The formation mechanism of irregular salt caverns during solution mining for natural gas storage

ABSTRACT

During the construction of gas storage salt caverns, many irregular salt caverns are formed. This brings great risks and safety hazards to the construction and operation of the caverns. In order to reduce the hazards caused by the irregularity of salt cavern and in order to reduce the number of irregular salt caverns developed during the construction of gas storage salt caverns in the future, in this article, we take 12 irregular salt caverns as the research objects and combine a large amount of related information that has been published to explore the formation mechanisms of irregular salt caverns. Extensive research has been performed on the construction of gas storage salt caverns. The research found that the factors leading to irregular salt cavern formation can be summarized into three major aspects: geological conditions, construction technology and tubing failures. The research reveals the influence of these three factors on the salt cavern shape and the interactions between the three major factors. In order to avoid forming irregular salt caverns, preventive measures and improvement suggestions are proposed to address various mechanisms that may cause irregularities. The research results have important application value for avoiding the formation of irregular salt caverns and ensuring the safe operation of gas storage salt caverns.

KEYWORDS:

• Salt cavern
• natural gas storage
• solution mining
• irregular salt cavern
• formation mechanism

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51774266, 51874274, 51874273),Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (Grant No. 2019324). The authors are sincerely grateful to Jaak J Daemen, Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, University of Nevada, for his thoughtful review of this paper. Moreover, the authors wish to thank the reviewers for constructive comments and suggestions that have helped us improve our manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [51774266]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [51874273]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [51874274]; Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences [2019324].

Notes on contributors

Tianfu Xue

Tianfu Xue is a graduate student of Chongqing University. His major is Mining Engineering, and his main research directions are the construction of salt cavern and the repairing of irregular salt caverns.

Chunhe Yang

Chunhe Yang is a researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and he is also a part-time doctoral supervisor at Chongqing University. His main research direction is the construction and safe operation of salt cavern gas storage.

Xilin Shi

Xilin Shi is an associate researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His major is Geotechnical Engineering. His main research direction is the construction and the safe operation of salt cavern gas storage.

Ma Hongling

Ma Hongling is an associate researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His major is Geotechnical Engineering. His main research direction is the construction and the safe operation of salt cavern gas storage.

Yinping Li

Yinping Li is a researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His major is Engineering Mechanics. His main research direction is the construction and safe operation of salt cavern gas storage.

Xinbo Ge

Xinbo Ge graduated from Wuhan Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is currently a Lecturer with the State Key Laboratory of Mining Disaster Prevention and Control Co-founded by Shandong Province and the Ministry of Science and Technology, College of Energy and Mining Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, China. His major is Geotechnical Engineering. His research interests are focused on dynamic instability of leaching tubing in salt cavern underground storage.

Xin Liu

Xin Liu is a master student of Wuhan Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His major is Geotechnical Engineering, and his main research direction is the construction and safe operation of salt cavern gas storage.