Cement Placement: An Overview of Fluid Displacement Techniques and Modelling

During drilling operations, effective displacement of fluids can provide high-quality cementing jobs, ensuring zonal isolation and strong bonding of cement with casing and formation. Poor cement placements due to incomplete mud removal can potentially lead to multiple critical operational problems and serious environmental hazards. Therefore, efficient mud removal and displacement of one fluid by another one is a crucial task that should be designed and optimized properly to guarantee the zonal isolation and integrity of the cement sheath. The present work provides an overview of the research performed on mud removal and cement placement to help the industry achieve better cementing jobs. An extensive number of investigations have been conducted in order to find some key techniques for minimizing the cement contamination and obtaining maximum displacement efficiency. Yet, even after implementing those techniques, the industry happens to encounter poor cementing jobs. The present review aims to assist with evaluating the current theories, methodologies, and practical techniques, in order to possibly identify the research gaps and facilitate the way for further improvements.