Key issues in water sealing performance of underground oil storage caverns: Advances and perspectives

Water sealing performance is important for underground water-sealed oil storage(UWSOS).The key issues concerning water sealing performance mainly include the permeability of fractured rock mass(FRM),water-sealed safety(WSS),water curtain performance,and prediction and control of water inflow.This paper reviews the progress of above four key issues on water sealing performances.First,the permeability of an FRM is the basis of water sealing performance,and several commonly used permeability test methods and spatial variation characteristics of permeability are outlined.Second,the current water sealing criteria are compared,and the evaluation methods of WSS are summarized.Third,the design parameters and efficiency evaluation of water curtain systems(WCSs)are introduced.The water inflow of oil storage caverns(OSCs)can reflect the water sealing effect,and the prediction methods and control measures of water inflow are also summarized.Finally,the advantages and disadvantages of the current research are discussed,and the potential research directions are pointed out,such as optimization of water sealing criteria and FRM model,quantitative evaluation of WCS efficiency,accurate prediction of water inflow,and improvement of grouting technology.

A study of water curtain parameters of underground oil storage caverns using time series monitoring and numerical simulation

Water curtain systems(WCSs)are key components for the operation of underground oil storage caverns(UOSCs)and their optimization and design are important areas of research.Based on the time series monitoring of the first large-scale underground water-sealed storage cavern project in China,and on finite element analysis,this study explores the optimum design criteria for WCSs in water-sealed oil caverns.It shows that the optimal hole spacing of the WCS for this underground storage cavern is 10 m in order to ensure seal effectiveness.When the WCS is designed with a 10-m horizontal hole spacing and a water curtain pressure(WCP)of 80 kPa,a water curtain hole(WCH)has an influence radius of approximately 25 m.The smaller the vertical distance is between a WCH and the main cavern,the greater the water inflow into the main cavern.The vertical hydraulic gradient criterion can be satisfied when this distance is 25 m.It shows that the optimal WCP is 70 kPa,which meets sealing requirements.

Design and operation problems related to water curtain system forunderground water-sealed oil storage caverns

The underground water-sealed storage technique is critically important and generally accepted for the national energy strategy in China. Although several small underground water-sealed oil storage caverns have been built in China since the 1970s, there is still a lack of experience for large-volume underground storage in complicated geological conditions. The current design concept of water curtain system and the technical instruction for system operation have limitations in maintaining the stability of surrounding rock mass during the construction of the main storage caverns, as well as the long-term stability. Although several large-scale underground oil storage projects are under construction at present in China, the design concepts and construction methods, especially for the water curtain system, are mainly based on the ideal porosity medium flow theory and the experiences gained from the similar projects overseas. The storage projects currently constructed in China have the specific features such as huge scale, large depth, multiple-level arrangement, high seepage pressure, complicated geological conditions, and high in situ stresses, which are the challenging issues for the stability of the storage caverns. Based on years’ experiences obtained from the first large-scale （millions of cubic meters） underground water-sealed oil storage project in China, some design and operation problems related to water curtain system during project construction are discussed. The drawbacks and merits of the water curtain system are also presented. As an example, the conventional concept of “filling joints with water” is widely used in many cases, as a basic concept for the design of the water curtain system, but it is immature. In this paper, the advantages and disadvantages of the conventional concept are pointed out, with respect to the long-term stability as well as the safety of construction of storage caverns. Finally, new concepts and principles for design and construction of the underground water-sealed oil storage caverns are proposed.