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.

Development of a pressure coring system for the investigation of deep underground exploration

To provide a more accurate evaluation of the scale of deep underground resources,a new pressure coring system was carefully developed and its strength and safety of the engineering were verified by theoretical analyses and numerical simulation.The designed pressure coring system can obtain cores with length of 3 m and diameter of 50 mm at 70 MPa.The results of the ball-drop operation experiment demonstrate that differential motion assembly can effectively cut a safety pin by applying a tensile force of 4852 N,and it can lift the core tube through the center pole to complete a series of mechanical actions to seal the pressure.Additionally,by maintaining pressures at 70 MPa for 30 min,the pressure sealing capacity of the system was proven.Furthermore,a core sample with a diameter of 50 mm was obtained through a core drilling experiment and the coring performance of the pressure coring system was verified.This study can not only enrich the existing onshore coring technology but also provide a theoretical guide and design criteria for the development of similar pressure coring systems to meet the demand for deeper underground exploration.

Exploring the combination of biochar‐amended soil and automated irrigation technology for water regulation and preservation in green infrastructure

Biochar is a carbon sink material with the potential to improve water retention in various soils.However,for the long‐term maintenance of green infrastructure,there is an additional need to regulate the water contents in the covers to maintain vegetation growth in semiarid conditions.In this study,biochar‐amended soil was combined with subsurface drip irrigation,and the water preservation characteristics of this treatment were investigated through a series of one‐dimensional soil column tests.To ascertain the best treatment method specific to semiarid climatic conditions,the test soil was amended with 0%,1%,3%,and 5%biochar.Automatic irrigation devices equipped with soil moisture sensors were used to control the subsurface water content with the aim of enhancing vegetation growth.Each soil column test lasted 150 h,during which the volumetric water contents and soil suction data were recorded.The experimental results reveal that the soil specimen amended with 3%biochar is the most water‐saving regardless of the time cost.Soil with a higher biochar content(e.g.,5%)consumes a more significant amount of water due to the enhancement of the water‐holding capacity.Based on the experimental results,it can be concluded that the appropriate ratio can be determined within 1%–3%,which can reduce not only the amount of irrigated/used water but also the time cost.Such technology can be explored for water content regulation in green infrastructure and the development of barriers for protecting the environment around deep underground waste containment.

Health risk assessment of heavy metal pollution in groundwater of a karst basin,SW China

To investigate the presence of metal elements and assess their health risk for the populace in the Nandong Underground River Basin(NURB),we conducted an analysis of eleven common heavy metals in the water body.A Health risk assessment(HRA)model was employed to analyze 84 water samples from the NURB.The detection results revealed the following order of heavy metals concentrations:Fe>Al>Mn>Zn>As>Cd>Pb>Cr>Ni>Cu>Hg.Correlation analysis indicated a certain similarity in material source and migration transformation among these eleven metal elements.Our study identified that the health risks for local residents exposed to metal elements in the water of NURB primarily stem from carcinogenic risk(10^(−6)–10^(−4)a^(−1))through the drinking water pathway.Moreover,the health risk of heavy metal exposure for children through drinking water was notably higher than for adults.The maximum health risks of Cr in both underground and surface water exceeded the recommendation standard(5.0×10^(−5)a^(−1))from ICRP,surpassing the values recommended by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency,the Dutch Ministry of Construction and Environment and the British Royal Society(5.0×10^(−6)a^(−1)).The results of the health risk assessment indicate that Cr in the water of NURB is the primary source of carcinogenic risk for local residents,followed by Cd and As.Consequently,it is imperative to control these three carcinogenic metals when the water was used as drinking water resource.

Apparent permeability variation of underground water aquifer induced by an earthquake:A case of the Zhouzhi well and the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

t Taking the M2 wave as calibration signals, we extract the phase shifts of the water level relative to the Earth tide in the Zhouzhi well by utilizing the cross-correlation function. And we further obtain the apparent permeability variation in the aquifer of the Zhouzhi well in 2008. Comparison with the commonly used tidal analysis software Baytap-G shows that phase shifts obtained by cross-correlation function are more stable. The resulting apparent permeability of the Zhouzhi well aquifer fluctuates with time, indicating it is a dynamically controlled parameter. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake caused the apparent permeability increasing drastically, which is interpreted as the combination effects of effective stress changes and the barriers removing in the flow channel due to seismic wave pressure pulse. After the Wenchuan earthquake, the effective stress began to recover and the impurities deposited gradually, causing the apparent permeability to decrease a month later and almost recover to the pre-earthquake level in six months.

