Laminar displacement flow in eccentric irregular annuli with application in primary cementing

We investigate three-dimensional numerical simulations of the displacement of viscoplastic fluids in eccentric irregular annuli in laminar regime. This study is motivated by primary horizontal cementing of oil and gas wells. In primary cementing, an annulus between a steel casing and a wellbore is filled with cement slurries to provide mechanical stability and hydraulic isolation. The process includes several complications due to eccentricity of the annulus, irregularity of the wellbore, and the viscoplastic nature of the fluids involved.

In this study, we investigate a series of 3D numerical simulations, using a Volume of Fluid method to capture the interface between the fluids. Initially, we study the effect of the annular region eccentricity on the primary cementing. We investigate effects of irregular wellbore by using existing caliper data to generate the wellbore geometry.