[a] Texas A&M University at Qatar.
　　* Corresponding author.
　　Supported by the NPRP award [NPRP 09-489-2-182] from the Qatar National Research Fund.
　　Received 7 February 2013； accepted 17 March 2013
　　Abstract
　　Geothermal energy is becoming an important source of energy and its importance will be increasing in the future. When we drill geothermal wells， we encounter high temperature zones and may also encounter high pressure areas. Cementing in high temperature environments such as geothermal wells is very challenging. The survey that was sent to High-Pressure-High-Temperature （HPHT） professionals at the HPHT Summit meeting in 2012， showed Cement Design is one of the biggest concerns for HPHT operations and it is one of their technology gaps. Temperatures as high as 200 °C-400 °C could destabilize the setting of the cement. If the well has both high temperature and high pressure， the cementing process becomes much more complex. This article discusses various aspects of cementing procedures and considerations for geothermal wells including cements design considerations， crucial problems， and some technology solutions.
　　Key words： Geothermal energy； HPHT； Geothermal well
　　Salim， P.； & Amani， M. （2013）. Principal Points in Cementing Geothermal Wells. Advances in Petroleum Exploration and Development， 5（1）， -0. Available from： URL： http：//www.cscanada.net/index.php/aped/article/view/j.aped.1925543820130501.1145
　　DOI： http：//dx.doi.org/10.3968/j.aped.1925543820130501.1145
　　INTRODUCTION
　　World population growth continues to soar. The World Factbook （CIA， 2011） listed annual population growth rate in percent as shown in Figure 1 （Wikipedia， Population Growth Rate）.The United States Census Bureau （2012） estimates the world population has currently surpassed 7 billion. Other estimates from the United Nations Population Fund revealed a population of 7 billion was achieved in 2011. Figure 2 shows the world population history in the year 2000 to be less than 6 billion people （Wikipedia， World Population History）.It can be concluded from these different sources that special attention is required to sustain the growth of various sectors， such as food supply， environmental integrity， and sufficient energy resources. Some of the energy sources can be extracted from geothermal energy. Worldwide electricity production from it has increased， and direct use could displace millions of barrels of oil. On the other hand， drilling geothermal wells are a very small number comparable with drilling oil and gas well. Just as in the United States （U.S） in the year 2008， 100 geothermal wells were drilled， while for oil andgas，there were more than 50，000 wells drilled （Finger and Blankenship， 2010）. 　　Figure 1
　　Annual Population Growth Rate （2011 Estimate）
　　Figure 2
　　World Population History
　　Geothermal wells can be found in the United States， Philippines， Indonesia， Mexico， Italy， New Zealand， Iceland， Kenya， Japan， and other locations. Countries that have installed the power renewal can be seen in Table 1 （International Geothermal Association， 2011）. Finger and Blankenship 2010 mention some geothermal power sources in the US produce temperatures as low as 200 °C at a depth of 330 m， however， locations such as geysers produce temperatures above 240 °C at a depth of 2500 m.Even in Japan we could find a well with a 500 °C bottom hole temperature at a depth of 3350 m. Saito and Sakuma （2000） recorded experimental wells in Hawaii and Iceland with temperatures above 980 °C. Figure 3 displays a map of high temperature geothermal locations worldwide.
　　Figure 3
　　High Temperature Geothermal Location Worldwide
　　Geothermal energy is used for heat pumps， bathing， space-heating， greenhouses， aquaculture and industrial processes （Lund and Freeston， 2001）. It is an endless energy source that does not need fuel， thereby reducing pollution. Figure 4 shows the basic geothermic well’s operating principle （BBC， Geothermal Energy）； a thermal well was drilled to high-temperature formations then the cold water was pumped down. As the water flows through the hot fracture formation， the temperature rises make it become heated water and at the surface formed steam. The steam is used to drive a turbine， usually for electrical power generation. Since 1970， another technology has been found to aim the heat （Ghori， 2006）. It is by extracting the energy from dry hot rock， deep in the earth crust. Sometimes heat can be obtained from the movement of magma in cracks or water circulation in the area of the fault.
