Salt Mechanics Primer for Near-Salt and Sub-Salt Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Field Developments

Fossum, A.F.; Fredrich, Joanne T.

doi:10.2172/801384

Cited by 52 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…One important thing is that, due to the limited time length in laboratory experiments and strong dependence of grain size and loss of water content, solution-precipitation creep is not often observed in experimental results. The power law related to dislocation creep is considered as engineering creep (Cristescu and Hunsche 1988;Hunsche and Hampel 1999;Fossum and Fredrich 2002). Some experiments with synthetic samples, for instance, fine grained wet halite also show that solution-precipitation creep controls salt rheology (Urai et al 1986;Spiers et al 1990;Spiers and Brzesowsky 1993; 2002, 2004).…”

Section: The Analysis Of the Database Of Laboratory Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The creep controlled by dislocation mechanisms is widely investigated in laboratory experiments (Carter and Hansen 1983;Carter et al 1993;Rutter 1983;Urai et al 1986;Wawersik and Zeuch 1986;Heard and Ryerson 1986;Senseny et al 1992;van Keken et al 1993;Franssen 1994;Peach and Spiers 1996;Weidinger et al 1997;De Meer et al 2002;Hampel et al 1998;Brouard and Bérest 1998;Bérest et al 2005;Ter Heege et al 2005a, b). The creep equations mainly used in the salt mining industry are based on dislocation creep processes quantified in laboratory experiments (Ottosen 1986;Haupt and Schweiger 1989;Aubertin et al 1991;Cristescu 1993;Munson 1979Munson , 1997Jin and Cristescu 1998;Hampel et al 1998;Hampel and Schulze 2007;Hunsche and Hampel 1999;Peach et al 2001;Fossum and Fredrich 2002). The steady-state strain rate is related to the flow stress r using a power law creep (non-Newtonian) equation:…”

Section: Deformation Mechanisms Of Rock Saltmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rheology of rock salt for salt tectonics modeling

Urai

2016

Pet. Sci.

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Numerical modeling of salt tectonics is a rapidly evolving field; however, the constitutive equations to model long-term rock salt rheology in nature still remain controversial. Firstly, we built a database about the strain rate versus the differential stress through collecting the data from salt creep experiments at a range of temperatures (20-200°C) in laboratories. The aim is to collect data about salt deformation in nature, and the flow properties can be extracted from the data in laboratory experiments. Moreover, as an important preparation for salt tectonics modeling, a numerical model based on creep experiments of rock salt was developed in order to verify the specific model using the Abaqus package. Finally, under the condition of low differential stresses, the deformation mechanism would be extrapolated and discussed according to microstructure research. Since the studies of salt deformation in nature are the reliable extrapolation of laboratory data, we simplified the rock salt rheology to dislocation creep corresponding to power law creep (n = 5) with the appropriate material parameters in the salt tectonic modeling.

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Section: The Analysis Of the Database Of Laboratory Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Deformation Mechanisms Of Rock Saltmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rheology of rock salt for salt tectonics modeling

Urai

2016

Pet. Sci.

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“…However, salt inelastic deformation, creep properties, and damage behaviors can vary dramatically between sites (Fossum and Fredrich 2002). In-situ stresses, moisture content, fabric anisotropy (crystal imbrications or elongation, and temperature) influence the mechanical behavior of salt.…”

Section: Constitutive Models For Salt and Other Rocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gas Storage and Operations in Single-Bedded Salt Caverns: Stability Analyses

Han

Bruno

Lao

et al. 2007

SPE Production &Amp; Operations

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Bedded salt formations are located throughout the U.S., providing valuable storage capacity for natural gas and other hydrocarbons. To increase gas-storage capabilities and provide operators with improved geotechnical design and operating guidelines for these caverns, stability analyses of single-bedded salt caverns have been completed and are described in this paper. This work is a part of integrated efforts initiated and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Gas Technology Institute (GTI), and Pipeline Research Council International, Inc.Numerical geomechanical models have been developed to investigate single-cavern deformation and bedding-plane slip for a variety of cavern configurations. A viscoplastic salt model has been developed based on an empirical creep law developed for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Program and combined with a Drucker-Prager model for damage and failure. The nonsalt materials are described with either a traditional Mohr-Coulomb model, or an elastic model, depending on layer properties.A baseline model with specified geometric dimensions is first selected and subjected to 1-year cyclic pressure operations. The amount of damage around the cavern wall and roof is evaluated and used as a comparison in the study. Then, the operations are extended to 15 years to study cavern stability for long-term gas storage and operations. In addition to the baseline model, parametric studies have been performed to investigate cavern damage as a function of salt roof thickness, overburden stiffness, interface properties, and cavern geometries. Each cavern simulation includes 1 year of pressure cycling with a minimum, mean, and maximum cavern pressure of 6.1 MPa (884.5 psi), 8.8 MPa (1,276 psi) and 14.9 MPa (2,160.5 psi), respectively. Different operation conditions (e.g., hydrostatic, cyclic, and direct-pressure drawdown) are compared and evaluated in terms of cavern stability.These analyses can be a basis to selecting the best salt cavern candidate for gas storage and operations as well as helping to assess critical cavern design parameters for thin-bedded salt formations. and minimum cavern pressure, and direct or cyclic pressure drawdown).

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“…First we compare the relation between strain rate and differential stress in a FEM simulation of the uniaxial compression of a cylindrical salt body with varying rheological parameters to the stress-strain relations measured experimentally for such a setup by Urai and Spiers (2007) [10]. In order to explore the rheology of rocksalt, summaries of behaviour observed in experiments have been published by, for example, Urai et al (1986) [11], Cristescu & Hunche (1998) [12], Hunsche & Hampel (1999) [13], Fossum & Fredrich (2002) [14]. Ter Heege et al (2005a;2005b) [15,16] indicated that geological strain rate salt is in the transition regime where both dislocation creep and solution-precipitation creep mechanisms operate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Method Validation of FEM Simulation of the Sinking of Carbonate Inclusion in Salt

Li¹

2016

dteees

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Abstract.A large number of salt bodies do contain layers of carbonate material, often called 'stringers'. The movement and deformation of those embedded carbonate bodies is a process which is not fully understood yet. In particular, given the density contrast between the salt and the denser carbonates, the stringers tend to sink towards the bottom of the salt bodies at a velocity which is highly dependent on the mechanical properties of both the salt and the carbonates. We have chosen to employ Finite Element Modeling (FEM), using the FEM package ABAQUS (SIMULIA, Dassault Systems), for the numerical simulation of the sinking of carbonate stringers embedded in the salt. In order to confirm the validity of the chosen numerical approach we show the results of three sets of numerical simulations performed to compare the flow behavior of salt in our FE model to both theoretical and experimental results. This is an efficient preparation for the FEM simulation of the sinking of a carbonate stringer embedded in the salt.

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Salt Mechanics Primer for Near-Salt and Sub-Salt Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Field Developments

Cited by 52 publications

References 25 publications

Rheology of rock salt for salt tectonics modeling

Rheology of rock salt for salt tectonics modeling

Gas Storage and Operations in Single-Bedded Salt Caverns: Stability Analyses

Method Validation of FEM Simulation of the Sinking of Carbonate Inclusion in Salt

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