Utilização de nanosílica como aditivo estendedor para pastas cimentantes de baixa densidade destinadas à cimentação de poços petrolíferos

Cementing operations are conducted at different times of the well s life and they have high importance, because the functions are fundamental to keep good properties during a long life of the well, such as, maintain the mechanical stability of the well, to promote the isolation hydraulic and support the tubing. In some situations, the rocky zones have low fractures pressures and require the use of lightweight slurries to prevent the hydrostatic pressure in the formation is greater than the pressure of fracture. There are three ways to reduce the density of cement slurries: exterders water additives, microspheres and foamed slurries. The most used extender water additive is sodium bentonite, which is a clay with a good capacity of water absorption and expansion of its volume, the main disadvantage of this additive is the reduction of the strength. Currently, the use of nanoscale particles has received special attention, mainly because they get new functionalities. Following this trend, this paper aims to use a colloidal solution of nano-silica as an exterders water additives for use in oil wells. Slurries were designed with fixed 13lb/gal density and concentration of nano silica 0.1 gpc; 0.4 gpc; 0.7 and 1gpc, the influence of nano-silica was studied at these levels in isolation and combined varying concentrations of CaCl2,. Tests including rheology, stability, strength, thickening time, porosity and permeability. Besides the API tests, microstructural characterizations were performed after 28 days of the slurries, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

Formulação e caracterização de pastas espumadas por incorporação de ar e estabilizantes minerais

Cementing operations may occur at various stages of the life cycle of an oil well since its construction until its definitive abandonment. There are some situations in which the interest zones are depleted or have low fracture pressure. In such cases, the adoption of lowdensity cement slurries is an efficient solution. To this end, there are basically three ways to reduce the density of cement slurries: using microspheres, water extending additives or foamed cement. The objective of this study is to formulate, to study and to characterize lowdensity foamed cement, using an air entrainment surfactant with vermiculite or diatomite as water extenders and stabilizers. The methodology consists on preparation and evaluation of the slurries under the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT) guidelines. Based on calculated densities between 13 and 15 ppg (1.559 and 1.799 g/cm3), the slurries were prepared with fixed surfactant concentration, varying the concentrations of vermiculite and diatomite and were compared with the base slurries. The results of plastic viscosity, yield point and gel strength and the compressive strength for 24 h showed that the slurries presented suitable rheology and mechanical strength for cementing operations in oil wells, and had their densities reduced between 8.40 and 11.89 ppg (1.007 and 1.426 g/cm3). The conclusion is that is possible, under atmospheric conditions, to obtain light weighted foamed cement slurries with satisfactory rheological and mechanical properties by means of air entrainment and mineral additions with extenders and stabilizers effects. The slurries have great potential for cementing operations; applicability in deep wells, in low fracture gradient formations and in depleted zones and bring cost savings by reducing the cementing consumption

Micropartículas de quitosana estruturadas com aerosil®: estabilidade, adsorção, encapsulação e liberação de substâncias ativas

Biodegradable microspheres used as controlled release systems are important in pharmaceutics. Chitosan biopolymer represents an attractive biomaterial alternative because of its physicochemical and biological characteristics. Chitosan microspheres are expected to become promising carrier systems for drug and vaccine delivery, especially for non-invasive ways oral, mucosal and transdermal routes. Controlling the swelling rate and swelling capacity of the hydrogel and improving the fragile nature of microspheres under acidic conditions are the key challenges that need to be overcomed in order to enable the exploration of the full pharmaceutical potential use of these microparticles. Many studies have focused on the modification of chitosan microsphere structures with cross-linkers, various polymers blends and new organic-inorganic hybrid systems in order to obtain improved properties. In this work, microspheres made of chitosan and nanosized hydrophobic silica (Aerosil R972) were produced by a method consisting of two steps. First, a preparation of a macroscopically homogeneous chitosan-hydrophobic silica dispersion was prepared followed by spray drying. FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, thermal gravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the microspheres. Also, the were conducted acid stability, moisture sorption capacity, release properties and biological assays. The chitosan-hydrophobic silica composite microspheres showed improved thermal degradation, lower water affinity, better acid stability and ability to retard rifampicin and propranolol hydrochloride (drug models) release under simulated physiological conditions. In vitro biocompatibility studies indicated low cytotoxicity and low capacity to activate cell production of the pro-inflammatory mediator nitric oxide. The results show here encourage further studies on the use of the new chitosan-hydrophobic silica composite microspheres as drug carrier systems via oral or nasal routes.

Utilização de nanosílica como aditivo estendedor para pastas cimentantes de baixa densidade destinadas à cimentação de poços petrolíferos

Cementing operations are conducted at different times of the well s life and they have high importance, because the functions are fundamental to keep good properties during a long life of the well, such as, maintain the mechanical stability of the well, to promote the isolation hydraulic and support the tubing. In some situations, the rocky zones have low fractures pressures and require the use of lightweight slurries to prevent the hydrostatic pressure in the formation is greater than the pressure of fracture. There are three ways to reduce the density of cement slurries: exterders water additives, microspheres and foamed slurries. The most used extender water additive is sodium bentonite, which is a clay with a good capacity of water absorption and expansion of its volume, the main disadvantage of this additive is the reduction of the strength. Currently, the use of nanoscale particles has received special attention, mainly because they get new functionalities. Following this trend, this paper aims to use a colloidal solution of nano-silica as an exterders water additives for use in oil wells. Slurries were designed with fixed 13lb/gal density and concentration of nano silica 0.1 gpc; 0.4 gpc; 0.7 and 1gpc, the influence of nano-silica was studied at these levels in isolation and combined varying concentrations of CaCl2,. Tests including rheology, stability, strength, thickening time, porosity and permeability. Besides the API tests, microstructural characterizations were performed after 28 days of the slurries, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

Formulação e caracterização de pastas espumadas por incorporação de ar e estabilizantes minerais

Cementing operations may occur at various stages of the life cycle of an oil well since its construction until its definitive abandonment. There are some situations in which the interest zones are depleted or have low fracture pressure. In such cases, the adoption of lowdensity cement slurries is an efficient solution. To this end, there are basically three ways to reduce the density of cement slurries: using microspheres, water extending additives or foamed cement. The objective of this study is to formulate, to study and to characterize lowdensity foamed cement, using an air entrainment surfactant with vermiculite or diatomite as water extenders and stabilizers. The methodology consists on preparation and evaluation of the slurries under the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT) guidelines. Based on calculated densities between 13 and 15 ppg (1.559 and 1.799 g/cm3), the slurries were prepared with fixed surfactant concentration, varying the concentrations of vermiculite and diatomite and were compared with the base slurries. The results of plastic viscosity, yield point and gel strength and the compressive strength for 24 h showed that the slurries presented suitable rheology and mechanical strength for cementing operations in oil wells, and had their densities reduced between 8.40 and 11.89 ppg (1.007 and 1.426 g/cm3). The conclusion is that is possible, under atmospheric conditions, to obtain light weighted foamed cement slurries with satisfactory rheological and mechanical properties by means of air entrainment and mineral additions with extenders and stabilizers effects. The slurries have great potential for cementing operations; applicability in deep wells, in low fracture gradient formations and in depleted zones and bring cost savings by reducing the cementing consumption