Literature Survey on Cements for Remediation of Deformed Casing in Geothermal Wells

Brookhaven National Laboratory was requested to conduct a literature survey for the best available cement to use in the proposed casing patch as part of the Geothermal Drilling Organization (GDO) project on remediation of deformed casings. A total of 50 wells has been identified with deformed production casing in Unocal’s portion of The Geysers geothermal field. Reduced internal diameter and casing doglegs result in lost production and the possible need for abandonment. The cause of the deformations is believed to be formation movement along fault planes and/or along weaker layers or interfaces between high impedance contrast media. Apparently, it is unclear whether shear or axial compression is the dominant failure mechanism.