　　Figure 4
　　Geothermal Basic Principles
　　Based on Finer and Blankenship （2010）， temperature in the earth will rise approximately 25 °C for each kilometer of depth. Direct use of geothermal energy such as water heating or recreational use requires a minimum temperature of 35 °C. However， electric power generation requires temperature of at least 135 °C. This means that when the surface temperature is 20 °C， then only a 5 km hole is needed to reach the formation that can produce heat for electrical power. Geothermal wells are sought in the areas of heat flow that have above average subsurface temperatures. There were also studies conducted by A.G. Geohil about the Earth?s crust temperature profile at different places， as shown in Figure 5. 　　Figure 5
　　Earth’S CRUST TEMPERATURE PRofile at Different Location
　　1. CRUCIAL PROBLEMS IN GEOTHERMAL WELLS
　　1.1 High Temperature
　　Normally， cementing in geothermal will need 6.9 MPa compressive strength and water permeability less than 10-4 m2 （API Task Group on Cements for Geothermal Wells， 1985）. Cement will lose its strength over its particular temperature， approximately 110 °C. Calcium Silicate material， with addition of water will generate a Calcium Silicate Hydrate （CSH phase） which will decrease compressive strength and increase permeability， this is known as strength retrogression. One way to prevent this phenomenon is by partially replacing bulk lime with silica； that is， substitute Portland cement with at least 35% silica BWOC. The recommended cement composition for the geothermal environment by Nelson， Eilers and Spangle （1981） is shown in Table 2.
　　Table 2
　　Specifically， in geothermal wells， a cement job conducted not at a geothermic temperature， with a circulation of drilling mud in colder conditions， will reduce the temperature of the well. However， retarder agent must be added into the cement system， in order to have enough placement time at a maximum temperature. Cement of the upper part has a longer placement time， then sometimes more retarder was added， causing a very long drying time. At least two to three hours pumping time are required to allow adequate placement time （Gaurina et al.， 1994）.With extreme temperature， the thickening time was measured initially with ± 10% of the retarder concentration （North et al.， 2000）.
　　In some cases since there will be a water flow， it could cause an increased water cement ratio， and cement will crack as the thermal cycle continues to recur. Portland Class G cement and Class J cement are used to persist in high temperatures， together with silica flour and omit extender， expected to withstand for 30 years. However， if the cement is applied to the environment that reaches 400°C， Portland cement should not be used；high alumina cement will provide more stability. Drastic temperature change could decrease cement and casing bond. Cement with calcium aluminate phosphate shows increasing bond strength between 0 to 100 cycles， and Portland cement shows declining bond strength in the first 70 cycles （Berard et al.， 2009）.
　　1.2 Lost Circulation
　　To increase the amount of production， geothermal drilling is most likely influenced by oil and gas drilling technology. The integrity of the formation ranges from poorly consolidated up to highly fractured， and the fracture gradients tend to be low （Nelson and Eilers， 2006）. Consequently， the most common problem encountered in geothermal wells is lost circulation. Often it is in a very large amount， either during drilling or cementing. If the losses happen during the cementing job， not rare that cement return cannot be found on the surface， especially when using normal cement design. In geothermal wells， water traps should be avoided between two casings， because the casings can fail while discharging after the wells heat up. The first loss zone depth should be recorded and designed as the cement top； excess slurry volume should be less than 30% （Fen et al.， 2012）. 　　Low density cement is used to overcome this problem， while an extender is added in order to lower the density of the mixture without the settling issue. Fly ash， bentonite， and perlite are the types of extender （Gaurina et al.， 1994）. For Portland or Class J cement， if the temperature is above 232 °C，it’s better to use bentonite and perlite， not to use fly ash. When the temperature is above 300 °C， for high alumina cement， it’s more suitable to use fly ash or crushed aluminosilicate fabric. However， for geothermal wells， avoid the use of fly ash since the agent could degrade the compressive strength at curing temperatures over 230 °C and under a long term period of time.
