Safety of Salt Caverns Used for Underground Storage Blow Out; Mechanical Instability; Seepage; Cavern Abandonment
Year: 2003
Type: article
Abstract: Thousands of salt caverns (100 in France alone) are being used to store hydrocarbons. This is the safest way to store large quantities of hydrocarbons: salt formations are almost perfectly impermeable, and fire or explosion is impossible underground. However, a small number of accidents (blow-out, product seepage, cavern instability) have occurred in the past. Cavern abandonment is also a concern in some cases. This paper describes several accidents and the lessons that have been drawn from them, leading to considerable improvements in storage design and operation.
DOI: 10.2516/ogst:2003023
Authors: P. Bérest, B. Brouard
Institution: École Polytechnique
Language: English
Topic: Rock Mechanics and Modeling
Subfield: Mechanics of Materials
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2130428331