Recommended Practice on Determination of Shrinkage and Expansion of Well Cement Formulations at Atmospheric Pressure

ANSI/API RECOMMENDED PRACTICE 10B-5 FIRST EDITION, APRIL 2005

REAFFIRMED, AUGUST 2020

ISO 10426-5:2003 (Identical), Petroleum and natural gas industries—Cements and materials for well cementing—Part 5: Determination of shrinkage and expansion of well cement formulations at atmospheric pressure

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Copyright © 2005 American Petroleum Institute

API Foreword

This standard shall become effective on the date printed on the cover but may be used voluntarily from the date of distribution.

Standards referenced herein may be replaced by other international or national standards that can be shown to meet or exceed the requirements of the referenced standard.

This American National Standard is under the jurisdiction of the API Subcommittee on Well Cements Sc10. This standard is considered identical to the English version of ISO 10426-5:2004. ISO 10426-5 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 67, SC 3 drilling completion and well cements.

API publications may be used by anyone desiring to do so. Every effort has been made by the Institute to assure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained in them; however, the Institute makes no representation, warranty, or guarantee in connection with this publication and hereby expressly disclaims any liability or responsibility for loss or damage resulting from its use or for the violation of any federal, state, or municipal regulation with which this publication may conflict.

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Contents

Page

API Foreword ii

Foreword iv

Introduction v

1. Scope 1

2. Normative references 1

3. Terms and definitions 1

4. Sampling 2

5. Determination of shrinkage or expansion under conditions of free access of water at

   atmospheric pressure — Annular ring test 2

6. Determination of bulk shrinkage or expansion under impermeable condition and

atmospheric pressure — Membrane test 9

Bibliography 13

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

ISO 10426-5 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 67, Materials, equipment and offshore structures for petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries, Subcommittee SC 3, Drilling and completion fluids, and well cements.

ISO 10426 consists of the following parts, under the general title Petroleum and natural gas industries — Cements and materials for well cementing:

• Part 1: Specification

  
  

• Part 2: Testing of well cements

  
  

• Part 3: Testing of deepwater well cement formulations

  
  

• Part 4: Preparation and testing of foamed cement slurries at atmospheric pressure

  
  

• Part 5: Determination of shrinkage and expansion of well cement formulations at atmospheric pressure

  
  

  Introduction

  
  

  Dimensional changes in oil- and gas-well cements after placement, phenomena often referred to as shrinkage, (when the dimensional change corresponds to a decrease in cement volume) have often been used to explain various wellbore phenomena including

  
  

• a microannulus, leading to a bad bond as demonstrated by the bond log;

  
  

• interzonal communication, resulting in costly remedial operations;

  
  

• lack of a hydraulic seal when utilizing cement inflatable packers.

  
  

  Attempts have been made to find additives that decrease cement shrinkage (shrinkage being a fundamental characteristic of Portland cement) The best solution for shrinkage thus far has been the identification of additives that favour the expansion of the cement. However, even if cement expands dimensionally, it will still shrink internally. In this case, the bulk expansion of the cement sample is simply superimposed on an inner shrinkage that will affect the porosity of the sample.

  
  

  Shrinkage and expansion in cement result from the formation of hydration products having a density different from the compounded density of the reaction components. This can result in the following:

  
  

• change in pore volume;

  
  

• change in pore pressure;

  
  

• change in sample dimensions;

  
  

• change in internal stress.

In a closed cell with a non-deformable boundary, the volume of hydrates produced during the chemical reaction is less than the volume of dry compounds plus water. The change in volume of hydrates will be referred to as inner hydration shrinkage. The change in the sample dimensions will be referred to as bulk shrinkage or expansion. Bulk shrinkage and expansion of cement refer to the result of the measurement of linear dimensional change or volume change. The volume to which all volume changes are related is the volume of the slurry immediately after mixing and emplacement in the experimental equipment.

In this part of ISO 10426, units are given as SI, and where practical, U.S. Customary units are included in brackets for information.

Users of this part of ISO 10426 should be aware that further or differing requirements might be needed for individual applications. This part of ISO 10426 is not intended to inhibit a vendor from offering, or the purchaser from accepting, alternative equipment or engineering solutions for the individual application. This can be particularly applicable where there is innovative or developing technology. Where an alternative is offered, the vendor should identify any variations from this International Standard and provide details.

This part of ISO 10426 is based on API Technical Report 10TR 2 [1].

Petroleum and natural gas industries — Cements and materials for well cementing —

Part 5:

Determination of shrinkage and expansion of well cement formulations at atmospheric pressure

1. Scope

   
   

   This part of ISO 10426 provides the methods for the testing of well cement formulations to determine the dimension changes during the curing process (cement hydration) at atmospheric pressure only. This is a base document, because under real well cementing conditions shrinkage and expansion take place under pressure and different boundary conditions.

   
   

2. Normative references

   
   

   The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

   
   

   ISO 10426-2:2003, Petroleum and natural gas industries — Cements and materials for well cementing — Part 2: Testing of well cements

   
   

3. Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.

3.1

bulk expansion

increase in the external volume or dimensions of a cement sample

3.2

bulk shrinkage

decrease in the external volume or dimensions of a cement sample

3.3

hydration shrinkage

difference in the volume between the hydration products and the volume of the dry cement, additives and water