SPE 89599

Cementing Through Coiled Tubing: Common Errors and Correct Procedures

Lance Portman, BJ Services

Copyright 2004, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.

• Placing, in conjunction with packers, for wellbore
This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing Conference and isolation or abandonment.
Exhibition held in Houston, Texas, U.S.A., 23-24 March 2004.
• Placing through holes in completion strings to
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, as produce “cement packers”.
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
• Curing lost circulation zones during drilling.
position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at • Forming plugs for drilling sidetracks –
SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of
Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper “cement whipstocks”.
for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is
prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300
words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous In all of these applications, the initial goal is to place a
acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O.
Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836 U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. volume of uncontaminated cement at some point in a well.
Subsequently, the cement may be squeezed against the
Abstract formation, left to set in place, or circulated out before it sets.
Cementing through coiled tubing is not a new service line. Each of these operations has potential pitfalls that can lead to
However, it remains one that has received little technical quite catastrophic failures. This paper lists some of these
attention. In reality, there is a great deal of science behind the potential failures and illustrates the correct procedures
successful execution of such cementing operations. Failure to designed to minimize the risk of such failures. The paper
understand the complexities of cement placement in a well can refers only to pumping small volumes of cement through
lead to catastrophic failure, including the loss of the coiled coiled tubing, not to primary cementing operations through
tubing, the entire well, or both. large tubulars. Unique aspects of coiled tubing work lead to
This paper outlines the techniques behind cementing differing procedures for the two different applications.
through coiled tubing, illustrating the pitfalls and suggesting The chemistry of cement is complex and is not the subject
best operating procedures. The issues covered are: - of this paper. This paper refers only to the physical properties
of the cement slurry during placement.
• When to use cement darts.
Cement Slurry Properties
• How to land cement darts.
General Description
• How to manage liquid freefall. Oilfield cement is typically “Class G” or “Class H” cement
• How to clean up cement. particles suspended in water along with other solid and liquid
• What should the displacement/contaminant fluid be? additives. It is principally calcium silicate with particle sizes
• What are the best nozzles? ranging from 1µm to 100µm, averaging 20µm. When mixed
• Slurry design. with water, the cement slurry sets with time to form a largely
impermeable (1µD), largely acid resistant, solid material that
Introduction is strong in compression, weak in tension.
Cementing is an every day operation in the oil patch, the most Cement slurries are typically dense as compared to water,
common application being the cementing of steel casings and although they can be mixed with a wide range of densities
liners in the ground. Cementing through coiled tubing is a through the use of different additives. The standard density of
much smaller business but nevertheless is conducted daily “Class G” cement is 15.8ppg, or a specific gravity of 1.9.
throughout the world. Cement slurries are very abrasive and can quickly destroy
The typical cementing application through coiled tubing is bottom hole assemblies that generate high fluid velocities and
not one of placing large volumes of cement behind casing are not made of wear resistant materials such as
strings; it is one of placing a relatively small volume of tungsten carbide.
cement in a well for remedial purposes. Typical
applications are: - “Squeezing” Cement
• Curing channeling behind tubulars. Typical cement slurries cannot be squeezed into a
• Blocking off perforations. formation matrix; the cement particles are too large to permit
• Squeezing off perforations. this, even if the matrix has a permeability of several Darcies.
Pushing cement into gravel packs with permeabilities of
2 SPE 89599

