical properties after curing the samples at 292 °F and 3000 psi was examined. The results revealed that replacement of the silica flour with 40% by weight of cement (BWOC) optimized the cement performance and confirmed that this concentration of granite could be used as an alternative to the silica flour in oil-well cementing. This concertation of granite slightly improved the elastic properties of the cement. It also improved the cement compressive and tensile strengths by 5.7 and 39.3%, respectively, compared to when silica flour is used. Replacement of the silica flour with 40% BWOC of granite waste also reduced the cement permeability by 64.7% and porosity by 17.9%.