SCIN (Steel Cement Interfacial Nanobond) technology is a nanocomposite surface treatment that achieves significant improvement in the wettability of steel – a naturally hydrophobic material.
SCIN imparts hydrophilic characteristics to steel and other substrates, enabling a significant increase in cement-steel bond strength and uniformity.
SCIN was born out of a corporate co-development partnership with Shell Energy and their Gamechanger program, which supports unproven, early-stage ideas with the huge potential to impact the future of energy.
For several decades, techniques for modifying the surface of steel pipes were practiced with varying results. These methods did not address either the hydrophobicity of the carbon steel or the inherent weakness of steel-cement interfacial bonding, other than the use of surfactants in spacers and cement slurry.
SCIN offers an economical solution to this bonding issue by achieving a superhydrophilic (water-attracting) pipe surface that is chemically reactive to Portland cement, allowing an effective bond to cement.
SCIN-treated steel was rigorously laboratory tested, scaled up in two different locations in the US, and subjected to field trials in on-shore, unconventional, and deepwater applications. SCIN successfully showed that it can greatly improve the bond between steel and cement, providing a final product that can withstand significant pressures in adverse conditions.
Working with a major operator, Oceanit successfully field tested SCIN in multiple wells in both unconventional and deepwater environments. The pipe treatment was applied to pipe ranging from 5- to 16-inch diameter. Post-job cement evaluation logs by a variety of techniques demonstrate a consistent improvement in acoustic coupling between the casing and cement. Acoustic cement evaluations showed a significant improvement in steel-cement bond strength and uniformity.
To learn more, please visit the SCIN website:
Key Features
- Creates a permanent, superhydrophilic surface
- Increases interfacial bond between steel and cement
- Improvement in acoustic cement evaluation
- Highly scalable process suitable for steel tubulars, valves, and components
- Excellent high-pressure, high-temperature stability
- No changes required to normal pipe handling equipment or procedures