On the spatial characteristic of the short-term and imminent anomalies of underground water behaviors before strong earthquake

Observational results of underground water regime (water level and flow) in some strong earthquakes and moderate earthquakes (in this paper we also call them by 'strong earthquakes')in Chinese mainland are studied and the following conclusions are obtained. For one strong earthquake, the spatial distributions of the anomalies which include medium term anomalies of one year scale, short term anomalies and imminent anomalies, and underground water stations without the anomalies were mainly related to the causative mechanism and active master faults (active abyssal faults or strongly active faults) around the focal region; The spatial distribution of the anomalies coincided with the specific relation among the anomalies, the focal site, the causative mechanism and active master faults. Finally, the mechanism of the relation was briefly discussed, and the importance about the research result in this paper was set forth.

Characteristics of Underground Water Flow at Different Water Levels in Tianshengan Karst Area, Yunnan, China

Three tracing tests from the same injection point executed at low, medium, and high water levels in the karst aquifer near Tianshengan village, Lunan Stone Forest, Yunnan Province, China, have revealed the basic properties of underground water flow. They showed the general directions of water flows; tracer concentrations were observed at six successive points allowing for the calculation of apparent dominant flow velocities at these sections towards the Dalongtan karst spring. For the high water level, the discharge between single sections was between two and 10 times greater than that at low water level. For the medium water level, the flow velocity at different sections was between 1.4 and 3.7 times faster than that at low water level; and for high water level, it was between 1.3 and 2.7 times faster than that at medium water level. The fastest water flow appeared at the first section （23 cm/s at medium water level）; and the slowest （0.6 cm/s at low water level） appeared where water flow must cross the Tianshengan fault （north-south direction）, and later, a layer of 20-30 m thickness of quartz sandstone and shale clay-stones. It was also possible to calculate the recovery of the tracer for point 4, Dakenyan, where discharge was measured. At the medium water level, 50% of the injected tracer was detected a half-day after its first appearance and at low water level after more than 3 days. The previously published research illustrates the transport velocities of possible contaminants and their solubilities in water at different hydrological conditions.

Influence of underground water seepage flow on surrounding rock deformation of multi-arch tunnel

Based on a typical multi-arch tunnel in a freeway, the fast Lagrangian analysis of continua in 3 dimensions(FLAC3D) was used to calculate the surrounding rock deformation of the tunnel under which the effect of underground water seepage flow was taken into account or not. The distribution of displacement field around the multi-arch tunnel, which is influenced by the seepage field, was gained. The result indicates that the settlement values of the vault derived from coupling analysis are bigger when considering the seepage flow effect than that not considering. Through the contrast of arch subsidence quantities calculated by two kinds of computation situations, and the comparison between the calculated and measured value of tunnel vault settlement, it is found that the calculated value(5.7-6.0 mm) derived from considering the seepage effect is more close to the measured value(5.8-6.8 mm). Therefore, it is quite necessary to consider the seepage flow effect of the underground water in aquiferous stratum for multi-arch tunnel design.

Water Resource Development in the Quaternary Ryukyu Limestone Regions of Japan:Application of the GIS to the Site Selection of Underground Dams

Based on the natural and social conditions as well as hydrogeological characteristics of the Ryukyu limestone, a major aquifer in the Ryukyu Islands, a conception of underground dam, was proposed in the early 1970s in order to develop ground water resources in the Quaternary Ryukyu limestone regions of Japan. The practice of nearly thirty years has shown that the underground dam is an environment-friendly and effective way for developing ground water in these regions.

Grey associated analysis of the underground water quality effected by the leaching water of dumping area or hillock of coal mine

The underground water has been contaminated seriously by the leaching water of dumping area or hillock. To determine the pollution limits of underground water, author took samples in the study area, analyzed samples for water quality, assessed the water quality of each monitoring point by the grey associated analysis method, and gave out the classifications of the underground water quality of the study area. Comparing with fuzzy comprehensive appraisal method, it is demonstrated that grey associated analysis method is applied easily, because of its clear concept, simple and convenient calculation and excellently operation.

