A Review of Enhanced Methods for Oil Recovery from Sediment Void Oil Storage in Underground Salt Caverns

Xinxing Wei, Xilin Shi (), Yinping Li, Peng Li, Mingnan Xu, Yashuai Huang and Yang Hong
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Xinxing Wei: State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Safety, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Xilin Shi: State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Safety, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Yinping Li: State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Safety, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Peng Li: State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Safety, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Mingnan Xu: State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Safety, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Yashuai Huang: State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Safety, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Yang Hong: State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Safety, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 2, 1-25

Abstract: Salt caverns are recognized as an excellent medium for energy storage. However, due to the unique characteristics of China’s bedded salt formations, which contain numerous salt layers and a high concentration of insoluble impurities, significant accumulation at the bottom of salt caverns occurs, leading to the formation of extensive sediment voids. These sediment voids offer a potential space for underground oil storage, referred to as sediment void oil storage (SVOS). Oil recovery process from these sediment voids is a critical process. This paper summarizes the oil recovery technologies for SVOS and identifies four key factors—geological evaluation, stability evaluation, tightness evaluation, and oil storage capacity—all of which influence enhance oil recovery from sediment voids. This paper also outlines the overall oil recovery process, presents oil recovery experiments, and discusses oil recovery methods for enhancing oil recovery from sediment void. Additionally, it addresses the challenges of oil recovery in SVOS and explores its potential advantages and applications. The findings suggest that salt cavern sediment voids, as a promising storage space, provide a new approach to realize oil recovery and can overcome the limitations associated with cavern construction in high-impurity salt mines. The oil recovery from the sediment void is feasible, and China has rich rock salt and other convenient conditions to develop SVOS technology.

Keywords: underground energy storage; salt cavern; sediment void oil storage; insoluble sediment particles; oil recovery process (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: 2025
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