Formulation of Geopolymer Cement using Class F Fly Ash for Oil Well Cementing application

摘要

With the increasing awareness of global warming, there is a dire need to find a substitute for the conventional Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) which produces huge amounts of carbon dioxide (CO_2) during its production. Class F fly ash based geopolymer cement has been identified as a potential replacement due to its abundant availability and to address waste management issues. The lack of research and a standard formulation for geopolymer cement has hindered the efforts to apply geopolymer cement for oil well cementing operations. Previous researches in the area of geopolymer cement has been focused mainly on its applications in the construction industry. Therefore, there is a strong need to develop a formulation of class F fly ash based geopolymer with varying parameters, ratios and compositions for oil well cementing applications. A total of 36 formulations were tested for density, rheology, fluid loss, thickening time and compressive strength according to API cement testing procedures by varying alkali concentration, fly ash to alkali binder ratio and sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide ratio. The results suggest that class F fly ash based geopolymer cement could be a better replacement for OPC cement in oil well cementing applications at high pressure and temperature conditions.