Superior Interfacial Bond

The enhanced interfacial bond between steel casing & cement improves CBL accuracy and reduces the necessity of cement remediation.

Super Hydrophilic

SCIN creates a permanent, extremely hydrophilic surface, reducing the contact angle of water on metal substrates significantly.

Improved Acoustic Coupling

SCIN vastly improves the acoustic coupling between the cement and steel pipe, enabling far more accurate acoustic bond integrity measurements.

Cost Savings

SCIN can eliminate remedial cementing on wells, which can range from $100k to more than $10M per well.

SCIN-treated surfaces are chemically reactive to cement, allowing a superior and uniform bond

SCIN Application

SCIN directly addresses the issue of steel hydrophobicity and steel-cement interfacial bond strength. By creating a super-hydrophilic surface, SCIN chemically reacts to Portland cement to create a more effective adhesion on steel pipes.

In addition, SCIN-treated steel significantly improves the accuracy of acoustic cement evaluation results, showing a consistent improvement in acoustic coupling between casing and cement.

Interfacial Bond Strength

Cement barriers provide zonal separation between well bore and casing pipe. Uniform cement-casing pipe interface is required, but often this bonding is disrupted for a variety of reasons.

Steel Hydrophobicity

Steel is naturally hydrophobic, with water droplet contact angles of 90 degrees or more. This hydrophobicity creates poor adhesion of water-based cement to steel or mill-varnished steel.

SCIN-Treated Steel

SCIN dramatically improves the wettability and adhesion of treated steel. In tests, the contact angle of water droplets was reduced to 20 degrees, improving the interfacial bond between cement and steel.

SCIN Technology

A number of different techniques for modifying the surface of steel pipe have been practiced for several decades with varying results. None of these methods addressed either the hydrophobicity of carbon steel or the steel-cement interfacial bond other than the use of surfactants in spacers and cement slurry. SCIN has proven to offer an economical solution to this issue, making the pipe surface super-hydrophilic and chemically-reactive to Portland cement, thus able to more effectively bond steel and cement.

Performance

  • SCIN doubles the wettability of steel 100% 100%
  • SCIN improves steel-cement bond strength by 100% 100% 100%
  • SCIN provides 10% greater corrosion resistance to the steel substrate 10% 10%

SCIN Characteristics

SCIN has successfully field tested in both unconventional and deepwater environments, applied to over 5200 ft. of pipe ranging from 5-inch to 16-inch diameters.

Electro-chemical/chemical surface treatment process

No changes required to normal pipe handling equipment/procedures

Water-based

Non-toxic, after application

Stable & functional under extreme pressures

Stable & functional under extreme temperatures

Non-insular, transfers heat

Applicable to all metallic surfaces/substrates

Oleophilic

Hydrophilic

Improvement in acoustic cement evaluation

Scalable process for tubulars, valves, and components

SCIN Cost Savings

Oil and gas operators spend millions of dollars per year on unnecessary remedial cementing attempts
Sonic cement evaluation logs have been used since the late 1950s to quantify the presence of cement behind casing. The bond between casing and cement placed in the annulus is a critical component of wellbore construction. Bond integrity is inferred after the cement has cured, using acoustic methods well-known in the industry. This evaluation is dependent on the acoustic coupling between the cement and the pipe.

However, if the acoustic coupling is weak, non-existent, or has been damaged by operations such as pressure testing or stimulation treatments, the cement may be present but cannot be properly evaluated, leading to ambiguous conclusions and ultimately unnecessary remedial cementing.

In addition to vast bond-strength improvement, SCIN-treatment significantly improves the accuracy of acoustic cement evaluation results, eliminating unnecessary cement remediation costs which can range from $100k to well over $10M per well.

Get in touch about Oceanit products

If you have any questions about SCIN, please send us a message using the form to the right.

To learn more about any of Oceanit’s other functional coatings & surface treatments, or our any of our other products, please visit Oceanit’s corporate website.