Annulus Back-Pressure Transfer Law During Managed-Pressure Cementing Process in Ultra-Deep Wells

The formation pressure system of ultra-deep wells is complex, and managed pressure cementing (MPC) is a commonly used technical means of safety control and cementing quality improvement. During the MPC process, pump switching operations can induce substantial annular back-pressure. The attenuation of annular back-pressure within the wellbore serves as a pivotal foundation for the precise determination of back-pressure compensation values in ultra-deep wells. Building upon the one-dimensional transient flow model of the wellbore, we developed a transient transmission model for annular back-pressure and solved it using the finite difference method. The computational results were validated against experimental data, thereby elucidating the attenuation pattern of annular pressure waves in ultra-deep wells. The findings reveal that the primary controlling factors for the attenuation of pressure waves encompass well depth, the elastic modulus of the wellbore rock, and the rheological model of the drilling fluid. As well depth increases, the pressure wave exhibits a linear decrease, with discontinuities occurring at the casing and open-hole sections. The rate of pressure wave attenuation accelerates within the open-hole interval. The lower the elastic modulus of the open-hole segment, the more rapid the attenuation rate of the pressure wave becomes. The attenuation laws of annular fluids with different rheological models are ranked as follows: Power-law model > Herschel–Bulkley model > Bingham model. Under the computed well conditions, the pressure of the power-law fluid decreases to 85% of its initial back-pressure value. This research provides theoretical underpinnings for the design and execution of on-site MPC operations.