[Wonder Warthog]

"Once they can start pumping, how fast does the cement cure? How long before fully cured?"

Wish I could answer, but that one is outside my expertise. Perhaps the former "mud engineer" from post 75 can chime in.

[crusty old prospector]

About 24 hours, some faster than that.

[jacquej]

I am beginning to worry now. Is there a possibility that the riser blew up completely?

The CNN feed looks like it is all mud.

[SueRae]

Thank you for your responses to this and my other questions. Excellent thread.

[Sudetenland]

The cementing wont even begin until they kill the well. Their projections are it will take two days to kill it. They will then pump in the cement. Green cement will take 12 hours, but that is not the concern.

The big problem is killing the well. They have to use a mud heavy enough to contain the down hole pressure, but not heavy enough to fracture the strata. It's always a balancing act. What kills the well is the "hydro-static head" or the total weight of the column of mud above the "pay zone."

Once it is "killed," then they simply pump in the cement mixed at a weight equal to the mud.

I have not been in the business in 20 years and technology of drilling fluids has changed substantially since them, but that is the gist of it.

Everybody pray for this to work.