　　From data gathered， the formation which has a poor fracture zone commonly used less than 12.5 lbm/gal of low density cement. For a density below 12.5 lbm/gal， microsphere-extended， multimodal particle size or foamed cement is required. Glass and ceramic microspheres can be used in high temperature wells. Although ceramic microspheres only can persist at lower bottom hole pressure （max 4500 psi）， this system gives better performance at temperatures as high as 315 °C when compared to glass microspheres （Nelson et al.， 2006）.
　　1.3 Thick Filter Cake
　　Fluid loss cannot be avoided， but we can reduce the amount by adding fluid loss agents. If the amount of fluid loss is too large， it can cause a reduction in the strength of the cements. Other things to be aware of is a buildup of filter cake that can later lead to differential sticking problems. Fluid loss limit depends on each location， but generally around 50 ml to 100 ml per 30 minutes is the recommended rate. Normally， filter cake also can be reduced with mechanical or chemical practice. In terms of a cementing operation， chemical practice means by pumping the spacer or chemical wash into the wellbore prior to the cement job. Different ways to clean up filter cake includes pumping acid， enzymes， formate brines， or a combination of these. Ethyl-lactate ester gives a very good performance rather than organic acids （Alotaibi et al.， 2010）.Mechanical practice to reduce the filter cake is by reciprocates， rotation， or adding a scratcher into the casing.
　　Figure 7
　　Effect of Silica Particle Size on 13.5 lbm/gal Vlass G Perlite-Bentonite， Cement System in Geothermal Brine （Eilers and Nelson， 1979）
　　The high concentration of sodium chloride will reduce the ability of silica to dissolve in a mixture. By reducing the size of silica particles the surface area will expand， allow the formation of the desire calcium silicate hydrates. The presence of carbonate in certain geothermal brines presents a serious difficulty for Portland cement systems （Milestone et al.， 1986）. Calcium silicate hydrates are not stable in such a chemical environment， even at an ordinary temperature （Taylor， 1964）. High alumina cement is also known to degrade in the presence of carbonate （Crammond and Currie， 1993）.Geothermal wells typically have a low fracture gradient； therefore， low density cement is one of the ways to solve the problem. Gallus et al. （1979） mentioned that silica flour usually is added for stability to low density cement， up to 100% BWOC （By Weight of Cement）. Ultra-low density foamed cement and microsphere-extended systems also have been used to cement geothermal wells as well. They are used in formations that have an aggressive fluid such as corrosive brines. 　　2.2 Alternate Cement
　　An alternate cement composition for geothermal wells is calcium phosphate or calcium aluminosilicate， both are resistant to CO2. The life of calcium phosphate is up to 20 years （Weber et al. 1998； Brookhaven National Laboratory， 2000）， and it has been used in Japan and Indonesia from 1997. Cement system compositions that have been used include： fly ash， calcium aluminate cement， sodium polyphosphate， and water. The composition varies with the depth at which the cement will be used （Nelson and Gouedard， 2006）.
　　The calcium aluminosilicate system is a newly developed cement system （Barlet-Gouedard and Vidick， 2001； Barlet-Gouedard and Goffe， 2002）. Synthetic Cements are used in CO2 flooding projects or chemical waste disposal， but they are weak polymers against corrosive brines. Epoxy based polymer systems often are used near the surface， not deeper than that since the temperature cycle in a geothermal well will create thermal degradation. Organosiloxane polymer cement has proven stability at the high temperature and was used as geothermic cement in an API Study （Zeldin and Kukacka， 1980）. Degouy and Martin （1993） demonstrated phenolic resins with fillers such as calcium carbonate and sand provided acceptable performance at curing temperatures up to 150 °C.
　　3. TECHNOLOGY AND SOLUTION
　　3.1 Light Weight Cementing
　　A lost circulation could lead a stuck pipe event and the more dangerous， it can lead to blow out and certainly a non-productive time will be generated. Proper well trajectory， hole angle， insitu-stresses and pore pressure prediction should be planned ahead. Implementing light-weight cement could be a way to prevent these problems.
