Method of producing resin composite with required thermal and mechanical properties to form a durable well seal in applications
View Patent ↗In one embodiment of this disclosure, method of formulating a sealant to span an opening and form a seal with surfaces across the opening is provided. The method further includes selecting a fluid material capable of contacting and adhering to the surface of the opening and which reacts to form a solid material as a result of a thermal reaction. The method further includes selecting and intermixing one or more solids with the fluid material to form a composite, wherein the composite cures from a fluid to a solid and bond to the surfaces of the opening and the change in volume of the composite as the temperature thereof changes during curing is insufficient to cause it to pull away from the surfaces of the opening or fail internally.
1. A method of sealing an opening in a well bore, comprising:
predicting or determining an ambient temperature at a sealing location of the well bore to be sealed;
formulating, based at least in part on an available delivery system for a sealant to seal the well at the sealing location thereof, a distance of the sealing location from a mixing location thereof, and the well bore temperature at the sealing location thereof, a composite sealant, the formulating of the composite sealant further comprising;
selecting a fluid material which undergoes an exothermic reaction to change the composite sealant from a fluid to a solid state; and
selecting and intermixing one or more solids with the fluid material to form the composite sealant, wherein the composite sealant has at least one of the following properties:
a thermal expansion factor of 45 or less;
an exothermic factor of 1.1 or less;
a heat flow factor of 5.5 or less;
a heat duration factor of 55 or less; or
a set time/cool down factor of 1.0 or less;
wherein the composite sealant can be located at the sealing location in the well bore before hardening of the composite sealant into the solid state.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting the fluid material and the one or more solids based on the wettability, mixability, and pumpability of the composite sealant.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the composite sealant, as a result of the exothermic reaction of the fluid material, increases in temperature, and the composite sealant begins to harden into the solid state after a maximum temperature of the composite sealant has been reached.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a rate of the exothermic reaction of the selected fluid material to harden into the solid state is dependent on the temperature of the fluid material.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein when the heat duration factor is 55 or less, the composite sealant formed of the fluid material and the one or more solids reaches a maximum temperature while having a bond development factor of P3 or less.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more solids comprise at least one of graphite, Mn 3 O 4 , manganese oxide, or Portland cement.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composite sealant has the following properties:
the thermal expansion factor is 45 or less;
the exothermic factor is 1.1 or less;
the heat flow factor is 5.5 or less;
the heat duration factor is 55 or less; and
the set time/cool down factor is 1.0 or less.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composite sealant achieves a shear bond after it reaches a maximum temperature.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more solids comprises at least one of hematite, silicon carbide, steel, barite, aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, or sand.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more solids have at least one of:
a higher heat capacity than the fluid material;
a higher thermal conductivity than the fluid material; or
a lower coefficient of expansion than the fluid material.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composite sealant achieves a bond development factor of P4 to P6 at a time after a maximum temperature difference between the composite sealant and the ambient temperature in which the composite sealant is located has been reached.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fluid material comprises an epoxy resin and a hardener.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more solids comprises silicon carbide.