several hundred Darcies is generally considered impossible. wrong location may cause massive, irreversible damage to the
This fact is sometimes overlooked and confused by some of well. Below are examples of how well damage can result from
the common terminology used in the industry. To some, improper cement placement: -
“cement squeezes” conjure up images of cement disappearing
into a formation matrix. This is not the case. What happens • The top of the cement plug in the well is placed too
during a cement squeeze is that the cement particles bridge high, so covering an upper production zone. That
across the formation they contact, pressure then drives the zone will then require drilling or under-reaming and
water from the cement slurry into the matrix, leaving probably re-perforating.
dehydrated cement at the matrix surface. This dehydrated • The base of a temporary cement plug is not robust.
cement becomes a permanent barrier, for example inside a The weight of the placed cement plug causes the base
perforation tunnel. to move down the well, or cross flow in the well
causes the base to move up or down. This results in
Special Cement Requirements for Coiled the plug setting in the wrong position. This may
Tubing Operations block a producing zone so requiring drilling or under-
Because coiled tubing is relatively small in diameter, a reaming and probably re-perforating.
standard coiled tubing cement recipe is not the same as a • Cement is placed in an area of cross flow and the
standard primary cement recipe. A typical coil cement slurry cross flow takes the cement to, and plugs off, a
has a longer thickening time, a lower fluid loss figure, and a desired producing interval.
lower viscosity (plastic viscosity and yield point).
Correct mixing and quality control is particularly In most cement mishaps, drilling and re-perforating is
important in coiled tubing cementing operations because of required. However, in some cases even this will not restore
the specific slurry properties need and the small volumes lost productivity. An example would be getting the cement
typically involved. into a producing interval that has significant washout behind
the casing. Cement in this void space cannot be removed and
Potential Cementing Problems may be too deep to perforate through.
Premature Setting
Once mixed, cement has a limited amount of time before it Placing Cement at a Location that can easily be bypassed
gels up and then sets hard. The length of time taken before the A cement plug placed inside of a well that has channels
cement starts to gel is referred to as the thickening time, outside of the tubing/casing obviously may not give the
strictly equal to the time it takes for the cement to reach a desired results. For jobs that require a good cement bond
viscosity of 100 Beardon units of consistency, Bc, in a behind the casing, the cement bond logs should be checked.
consistometer test. This thickening time is a function of If cement is placed in an open hole section, the fact that the
temperature; care must be taken as changes in temperature wellbore itself now isolates two zones may be irrelevant if it is
between the lab test and the field can make a very large possible for fluid to flow through the formation around the
difference in thickening time. cement plug. For example, in a vertical well, if the reservoir
The job design must ensure that the thickening time is long vertical permeability, kv, is high, then there may be little gain
enough to allow for circulating time and pull out of hole time, from the cement plug. This is particularly true in a gravel
and is based on the bottom hole static temperature. This is packed well. Cement placed along a section of gravel pack
typically six to eight hours. will not generally permeate the gravel pack and therefore will
Also, note that the thickening time as measured by the lab not block axial flow through the gravel, bypassing the
shows the behavior of the slurry while being constantly cement plug.
stirred. If the cement is static in the well, then the thickening
time seen may well be less than seen in the lab test. Failure to Remove Excess Cement from the Well Bore
Finally, premature setting can be caused by contaminants Many cementing operations involve the placement of
in the well. For example, fresh water cements can be greatly excess cement followed by a fluid stage designed to
accelerated by brines in the well. Spacer fluids should be used contaminate the excess cement and circulate that contaminated
to ensure that the cement is protected from fluids that have the cement back to surface. There have been many occasions
potential to accelerate or retard the cement set. where this stage of the job has failed, evident by cement nodes
subsequently found in the well, often requiring milling
Placement of the Cement at the Wrong Location operation to remove them.
Once set, cement is very difficult to remove chemically. Circulation of the cement back to surface can be difficult
The cement itself is attacked by acids (HCl, HF and formic) to achieve. Previous thinking has been that since the cement
but does not dissolve readily in bulk as it forms a protective particles themselves are so fine, transporting them out of the
coating on its surface as the acid reacts. Mechanical methods well should be easy. Experience has shown this simple
are generally required to remove cement such as milling or assumption is not generally valid. Beds of partially
acid jetting. contaminated cement can develop on the low side of wells in
If the cement is in a position that renders it inaccessible to deviated sections unless the correct cleanout methods are used.
mechanical removal means, then the cement likely cannot be (discussed further later in this paper).
removed by any means. Great care has to be taken when
pumping cement into wells, as inadvertent placement at the
SPE 89599 3

Correct Procedures A cross-linked gel should be used to hold up the cement

The industry has adopted a set of procedures and guidelines rather than linear gel, which does not have sufficient rigidity.
for cementing through coiled tubing. Many of these are proven
and self-evident. However, it is the author’s experience that Cement Placement
some aspects of placing cement through coiled tubing are Perhaps the most common failure of cementing operations
through coiled tubing is the incorrect placement of the cement.
misunderstood, these misunderstandings leading to incorrect
This is generally a coiled tubing specific problem because often
procedures, often procedures giving a low probability of the volume of cement pumped is very small so making small
success and even having a high risk of catastrophic failure. errors in volume calculations translate into serious errors in
This paper will concentrate on these areas, and how they relate position. The following figures demonstrate how
volume/displacement calculation errors can lead to cement at the
to the potential cementing problems listed in the
wrong location.
previous section. Figure 2 shows the simplified method of placing cement.
The method involves pumping the cement (typically behind a
Cement Base spacer) and then pulling the coiled tubing up, once the cement
A common cause of job failure is to place the cement at a exits the bottom of the coil. At the exact point the last cement
location where it will not stay! Because cement is typically reaches the end of the coil, the coil is pulled up clear of the
heavier than water and most other wellbore fluids, it will placed cement top, so that no other fluid is pumped though the
generally not simply sit on top of a non-rigid substance, but cement, so contaminating at least the cement top.
will invert or slump as illustrated in Figure 1. So called Obviously, this method relies on knowing precisely when
“balanced cement plugs” are not reliable using coiled tubing; the first and particularly the last cement exits the end of the
some other base must be used for the cement. This coiled tubing. If these exit points are calculated based on
phenomenon was shown experimentally by T.W. Harrison and measured pumped volumes, more often than not, cement
C.G. Blount1, although they concluded gel strength alone contamination and an incorrect cement top will result.
could not support the cement either, a claim disputed here.
This base must form a mechanical barrier to prevent the
cement falling down further into the well.