Exploring effective policies for underground water management in artificial oasis: a system dynamics analysis of a case study of Yaoba Oasis

The development of oasis along the edge of the Tengerli Desert, where underground water is available, is one of the major strategies to reallocate 'ecological refuges' from their seriously degraded grasslands to agriculturally cultivable land. Yet, underground water resources, the major constraint, hate not been fully integrated in the development process. Therefore, the decline of water resources and deterioration of water quality caused by over-consumption of water resources has begun to hinder further development and has even fed to the abandonment of some oasis. A system dynamics modeling approach is applied to analyze the water use and water management structures in Yaoba Oasis as a case study. The study attempts to identify the characteristics of major feedback loops, which dominate the over-use of underground water resources leading to the deterioration of water resources in quantity and quality.

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.

Discussion on applying an analytical method to optimize the anti-freeze design parameters for underground water pipelines in seasonally frozen areas

Adopting the quasi-three-dimensional （Quasi-3D） numerical method to optimize the anti-freeze design parameters of an underground pipeline usually involves heavy numerical calculations. Here, the fitting formulae between the safe con-veyance distance （SCD） of a water pipeline and six influencing factors are established based on the lowest water temper-ature （LWT） along the pipeline axis direction. With reference to the current widely used anti-freeze design approaches for underground pipelines in seasonally frozen areas, this paper first analyzes the feasibility of applying the maximum frozen penetration （MFP） instead of the mean annual ground surface temperature （MAGST） and soil water content （SWC） to calculate the SCD. The results show that the SCD depends on the buried depth if the MFP is fixed and the variation of the MAGST and SWC combination does not significantly change the SCD. A comprehensive formula for the SCD is estab-lished based on the relationships between the SCD and several primary influencing factors and the interaction among them. This formula involves five easy-to-access parameters： the MFP, buried depth, pipeline diameter, flow velocity, and inlet water temperature. A comparison between the analytical method and the numerical results based on the Quasi-3D method indicates that the two methods are in good agreement overall. The analytic method can be used to optimize the anti-freeze design parameters of underground water pipelines in seasonally frozen areas under the condition of a 1.5 safety coefficient.

Produced Water from Oil and Gas Exploration—Problems, Solutions and Opportunities

Large volumes of water are generated in gas- and oil-production. This includes the water that is present originally in the reservoirs, but also water that is injected into the wells. While currently much of the produced water is either reinjected or disposed of after treatment, treated produced water is increasingly seen as an interesting resource, especially in water-scarce regions. This review looks at different PW treatment methods available, with an emphasis on the management of PW in oil- and gas production on the Arabian Peninsula.

A simulating experiment on the geochemical variation trend at the initial period of meteoric waters converting to underground waters and ore fluids

Experimental studies were undertaken on leaching of sedimentary rocks (dolomite and sandstone) and Hg, Sb ores by distilled water under the condition of a completely open system (room temperature and room pressure). The aim is to find whether the halogen elements or metal elements first enter the solution at the early stage of meteoric waters converting to groundwaters and ore fluids, and, at the same time, to understand how and when they enter distilled water solutions from the rocks. The experimental results have shown that F and Cl began to enter the fluids in the initial period of thirty days. With increasing leaching duration, the amounts of the elements that entered the fluids increased steadily. During the period from 120 days to 150 days the amounts increased more drastically, followed a slow increase. It is found that the capability of Cl entering the solutions is much greater than that of F. Hg and Sb were found not to have entered the solutions till 120 days later. During this period of time the pH value of the solutions began to drop. As for Hg and Sb ores, Hg and Sb began to enter the solutions on the 60th or 90th day, greatly ahead of schedule, but the two metallic elements in the rock samples began to enter the solutions 150 days later. Relatively speaking, Hg is more easily leached out than Sb from the rocks. In some rock samples, Sb could be detected in the solutions at the end of the experiment. However, Cu, Pb and Zn had not been detected in the leaching solutions from the beginning to the end of the experiment. In the whole leaching process the pH value of the solutions tend to decrease slowly from {7.1} at the beginning to {6.5} at the end. That is to say, in the interaction between pure water and rock the halogen elements in the rocks were preferentially leached out and then entered the fluids. With increasing water/rock reaction duration and amount of halogen-group elements in the solution and with decreasing pH value of the solution, some active metallic elements began to release in small amounts. This experimental result can explain the source and mechanism of volatile components and trace metals in underground waters. Meanwhile, as for those ore deposits produced by ore fluids derived from meteoric waters, the experimental result is also helpful to the understanding of the geochemical variation trend at the initial stage of conversion of meteoric waters to ore fluids.