　　3.1.1 Foam Cementing
　　Geothermal wells were usually not drilled too deep and often intersected with the weak formation. Therefore， the most common problem related with them is lost circulation. A lighter density foam cement could prevent lost circulation while pumping the cement. Another reason for choosing foam cement is， when under high temperature， conventional Portland cement has poor tensile strength and is brittle. It could crack or buckle and is not resistant to CO2. In foam cement， nitrogen is injected into the ready-mix cement slurry in order to produce low-density cement. Rozleres and Ferriere （1991） mentioned that， with laboratory equipment， foam cement can be mixed and characterized at representative filed conditions with a density as low as 4 lb/gal. Brookhaven National Laboratory asserted that milled carbon microfibers give more strength and are more resistant to ductility. Increasing or decreasing the amount of nitrogen is the way to control foam cement density. 　　3.1.2 Glass Bubbles
　　If the lost circulation is above the production zone， it will make the cement job more complex， as we have to isolate the production zone from upper intervals. Often the casing was set above the target zone or sometimes losses occurred before we reached the setting point. Therefore， some of the geothermal wells have no option， other than using glass bubbles as the light-weight cement system. The density with glass bubbles can be lower than water， and a particle size of glass bubble is around 75 microns. Type and density of glass bubbles are very diverse and depend on the hydrostatic pressure rating requirement. Smith， Powers and Dobkins （1980） shown to make 13 lbm/sack， 9.5 lbm/gal slurry should be mixed with 14 % low strength bubbles. Generally， glass bubbles which make highest density are the weakest. Increased pressure will decrease the slurry yield and break some of the bubbles， which will cause an increase in density.
　　Cement slurry using glass bubbles could reach 7.5 lbm/gal， but field tests conducted by Smith， Powers and Dobkins showed that to achieve the desired water permeability at least 9.5 lbm/gal was needed. Glass bubbles are available commercially in two different grades， grade 1 and grade 2. They are stronger， have a higher collapse pressure and are more expensive. Depending on the grade， lightweight slurries can preserve their desire properties only when the head hydrostatic does not exceed 2000 psi. To avoid strength retrogression in geothermal temperatures， at least 26% silica must be added into the system. If not， the glass bubbles will react with the cement creating disintegration of the bubbles and raising the permeability （Erik et al.， 1981）.
　　Since the glass bubbles are made of silica， under high temperatures of around 300 °F， the slurry gives constant compressive strength （Suman and Ellis 1977； Eliers and Root 1974）. The thickening time also can be adjusted by the amount of water or calcium chloride. To reduce the density， the amount of water to be added to the glass bubble slurry is less than in a normal slurry. The strength will be higher and generate faster， compare to another light-weight cement， which means a decrease WOC.
　　3.2 Latex
　　In high thermal wells， expanding and shrinking of cement sometimes can occur， which may cause a gas migration problem. Latex slurry could be a cement additive to avoid a gas migration. Besidesthat， it has low fluid loss and could improve bonding. Latex slurry has anti gas invasion properties， if the gas invasion occurs， latex will form an impervious film with some strength to prevent gas migration into the slurry as well as up through the annulus（Fuquan et al.， 2006）. In an acidic environment， Latex would give the resistance. 　　3.3 Cementing Lost Circulation Fibers
　　As discussed above， geothermal wells often face fracture zone. Normally， in fracture zone， losses are encountered， and it will be more severe during cementing work. During cementing， cementing lost circulation fibers （CLCF） material could help form a bridging network in the loss zone and subsequently restore the circulation. CLCF can be designed to be placed only at the loss zone and can be added directly to the cement mix tank or on the fly， without disturbing the desired cement properties. By adding these fibers into a cement system， there will be no extra cement to be prepared for anticipated losses. This will reduce cement waste and eliminate cement disposal cost. Figure 8 shows how CLCF form a bridging network to help resume a circulation （Schlumberger and CemNet， 2002）.
　　Figure 8
　　Cementing Loss Circulation Fiber Material’s Ways of Working
　　3.4 Reverse Cementing
　　For a normal cement job， cement was pumped from the surface through the drillpipe， goes down and once passes the casing shoes the direction of flow changed to rise. Fill the formation and casing annulus until the desired zone cemented. A normal cement job needs horsepower to pump the cement slurry. When facing a massive lost circulation， wherever possible， reduces the circulation pressure to prevent more losses. Reverse cementing as used in central Wyoming and central California is another method to do a cement job. The slurry is pumped down through an annulus and return， trough inside casing. With the help of gravity， this could minimize pressure against the formation， as can be seen in Figure 10 （Moore et al.， 2005）.