CEMENT

Slumping

1. Cement 2. The coil is 3. The process 4. The coil is pulled

Roping WATER pumped down pulled up as continues until up clear of the
the coil. The the cement all the cement cement and
coil is on exits the end has been further
bottom before of the coil. pumped from displacement can
the cement The end of the the coil. then continue.
reaches the coil is kept just
end of the coil. within the
Figure 1 Cement roping and slumping when set on top of water rising cement
top.
Acceptable bases are: -

• “TD” or Well bottom Figure 2 Idealized cement placement procedure

• Set cement
• Bridge plug or any mechanical/inflatable packer The next two figures illustrate what happens if the
Aggregate (e.g. sand, calcium carbonate) volume/displacement calculations are not exactly right. Figure
• Cross-linked gel plug 3 shows the scenario where the cement is over-displaced;
• A non-anchored, non-pressure sealed device to stop Figure 4 shows the scenario when the cement
cement/water inversion. is under-displaced.

It should be noted that with the last two options, there must
be no possible fluid leak off below the cement plug. If it is
possible for the viscous pill to leak off into the formation, for
example, then the weight of the cement on top of the pill could
push the pill down resulting in the cement plug setting in the
wrong place.
4 SPE 89599

the cement out of the coiled tubing and all the cement
in the well above the end of the coiled tubing back to
surface. This will leave a cement top position as
accurate as the accuracy in the position of the coiled
tubing. When using this method, the cleanout stage
must be carefully designed.
2. Use a cement dart that will indicate exactly when the
end of the cement reaches the end of the coiled
tubing. In this way, the cement can be placed without
contamination, although the cement top accuracy will
still depend on the accuracy of the volume of cement,
and the accuracy of the well volume. (Note that
whereas knowing that exact time the last cement exits
1. Cement 2. The coil is 3. Cement is 4. The coil is the coiled tubing is critical, knowing the time the first
pumped down pulled up as over-displaced
the coil. The the cement because of an
pulled clear. cement exits is not so critical. A cement dart behind
The resulting
coil is on exits the end of error in volume plug has the cement is generally more important than one
bottom before the coil. The calculations.
the cement end of the coil Displacement
contaminated
cement in its
ahead of the cement. The coiled tubing should be
reaches the end is kept just fluid top section and pulled up at the exact point the last cement exits the
of the coil. within the contaminates will have a
rising cement the cement and cement top
coil. The coiled tubing needs to be pulled up only
top. raises the higher than some time after the first cement exits, hense the less
cement top. desired.
stringent requirement.)

Factors increasing the difficulty of placing cement

Figure 3 Incorrect cement placement - over-displacement
accurately – Liquid freefall
Often, remedial coiled tubing, cementing operations are in
depleted wells. This coupled with the fact that typical cement
slurries are very dense leads to the potential for liquid freefall.
Liquid freefall occurs when the weight of the liquid causes the
liquid to travel down the coiled tubing at a rate faster than it is
being pumped at surface. Figure 5 shows this
scenario pictorially.

1. Cement 2. The coil is 3. The coil is 4. The resulting

pumped down pulled up as
the coil. the cement
pulled above plug is Cement free falling
the intended contaminated
exits the end TOC, at its top and from the gooseneck
of the coil. believing that will have a
The end of the all the cement TOC higher
coil is kept has exited the than desired.
just within the coil. In fact,
rising cement there is still
top. cement in the
coil that then
falls down the
well.

