Simulation of the thermomechanical behavior of oilweel composites containing chitosan
Cementing, chitosan, steam injection, simulation.
The cementing operation is a work of extreme importance for the drilling and completion phases of oil wells. The cementing has a great impact on the productivity of the well, basically consisting of filling the annular space between the pipes and the wall of the formation, with the main purpose of isolating undesirable zones from the producing zone. The cement sheath is subjected to mechanical stresses from rock formation pressures and thermal expansion of the metal coating, among other efforts. Although conventional pastes containing silica withstand high pressures and temperatures, they are naturely fragile. Previous studies have shown that the addition of polymers in cementitious pastes provides better mechanical properties to the composite. In this work was studied the effect of chitosan on thermomechanical behavior in cementitious composites. Were formulated slurries containing different concentrations of the biopolymer and done compression, diametrical compression traction, expansion and thermal conductivity tests to obtain results for numerical simulation by the finite element method (FEM), through computational of structural analysis software (CAE), for evaluation of the cement sheath in confinement. The slurries containing chitosan presented superior mechanical resistance to the standard slurry, even after being subjected to high temperature. It was possible to determine the coefficient of thermal expansion of the pulps using the confined thermal expansion method.