The kinetics of interaction of hydrochloric acid with oil-well cement slurries treated with the silane coupling agents, tetraethyl orthosilicate, 3-(trimethoxysilyl)-1-propanethiol and 3-(chloropropyl)-trimethoxysilane have been investigated isothermal heat-conduction calorimetry at 298.15K. The Avrami kinetic model gives a better fit to the experimental data than the traditional Lagergren kinetics models. A pore diffusion model suggests acid diffusion only for the standard slurry. The results indicate that isothermal heat-conduction calorimetry is suitable to evaluate the protective role of silane coupling agents on hardened oil-well cement slurries. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.