Mechanical Properties of Graphite-Oil Well Cement Composites under High Temperature

Under the condition of heavy oil thermal recovery, the cement sheath is easy to crack in the high temperature environment, resulting in the decrease of cement paste strength, which may further cause sealing failure and oil and gas production safety accidents. In this paper, the influence of graphite on the mechanical properties of cement paste under the simulated thermal recovery of heavy oil was studied, and its mechanism is explored by testing and analyzing the microstructure. The phase composition and microstructure of graphite-cement composites were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the thermogravimetric analyzer (TG/DTG) was used to analyze the heat resistance of the graphite-cement composites. The results show that the addition of graphite significantly improved the strength and deformation resistance of the Class G oil well cement at high temperature (300, 400, and 500 °C) and low temperature (50 °C), and the optimal addition amount is 0.07%. The microscopic analysis shows that the incorporation of graphite promoted the formation of hydration products, and played a role in filling pores and reducing microcracks in cement pastes. At the same time, due to the better thermal conductivity of graphite, it can balance the internal thermal stress of the cement pastes and inhibit the strength decline of cement pastes under high temperature environments. The integrity of cement pastes was guaranteed through the mechanism of "crack deflection" and "crack bridging". The research results of this paper have presented a certain theoretical basis and new ideas for the development of cementing slurry systems in heavy oil thermal recovery wells.