　　Figure 10
　　Reverse Cementing
　　Reverse cementing could be done with two techniques： the cement slurry pumped through the annulus then returned to the surface through the casing or through the string / inner string method （stabbed to the float collar/shoe， placed inside casing）. Sticking the string to the casing shoe or collar with a flapper valve is very effective. After the cement job， flapper valve can omit cement inside the casing and can release pressure inside the casing while waiting for the cement to set. But additional time is needed to run the stabbing string and friction pressure will increase because of smaller strings. On reverse cementing， once the cement reaches the bottom of the wanted zone， trace will be found on the surface， the mixing and pumping of cement can be stopped， which could minimize the excess of cement. However， there is not much choice of tracer material that is environment friendly. Regarding no displacement in reverse cementing as in normal cementing， cement placement time will be diminished. A retarder should not be added to the cement slurry as it will reduce waiting on cement and save a rig time. 　　For a workover rig， a dump bailer could be used as one of the cement plug techniques. This tool can easily control the depth where we want to set a cement plug. But dump bailer can take only a little amount of cement， so that multiple runs should be made. It is run with wireline and it is opened once it touches the bridge plug， then cement will start to fill along with the toll drown out as can be seen in Figure 13.
　　Figure 12
　　Plugback with Macaroni String
　　Figure 13
　　Dump Bailer
　　3.7 Two-Stage Cementing
　　When unconsolidated or loss areas need to case off and avoid long exposed cement， one of the ways to do is to use a multi-stage method. This procedure can reduce costs by having different densities of cement or leave some part un-cemented. In two-stage cementing， there are two techniques that could be used： each stage is performed in a separate operation or when both stages are performed continuously. A summary of the procedure of two-stage cementing can be seen in Table 3.
　　Stage collar as seen in Figure 9， is the tool that will divert the cement flow after the first stage. Opening the port of the stage collar could be done mechanically （drop the opening plug which falls by gravity） or hydraulically （apply pressure to displacement fluid）. A proper calculation of the slurry volume is required； therefore， a caliper log is necessary. Special attention for using a stage collar is at the time it fails to open or pin to open the port did not shear. There are several reasons why it’s happened， one of which is the opening plug might not seat； therefore， we have to wait until it arrives or increases the pressure. If still not been open， then we should use the drill pipe to help open the port. If this step fails to open the port， consequently， above the collar should be perforated.
　　Table 3
　　Two Stage Cementing
　　Separate Operation
　　Figure 9
　　Stage Collar
　　Related to casing integrity， Mukhalalaty， Al-Suwaidi and Shaheen （1999） mentioned that the point where the stage collar is seated is the weakest point in the string and could cause a casing leak. Bending stress， repetition on opening and closing， and chemical / other hazardous material exposure， can lead to leaks in the seal’s port. Some other critical considerations are to control circulation pressure， allow enough thickening time， and slow pumping while 1st stage plugs pass the stage collar.
　　3.8 Proper Cementing Preparation 　　Preparation stages such as cleaning the hole， mud conditioning， and mud displacements are some of the factors determining the success of the cement job. Failure to have good mud removal could cause an inter-zonal communication， gas migration， casing corrosion， and short term zonal isolation. Jones and Berdine （1940） proposed to centralize the casing to minimize cement channeling and fluid jets， scrapers or scratcher， casing reciprocation or pumping acid ahead of the cement slurry to remove mud cake.
　　3.8.1 Borehole
　　When the well was drilled poorly or has irregularities， most likely a washout zone has formed， which is difficult to clean. A crooked well makes casing centralizer hard to get in the wellbore， as well as removing mud in the narrow side of the annulus. An irregularity’s borehole will give a space to unwanted dirt to sit. Swell and Billingsley （2002） find an effective method to bring cuttings out of wellbore is by pumping a viscos fluid with rotating pipe between 150-200 rpm.
