Effect of Mixing Energy Levels During Batch Mixing of Cement Slurries

Summary The properties of batch-mixed slurries prepared in a series of yard tests using full-scale equipment are compared with laboratory tests on the same materials. Dramatic differences have been observed between conventional laboratory tests and field scale properties. By splitting the batch-mixing process into distinct steps, a laboratory method is tested against the observed differences. It is shown that mixing energy is an important parameter in slurry design and that energy levels substantially above the conventional API laboratory mixing energy may degrade slurry properties such as pumping time.