Estimation of Natural-Technogeneous Pollution of Underground Waters in Horezm Region of Uzbekistan

Nowadays,the resources of underground water present itself as a valuable mineral and are to be the most important and in many regions one and only source of economic-drinking water-supply.For the past years,in connection with fast development of industry and agriculture,there occurred the tendency of increasing necessity in usage of underground water resources for production-technical needs,irrigation of

Underground water stress release models

The accumulation of tectonic stress may cause earthquakes at some epochs. However, in most cases, it leads to crustal deformations. Underground water level is a sensitive indication of the crustal deformations. We incorporate the information of the underground water level into the stress release models （SRM）, and obtain the underground water stress release model （USRM）. We apply USRM to the earthquakes occurred at Tangshan region. The analysis shows that the underground water stress release model outperforms both Poisson model and stress release model. Monte Carlo simulation shows that the simulated seismicity by USRM is very close to the real seismicity.

Study on the effect of underground hot water on fracturing and earthquake activities

Utilizing the geological exploring information of Houhaoyao area and digital seismic network's data of Huailai area, the author studied the role of underground fluids (hot water) in the fracturing activities and in the processes of seismogeny. The results show that the shear stress between two blocks of the fault is decreased rapidly and the vertical fault throw is obviously increased at the fracture segments where there is underground hot water action. With the vertical fault throw increasing, the shear stress transfers to two ends of the fault at the place where there is no underground hot water action, and the earthquake probably develops at these two ends of the fault.

The Interpretation of Underground Water Physical Parameters of Housing in the Region of Asahan Indah Palm Oil Factory Area Rokan Hulu District

The research has been conducted to analyze the distribution of underground water physical parameters of the housing around Asahan Indah palm oil factory area Rokan Hulu District with radial method within ±300 meters radius from the factory location. The levels of underground water physical parameters include conductivity, resistivity, and salinity measured based on coordinate points amounted of 50 points. The data obtained from the measurement results were then inputted into “surfer 11” software to be processed in order to obtain the contour map of underground water physical parameters level. The results of this research indicated that the highest conductivity level came from the ring well type with 5 meter depth;it was 0.0964 (1/ohm·m) exceeded the standard threshold of underground water quality standard and the lowest conductivity was 0.00342 (1/ohm·m) which came from a ring well type with 10 meter depth. The lowest resistivity level was 10.37 ohm·m which came from the ring well type with 5 meter depth and the highest was 292.4 ohm·m which came from the ring well with 10 meter depth. The highest salinity level was 448 mg/l which exceeded the baseline threshold of underground water quality which came from the ring well type with 5 meter depth and the lowest was 175 mg/l from the ring well with 10 meter depth. The results of this research found that underground water in wells with 5 meters depth has been polluted with palm oil waste and at the depth of 10 meters, it has not been contaminated.

Research on sustainable exploration of the geothermal water in Xiaoquan area

On the basis of discussion about hydro-geologic condition of geothermal water in Xiaoquan area, Chongqing, a three-dimensional mathematical model was established. The Modflow(a modular three-dimensional finite-difference groundwater model) software was adopted to simulate the geothermal water, and quantificational study on sustainable exploration of the geothermal water in Xiaoquan area was carried out. Firstly, a mathe- matical model was set up. Then, the geothermal water was simulated by Modflow software, and the mathematical model was identified. The simulative water level was compared with the actual water level and the mathematical model was calibrated. The feasibility of appli- cation of this mathematical model to studying underground geothermal water was proved that the simulative water level is approximated to actual one, and a right mathematical model was obtained. This mathematical model was used to simulate geothermal water under different exploitation conditions, at last the yields of sustainable exploitation includ- ing the maximum yield and the optimal yield were determined.