　　3.8.2 Mud Conditioning
　　Mud is used to support wellbore hydrostatic pressure and to provide a good transport cutting. Reducing mud density in a minimum wellbore pressure limit， and/or reducing mud gel strength， yield stress and plastic viscosity will help displacement mobility. Caution is needed to keep the weighting agent from settling； otherwise， the control of density will be lost. To avoid mud to gel and filter cake， before removing the drill pipe， logging or running casing is recommended to have circulation for one borehole volume. After the casing is set， it is required to have at least one “bottoms up” and as much as one annular volume （Daccord et al.， 2006）. Mud conditioning will help clean the hole and remove influx if there is any gas flow. Turbulent flow generally gives higher circulation efficiencies than those for laminar flow. To achieve mud moving completely around the annulus； improving pipe standoff， reducing gel strength， increasing ?p / τy ratio and increasing flow rate should be done.
　　3.8.3 Eccentricity
　　When the pipe inside the borehole is not centered， velocity across the pipe will distort and tends to flow into the larger side. This phenomenon will create a laminar flow on the narrow side and turbulent flow in the wider side. When the flow through the annulus is laminar， the effect of eccentricity will divert from calculated velocity. An acceptable standoff in oil industry is at least around 75%. From the experiment done by Daccord， Guillot and Nilsson （2006）， fluid models will give different effects to circulation efficiency， as shown in Table 4. For Bingham Plastic fluid， after one hole volume， circulation efficiency is more sensitive to standoff than dimensionless shear rate （ξ） as can be seen in Figure 14. 　　3.8.5 Gelled Mud
　　Drilling mud is designed to have good thixotropic gel strength properties to suspend cuttings and weighting agent once the pump is stopped. However， once the mud is allowed to gel， the force required to be overcome is no longer the yield stress， but will be the gel strength. Poor wellbore （washout） and casing eccentricity in circulation time， can create zones in which the velocity is zero， this phenomenon is known as immobile mud. If this mud is left in the hole after cement placement， the mud may dehydrate and shrink while the cement is set， leaving an empty space letting any gas or fluid to flow into. Normal gel strength test will consider one time reading for a maximum of 10 minutes rest， which was briefer than those which occurred within the field and could be several hours or days.
　　3.8.6 Mud Cake
　　When mud is passing through the permeable zone， once the pump is stopped， it tends to change over from dynamic filtration to static filtration which grows a mud cake. During circulation， mud cake thickness is likely to be larger at the narrow side of the annulus. If we left the mud cake after cement placement， it would dehydrate which is the same behavior as with immobile mud. The major difference is mud cake will not form on impermeable caprock layers. It makes mud cake less critical when associated with zonal isolation problems， however， is more critical to differential sticking problems.
　　3.8.7 Solid Beds
　　Solid beds usually are found in horizontal or highly deviated wells. They normally occur over long intervals， making it more harmful than mud cake. Bern et al （1998） found barite beds can be readily dispersed with a combination of high-flow rates and drill pipe rotation. Johnson et al. （1992） and Becker and Gardiner （2000） observed that the particles could break some part of the solid layer， as in flow loop tests of gravel placement or sand blast. Abrasion also can be achieved by scratchers fastened to the casing or by fluid jets directed perpendicular to the layer.
　　Solid beds are permeable as some flow can take place through them； however， this may weaken the bed with fluidization mechanism and increase the lift force on individual particles （Cho et al.， 2001）. Chemical or physico-chemical methods； which include acids， chelating agents， surfactants， dispersants， and oxidizers can be used for solids removal. This will occur when spacers and washes are pumped into the annulus. Various filter cake， and solid removal mechanism are summarized in Table 5 （Daccord et al.， 2006）. 　　Table 5
　　Summary of Cleaning Mechanism for Mud Cakes and Solid Beds
　　Domain Application Mechanism Flow
　　Mud circulation and displacement Erosion by shear instability of interface Wall shear stress
　　Mud circulation and displacement Erosion by pressure fluctuations， rupture in tension Reynolds number
　　Backflow during completion operations Pinholing or peeling Differential pressure
　　Completion operations， mud displacement Weakening of layer mechanical properties， dissolution Chemical composition， duration of treatment
　　Hole cleaning Fluidization， increase in lift force Pressure gradient
　　Gravel pack placement
　　Cutting transport and corresponding hole cleaning Abrasion by suspended particles Inertia of particles
　　3.8.8 Casing Movement
　　On deviated and vertical hole， rotating or moving the drill string by reciprocating may help clean the cuttings out of the borehole. Sanchez et al. （1999） mention that it is the orbital motion and not the rotation that improves hole cleaning. Together with scratchers， scrapers and cable wipers， casing movement mechanically erodes the filter cake and improves the displacement process. Other techniques to remove a mud deposit include jetting using a specific pipe shoe （Way et al.， 2000）， vibrating the casing during circulation by rotating the casing at high speed （Sutton and Ravi， 1991）， reverse circulating and special hardware placed around the casing to generate turbulence （Kinzel and Martens， 1998）. Best practice is to start the movement during mud conditioning.
