Study of injection and production cycle scheme of horizontal salt cavern when used for hydrogen energy storage

Tongtao Wang, Zhekang Ding, Kai Xie, Wenquan Wang, Tao He, Dongzhou Xie, Youqiang Liao, Zhongxin Ren and Kuoyuan Zhu

Renewable Energy, 2025, vol. 248, issue C

Abstract: China actively promotes the hydrogen energy industry. Salt cavern underground hydrogen storage (UHS) is likely a crucial future path in China's hydrogen energy storage. During gas injection and production, the horizontal salt cavern UHS has a "constant low-pressure" operation period, whose duration affects the UHS stability. A reasonable gas injection and production operation scheme can significantly enhance the stability of horizontal salt cavern UHS. This study addresses the critical stability challenges of horizontal salt caverns for hydrogen storage by integrating uniaxial cyclic creep experiments with a modified Burgers model to establish operational limits for low-pressure phases. Results demonstrate that prolonged low-pressure durations >2 months induce a 29 % strain increase and plastic zone expansion exceeding 60 %, risking cavern instability. The proposed guidelines, validated via FLAC3D simulations, provide actionable thresholds for volume shrinkage (<10 %) and displacement (<5 % of diameter), advancing practical frameworks for salt cavern UHS optimization.

Keywords: Hydrogen energy; Underground hydrogen storage; Horizontal salt cavern; Scheme optimization; Stability evaluation; Numerical simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:248:y:2025:i:c:s096014812500744x

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.123082

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