Figure 4 Incorrect cement placement - under-displacement

Cement column at
The correct procedure is to only rely on this method when bottom balancing BHP
and friction pressure
the top of the cement plug in not required to be accurate.
Examples of when the cement top is not required to be
accurate would be cement squeezes and larger cement jobs. Figure 5 Liquid freefall
When the cement top is required to be accurate, two
approaches are available: - Liquid freefall results in voids being formed inside the
coiled tubing. This in turn means that the cement slurry
1. Pump excess cement. Position the coiled tubing end reaches the end of the coiled tubing earlier than anticipated,
at the desired top of cement (TOC) before the last based on volume calculations alone. As stated previously, the
cement reaches the end of the coiled tubing. Displace
SPE 89599 5

first cement exiting the coiled tubing early is not generally a

problem. The displacement fluid exiting early is generally a
problem. Liquid freefall is less of a problem for the
displacement fluid as the displacement fluid is generally less
dense than the cement slurry. However, freefall can occur with ¬
water depending on well conditions.
There are four ways to handle liquid freefall: -

1. Calculate the amount of freefall and allow for it in ×

the coiled tubing movements. (This is typically

2.
difficult to do and requires computer modeling).
Pump at a fast enough rate such that liquid freefall ­
does not occur. This could be achieved by either
pumping faster or switching to a smaller diameter of
coiled tubing. The point at which freefall occurs is
well specific; however, Table 1 gives typical freefall
flow rates for typical coiled tubing sizes. Figure 6 Cement set across a cross flow zone
3. Use a back-pressure valve or a sequence valve to
artificially increase the bottom hole pressure that the There are two possible solutions to the problem shown in
liquid column sees, to the point that that pressure can Figure 6. These are: -
support a full column of fluid.
4. Use shearable cement darts of sufficiently high shear 1. Cement off both sets of perforations, holding a
rating that they will support the liquid column once squeeze pressure. Contaminant wash the cement top
they land. back down to the desired depth (still holding a
squeeze pressure) and re-perforate the upper zone
Table 1 Typical Freefall Flow Rates and Velocities once the cement has set.
Coiled Cement Water 2. Bullhead fluid into the well at such a rate that there is
Tubing Freefall Freefall Freefall Freefall some injectivity into the lower zone (this rate may be
Size flow rate velocity flow rate velocity hard to determine). Place the cement over the lower
(in) (bpm) (ft/sec) (bpm) (ft/sec) zone while continuing to bullhead and maintain the
bullhead until the cement has set.
1¼ 0.9 14 1.2 18
1½ 1.5 16 2.0 21 Cement Darts
1¾ 2.2 17 3.0 23 Cement darts have been now mentioned in this paper two
2 3.1 19 4.2 25 times. A cement dart is a pig that seals against the inside of the
2⅜ 5.1 21 6.8 29 coiled tubing as it is pumped through. It is designed to land in
2⅞ 9.0 25 12.0 33 a special profile at the bottom of the coiled tubing, at which
point it will form a seal. Pressure then builds up behind the
Factors increasing the difficulty of placing cement dart until a pre-determined pressure is reached and the center
accurately – Cross flow of the dart ruptures, again allowing circulation through the
When cement is correctly placed in blind tubing or casing (no dart. An example is shown in Figure 7.
perforations), there is no possibility of well flows disrupting the
cement as it sets, so long as the cement is on a sound base.
However, if the cement is placed across perforations (or open
hole), any flow exiting that formation while the cement sets will
channel and contaminate the cement plug.
Figure 6 demonstrates a situation where cement placed on
a sound base still fails to form a barrier to the perforations it is
placed across. In this example, flow can exit the perforations,
channel through the cement and enter perforations above the
desired cement top. Note that there is also the possibility of
damaging the higher perforations if cement particles are taken
into the perforation tunnels by the cross flow. Note also that
the same contamination/channeling effect could result if the
well were simply flowed to surface before the cement was to
set.
Attempting to set a cement plug in a well where inflow Figure 7 Cement dart
may enter the cement column and exit above the column,
either to surface or to lower pressure perforations above,
offers a low probability of success.
6 SPE 89599