　　3.8.9 Mud Circulation Efficiency
　　By using carbide pills， Smith （1990） recommends， the flow rate and the circulation time were designed under the assumption that 95 % of the calipered hole volume was circulating. His measurement （Figure 15） led him to recommended circulated velocity in excess of 76.2 m/min. This circulation should be maintained until the caliper shows 90 % of the borehole volume is in circulation.
　　Figure 15
　　Effect of Annular Velocity on Circulation Efficiency
　　In some circumstance circulation bottoms up is insufficient for a mud removal. A better approach is to measure the mud circulation efficiently （Smith， 1984）. Figure 16 shows a fluid caliper and tracer concept used to determine mud-circulation efficiency； a small volume of mud marked with tracer is pumped through the wellhead. The time for the tracer to return to the surface indicates the volume of mud that has been circulated and then this volume compared with the result of caliper measurement. Tracer could be inert particles （rice， oats）， dyes， radioactive material， chemical tracers， or reactive materials. The detection can be visual by monitor particles in the shale shaker or chemical. These techniques only can give the qualitative result； the quantitative result needs a continuous monitoring of the tracer and proper interpretation to conclude average circulation velocity. 　　Figure16
　　Fluid Caliper Concept Used to Determine Mud-Circulation Efficiency
　　Surface and downhole pressure measurement could indicate the hole cleaning condition. Ravi et al （1993） and Griffith （1995） performed measurement of surface pressure， together with continuous measurement of fluid rheology， density， and flow rate could determine the efficiency. Hutchinson and Rezmer-Cooper （1998） showed that annular pressure while drilling could determine the hole cleaning condition and mud solid carrying capacity.
　　SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
　　With the increasing energy needs among the world’s population， geothermal energy could be one of the resources to fulfill this demand. However， high-temperature environments cause challenges for the cementing operation. A few things to note on cementing geothermal wells：
　　（1） Problems which usually arise in geothermal wells include； high temperature， lost circulation， thick filter cake， and CO2 attack.
　　（2） Cement design must be considered carefully；
　　a） If there are brines， Portland cement should be stabilized by adding fine silica flour.
　　b） If there are high levels of CO2， it is necessary to use an alternatecement system by using calcium phosphate or calcium aluminosilicate.If using Portland cement to inhibit the degradation， it is required to reduce the silica concentration to 20% BWOC.
　　（3） Technology has evolved to avoid the above problems， lost circulation problems prevented by using light weight cement such as； foam cement or glass bubbles. Use of Latex is good for expanding and shrinking cement. If lost circulation has occurred， cementing-lost-circulation-fibers can provide sealing by forming a network across this loss zone.
　　（4） Some of the techniques to case off loss area or avoid long exposed cement include： reverse cementing， mechanical barriers， plugback cementing or multi-stages cement job.
　　（5） To prevent a differential sticking due to thick filter cake or to get a decent bond between cement-casing and cement-formation， it is required to have a proper cementing preparation such as good borehole， mud conditioning， eccentricity， gelled mud， mud cake， solid beds， casing movement and mud circulation efficiency.
　　Acknowledgment
　　This publication was made possible by the NPRP award [NPRP 09-489-2-182] from the Qatar National Research Fund （a member of The Qatar Foundation）. The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. 　　REFERENCES
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