Experimental and numerical investigation into rapid cooling of rock salt related to high frequency cycling of storage caverns

Blanco-Martín, Laura; Rouabhi, Ahmed; Billiotte, Joël; Hadj–Hassen, Faouzi; Tessier, Bruno; Hévin, Grégoire; Balland, Cyrille; Hertz, Emmanuel

doi:10.1016/j.ijrmms.2018.01.008

Cited by 32 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Cooling increases the magnitude of the tangential stress which corresponds initially to a low tension as explained. This increase is done rapidly in the first few hours as shown by Blanco-Martin [10]. Fractures are created when the tensile stress exceeds the tensile strength of salt and subsequently AE are generated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…A cold chamber was installed by Armines [10] over the prepared area. The cold chamber comprises five insulated faces with two access doors (north and south faces); the evaporator of the cooling system was fixed on the ceiling along the east side and a ventilator unit was set up on the floor along the west side.…”

Section: Experimental Design 21 Experimental Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Acoustic monitoring of a thermo-mechanical test simulating withdrawal in a gas storage salt cavern

Balland

Billiotte²,

Tessier³

et al. 2018

International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences

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The natural gas storage in salt caverns requires fast injection / withdrawal cycles due to the increasing dynamics of the energy market. High rates induce rapid changes in the internal pressure of the stored gas causing important temperature changes susceptible to damage the rock salt mass. To experimentally observe this, the Starfish project led to initiate and characterize the damage caused by purely thermal stresses at the surface of a large bloc of rock in the salt Mine of Varangéville (France). The objective was to determine the type of failure mechanism involved with repeated cooling stages. Since the salt is favourable to the generation of Acoustic Emissions (AE) and the propagation of the stress waves, acoustic monitoring has been chosen as one of the methods to follow the impact of the salt cooling. In addition to thermal and mechanical sensors, an acoustic monitoring device consisting of 16 ultrasonic sensors has been installed on the free surface and in boreholes. It enabled to record and locate a large number of AE (58,426) located with good accuracy (2.5 cm). Those AE can be correlated to the evolution of salt fracturing. Acoustic activity is very intense at the start of each cooling cycle, then it decreases with time to reach a very low level (background) after about 15 days. The average localisation depth reached by the AE is about 90 cm during the first cooling period. For subsequent cooling cycles, this depth is limited to 74 cm. All these results show that the first cooling period is decisive, as it contains the strongest and deepest acoustic emissions. It would have been useful to know whether a first cycle with a lower temperature amplitude could have decreased the maximum amplitude and final depth of the AE. This crescendo approach would be useful for operators.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Experimental Design 21 Experimental Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acoustic monitoring of a thermo-mechanical test simulating withdrawal in a gas storage salt cavern

Balland

Billiotte²,

Tessier³

et al. 2018

International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences

Self Cite

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“…Moreover, a rapid gas pressure drop in the cavern results in cooling, and thus thermal contraction of the rock salt, causing tensile stress (Bérest et al, 2007). Studies on high frequency cycling of salt caverns have indicated that thermally induced tensile fracturing is possible, and thermo‐mechanical modeling can help predict the location, orientation, and timing of the first fractures (Blanco‐Martín et al, 2018). Studies on permeability evolution in rock salt have shown that dynamic mechanical and thermal fatigue may lead to a slight increase in permeability due to microcracking and a reduction in permeability during static fatigue (creep) due to self‐healing (Grgic et al, 2022).…”

Section: Undergrond Gas Storage In Rock Salt Cavernsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mineralogy, microstructures and geomechanics of rock salt for underground gas storage

Vandeginste

Buysschaert

et al. 2023

Deep Underground Science and Engineering

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Rock salt has excellent properties for its use as underground leak‐proof containers for the storage of renewable energy. Salt solution mining has long been used for salt mining, and can now be employed in the construction of underground salt caverns for the storage of hydrogen gas. This paper presents a wide range of methods to study the mineralogy, geochemistry, microstructure and geomechanical characteristics of rock salt, which are important in the engineering of safe underground storage rock salt caverns. The mineralogical composition of rock salt varies and is linked to its depositional environment and diagenetic alterations. The microstructure in rock salt is related to cataclastic deformation, diffusive mass transfer and intracrystalline plastic deformation, which can then be associated with the macrostructural geomechanical behavior. Compared to other types of rock, rock salt exhibits creep at lower temperatures. This behavior can be divided into three phases based on the changes in strain with time. However, at very low effective confining pressure and high deviatoric stress, rock salt can exhibit dilatant behavior, where brittle deformation could compromise the safety of underground gas storage in rock salt caverns. The proposed review presents the impact of purity, geochemistry and water content of rock salt on its geomechanical behavior, and thus, on the safety of the caverns.

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“…Bérest focused on research related to salt caverns for decades, summarizing the heat transfer problem comprehensively and discussing the various aspects of the thermodynamic behavior of gas-and liquid-filled caverns (i.e., with brine bottom liquid) [19]. The thermal effect of salt caverns serving as underground gas storage facilities has been investigated in previous studies [20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. It is possible for microcracks or tensile fractures induced by thermal stress to form in the salt cavern's wall during operation [27][28][29][30][31][32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Thermodynamic Model for Carbon Dioxide Storage in Underground Salt Caverns

Zhang

Chen

2022

Energies

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In the context of green energy and decarbonization, carbon dioxide storage in underground facilities, such as salt caverns, is one promising technical solution that has aroused attention. However, the thermodynamic behavior of CO2 and the geomechanical response of salt cavities have not been studied comprehensively. In this study, we proposed a thermomechanical model that integrated a salt cavity and wellbore and implemented a series of simulations for carbon dioxide storage in a salt cavern. The model was verified by gas capacity calculations using field testing data. The thermodynamic behaviors of CO2 were determined and compared to methane. The results showed that the critical point coordinates of carbon dioxide were within the storage operation conditions, a phase transition could occur, and the thermodynamic properties around the critical point varied dramatically. For a short CO2 withdrawal operation, the salt cavity remained stable, while the near-wellbore area (NWA) was prone to fracture due to tensile stress concentration. Thus, we concluded that the proposed thermomechanical coupling numerical simulation method provided a comprehensive and quantitative tool for the feasibility analysis of CO2 storage in underground salt caverns.

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Experimental and numerical investigation into rapid cooling of rock salt related to high frequency cycling of storage caverns

Abstract: International audienc

Cited by 32 publications

References 18 publications

Acoustic monitoring of a thermo-mechanical test simulating withdrawal in a gas storage salt cavern

Acoustic monitoring of a thermo-mechanical test simulating withdrawal in a gas storage salt cavern

Mineralogy, microstructures and geomechanics of rock salt for underground gas storage

A Thermodynamic Model for Carbon Dioxide Storage in Underground Salt Caverns

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