Underground Hydrocarbon Storage

The Demand for Oil and Natural Gas

The demand for oil and natural gas (hydrocarbons) is increasing, and their supply cannot be guaranteed to be steady or dependable. Many of these materials are sourced from countries with a history of civil unrest. This necessitates the need to counteract any short-term or long-term fluctuations in oil supplies triggered by political uncertainty. The steps that can be placed in order to counteract the supply shortfall of these hydrocarbons include, but are not limited to, stockpiles that can be used as an emergency in the event of a disruption of the supply of hydrocarbons. Sweden constructed the first underground storage facility between 1947 and 1950. A better part of the entire world started the process of underground storage of hydrocarbons from the 1970s, an example being the United States, Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia where oil reserves were built and filled with oil and gas (Norwegian Tunnelling Society). The underground rock caverns are only one example of the many ways used in underground storage, and that will be covered in this document.

Advantages of Underground Storage

As described in the introduction part, the uncertainty of political stability of the countries supplying oil and gas has led to these inventions. The storage locations are selected, locations where the distribution of the materials will be efficient. Underground storage has some advantages including being environmentally friendly, which is the main concern when dealing with hydrocarbons. The types of concepts used in underground storage of hydrocarbons include; unlined salt caverns, depleted hydrocarbons (oil and gas) reservoirs, unlined and lined rock caverns (Rath, Nanda and Malkani).

Types of Storage

Salt Caverns as Storage Facilities

Solution Mining is a process that I used to create the salt caverns. In this process, drilling is done into a formation of salt and water (fresh water) is pumped in, the solution of water and salt is pumped out. Salt caverns are regarded as one of the environmental safe options of storing hydrocarbons since the salt does not react with the oil and gas.

Depleted Hydrocarbons Reservoirs as Storage Facilities

Depleted reservoirs can be used as reserves for storage of hydrocarbons which can be pumped into the reservoirs. These are used as storage facilities because of the impermeable properties they possess. This is the most used form of storage as the depleted oil reservoirs are found where the oil well existed before (Rath, Nanda and Malkani).

Unlined Rock Caverns as Storage Facilities

Unlined rock caverns can also be used as storage facilities for hydrocarbons. This is mostly established in locations where the groundwater and rock formations provide suitable conditions from which caverns can be constructed and used is storage of hydrocarbons (Rath, Nanda and Malkani). Pressure is mostly of the essence here, and the caverns are usually located in positions where the liquid/vapor pressure of the stored products is less than the hydrostatic pressure hence the pressure can be maintained.

Lined Rock Caverns as Storage Facilities

This form of storage provides storage solutions that can be used for any product. It has a lot of advantages, ranging from environmental, a wide range of products that can be stored and it is also safe the main disadvantage is that it is so expensive. It also maintains the quality of the product since it protects the products being stores from interacting with the underground surfaces. The lining used on the walls of the storage facilities are majorly comprising of reinforced cement concrete and alloys of steel. These types of storage are most advantageous for storing natural gas and products whose liquefaction does not depend on pressure only (Norwegian Tunnelling Society).

Conclusion

The means provided here give ways to store hydrocarbons in case of emergencies and also for future use. Underground storing of hydrocarbons is considered as advantageous due to the following reasons; the surface land required is small, the feared danger of fire is minimized, and it is also environmentally safe because there is no interaction of products such as oil with groundwater.

Works Cited

Norwegian Tunnelling Society. Underground Construction For The Norwegian Oil And Gas. Oslo, 2007.

Rath, Dr. R., et al. “Underground Rock Caverns For Storage Of Hydrocarbons.” TUNNELS & UNDERGROUND STRUCTURES (2008): 1-5.