A Method to Increase the Leaching Progress of Salt Caverns with the Use of the Hydro-Jet Technique

Mariusz Chromik and Waldemar Korzeniowski
Additional contact information
Mariusz Chromik: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Resource Management, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Waldemar Korzeniowski: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Resource Management, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Kraków, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-42

Abstract: For the storage of hydrocarbons, hydrogen, or other products, underground caverns left over from the exploitation of salt deposits, or made specifically for this purpose, are successfully used. This article analyses the effectiveness of currently used well-leaching technologies in terms of the possibility of increasing the speed of obtaining industrial brine, better control of the shape of the created cavern, and, as a result, a shorter production time. An innovative solution was proposed, which consisted of creating appropriate niches in the walls of the leach well using the high-pressure hydrojet technique, just before the start of the sump leaching. A series of numerical simulations of the technologies were performed for various combinations of niche locations along the well, determining the successive phases of the formation of the cavern space at individual stages and the brine concentration increments for the two assumed technology scenarios. As a result of the modified technology, the possibility of creating a sump with a volume greater than 17%, compared to the classical method carried out at the same time, was indicated. The resulting sump also had a better shape to partially eliminate the reduction in leaching efficiency due to the accumulation of insoluble matter at the bottom. In addition, the brine obtained according to the modified technology had a 15% higher concentration than in the classical method.

Keywords: hydrogen and fuel; storage facilities; salt caverns; leaching; water jet (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/18/5833/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/18/5833/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:18:p:5833-:d:635984

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().