The use of cement darts has the following advantages: - to settle to the low side of the well during a poorly designed
cleanout stage. This cement bed can actually cement the coiled
1. Their use can pinpoint exactly when the end (or start) tubing in the well in the worst case scenario, or as a minimum,
of the cement slurry reaches the end of the coiled leave cement “stringers” in the well that will later have to be
tubing, so greatly improving the accuracy of the removed, typically using a motor and mill.
cement placement. The best method is to use a displacement fluid with an
2. They can be used as a method of bypassing any added dispersant, combining it with a jetting action, pulling
complications resulting from liquid freefall. They the coiled tubing up the well to “sweep” the excess cement out
achieve this by being of sufficiently high rupture of the well. This again, requires careful modeling.
rating such that they require at least a full column of It is further recommended that the cleanout fluid does not
liquid back to surface before they rupture. have excessive retardation properties. Excessive retardation
3. They aid in preventing contamination of the slurry as can delay the setting of the cement deliberately left in place so
the cement is pumped down the coiled tubing. increasing the risk of job failure, as shown by P.R. Hornbrook
and C.M. Mason2.
All in all, cement darts can be very useful. However,
unless the dart rupture is seen on surface, most of its Conclusion
functionality is lost. The rupture pressure of the dart must be As with most oilfield operations, the procedure employed is
accurately calculated based on the weights and properties of generally a compromise designed to get the job done with
liquids above it when it lands. This can be a fairly complex minimum risk to the well. In cementing operations, the risk to
calculation in itself. When the dart lands, the moving fluids in the well can be quite severe as set cement can be difficult to
the coiled tubing suddenly come to a stop. When this happens, remove if it finds its way to the wrong location. The job
a pressure surge is generated, the phenomena generally being design choices are: -
referred to as “water hammer”. If the magnitude of this
pressure surge is greater than the rupture rating of the dart, • What cement base to use
then the dart will instantly rupture with no indication of the • How to control the cement top
event being seen back at surface. The second consequence of • How to circulate out any excess cement
the liquids stopping is that all of a sudden there is no friction • What bottom hole assembly to use
pressure in the coiled tubing. If the dart rupture pressure is less • How to manage potential liquid freefall
than the friction pressure in the coiled tubing immediately • Whether to use cement darts or not
prior to the dart landing, again, no indication of the rupture
will be seen on surface, as the rupture pressure spike will be The situations to be avoided are: -
masked by the decrease in friction pressure in the
coiled tubing. • Blockages in the coiled tubing bottom hole
Generally, computer modeling is required to ensure that
assembly (BHA) leading to cement becoming
the rupture pressure chosen is high enough to be seen at
stuck in the coil and possibly a lost coiled tubing
surface but not so high as to make rupture difficult within the string and a difficult retrieval operation).
pressure limitations of the coiled tubing. It should be noted, as
• Excess cement left in the well bore – this could
well, that the “water hammer” effect is more marked with
lead to the coiled tubing becoming stuck in the
cement than it is with water. The general equation for water
well or simply cement stringers left in the well
hammer is: -
that will later require milling out.
• Cement being placed at the wrong depth, perhaps
∆P = ρ.c.∆v where c = √(K/ρ)
covering productive perforations.
[c = speed of sound in the fluid]
• The coiled tubing BHA becoming stuck – perhaps
[ρ = density of the fluid]
then becoming cemented in place in the well.
[K = bulk modulus of the fluid]
[∆P = change in pressure] The recommended procedures to minimize the risk of any
[∆v = change in velocity (velocity of these events occurring are: -
before dart lands)]
• Have only a minimum upset on the BHA to
For a typical cement slurry, for the same value of ∆v, the reduce the risk of hanging up mechanically
pressure pulse with cement is over double that for water. down hole.
• Avoid any small restrictions in the BHA that
Cement Cleanout might plug off, stopping circulation.
For squeeze cementing, or the setting of cement plugs where
• Ensure that the coiled tubing is clean prior to
the cement top level is controlled by circulating out excess
the operation.
cement, it is important to have a reliable method of circulating
• Use a base for the cement that will not move and
out the excess cement before it sets. This part of cementing
will prevent slumping/inversion of the cement.
operations is sometimes overlooked and can represent a
challenge. Particularly in deviated wells, the cement can tend • Manage any potential liquid freefall
complications during the pumping process.
SPE 89599 7

• Design around any potential cross flow problems

in the well.
• Use a tangential/radial nozzle with large holes as
this is both optimum for the cement placement
and also any subsequent cleanout operation.
• Design any cleanout operation carefully, using the
BHA nozzles to sweep the excess cement out of
the well.
• Use cement darts if: -
a) The cement volume to be pumped is very
small and contamination in the coiled tubing
is to be minimized.
b) The cement top is to be controlled simply by
the volume of cement pumped, so knowing
exactly when the last cement exits the coiled
tubing is critical.
c) Substantial liquid freefall is anticipated and a
positive indicator is required as to when the
cement is actually at the bottom of the
coiled tubing.
• Ensure that the cement and its spacers are
correctly designed, ensuring that the cement can
be pumped though the coiled tubing and that the
spacers keep any potential accelerating or
retarding elements out of the cement.

Acknowledgments
The author wishes to thank the management of BJ Services for
their permission to publish this paper.

References
1
T.W. Harrison, C.G. Blount, “Coiled Tubing Cement
Squeeze Technique at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska”, paper SPE
15104, presented in Oakland, California, April 2-4, 1986.
2
P.R. Hornbrook, C.M. Mason, “Improving Coiled-Tubing
Squeeze-Cementing Techniques at Prudhoe Bay”, paper SPE
19543 published in JPT, April 1991.