Physics and Mechanics of Primary Well Cementing

This book covers the major physical and mechanical processes that unfold during cementing and subsequent well service, and which can affect the well integrity. Focusing on the underlying physics, it concisely presents the central concepts of well cementing.

The authors discuss the displacement of different fluids in the annulus, the mechanical stability of cement subject to varying downhole temperature, pressure and in-situ stresses, and the impact of defects on cement integrity under different mechanical and thermal loads over the course of the well’s lifetime. The book identifies knowledge gaps and unresolved issues, and proposes new directions for future research and development.

The book is a valuable resource for practising engineers in the oil and gas industry, academic and industrial researchers involved in oil and gas engineering, and to graduate students within this same sector.

Alexandre Lavrov graduated from the Moscow State Mining University in 1995. He obtained his PhD (1998) and DSc (2002) degrees at the Physics & Technology Department of the same university. After completing a two-year post-doc with the Mining Group at KULeuven (Belgium, 2000-2002), he joined SINTEF Petroleum Research (Trondheim, Norway) in 2003, where he is currently working as a senior scientist. A. Lavrov has authored or co-authored more than 30 articles in peer-reviewed international journals and has given presentations at numerous international conferences. He has published two scientific monographs and a popular-science book for high-school students while he was working as a researcher at the Moscow State Mining University:
He contributes to the advancement of petroleum science and technology as a reviewer for SPE journals and other international publications including Chemical Engineering Science, ASME Journal of Fluids
Engineering, Construction and Building Materials, Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, and Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research. His research interests include borehole stability, well integrity, thermal stresses in cement, hydraulic fracturing and computational mechanics.

Malin Torsater obtained her PhD in Physics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology(NTNU) in 2011. She thereafter joined SINTEF Petroleum Research (Trondheim, Norway) where she is
currently working as a scientist in the field of Drilling and Wells. M. Torsater has authored or co-authored 16articles in peer-reviewed international journals, together with several non-referred papers and book contributions. She is currently the manager of several large research projects at SINTEF, and she contributes to the advancement of petroleum science and CO2 storage as a reviewer of International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control. Her number-one research interest is Well Integrity, and she has been an invited speaker on the topic at 13 different conferences. M. Torsater has presented her research results to a broad public through information channels like blogs, radio, public debates, technical magazines, open seminars and national newspapers.