Development of a modeling tool to assess seepage management options for large-scale water-sealed oil storage caverns

The key to preventing the seepage of hydrocarbons from underground water-sealed oil storage facilities is to maintain a certain thickness of groundwater on the top of the caverns so that the groundwater pressure can maintain their tightness. However, the presence of fractures in the rockmass that su...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental earth sciences 2021-09, Vol.80 (18), Article 652
Main Authors: Tang, Dong, Yin, Tianzuo, Xiao, Zhezhen, Jiang, Zhongming, Li, Yi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biogeosciences
Caverns
Construction
Dimensional analysis
Discrete element method
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth science
Earth Sciences
Environmental Science and Engineering
Fractures
Geochemistry
Geology
Groundwater
Grouting
Hydrocarbons
Hydrology/Water Resources
Modelling
Oil
Original Article
Permeability
Porosity
Seepage
Seepage control
Storage facilities
Terrestrial Pollution
Three dimensional models
Tightness
Two dimensional models
Underground caverns
Underground construction
Underground storage
Weights & measures
Working conditions
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Summary:The key to preventing the seepage of hydrocarbons from underground water-sealed oil storage facilities is to maintain a certain thickness of groundwater on the top of the caverns so that the groundwater pressure can maintain their tightness. However, the presence of fractures in the rockmass that surrounds the caverns complicates the calculation of the seepage field in the oil storage area. Conventional two-dimensional or equivalent three-dimensional seepage models cannot accurately reflect the impact of the fractures on the seepage field. Therefore, in this study, a dual-porosity medium modeling approach was used to develop an unsteady-state seepage model using the three-dimensional discrete element software 3DEC. The model was developed to assess the effect of grouting on the rock mass that surrounds oil storage caverns that took into account the possible presence of non-persistent fractures. Thus, the simulation of the three-dimensional seepage field of large-scale water-sealed oil storage caverns was realized. The three-dimensional seepage field evolution law and seepage control effect under different working conditions during the construction and storage phases were studied. The results can provide a particular reference for the construction and operation of large-scale underground water-sealed oil storage caverns.
ISSN:1866-6280
1866-6299
DOI:10.1007/s12665-021-09930-x