<p style="text-align: justify">Salt carven gas storage is an important strategic method to shave the fluctuation of supply-demand of natural gas in China. However, there remains lots of insoluble sediments accounting for 1/3 up to 2/3 of the storage capacity at the bottom of cavity due to low grades in salt beds. The use of chemical agent with the function of swelled-clay-shrinking is an effective method for enlarging effective cavity volume. Clay swelling and physical deposits experiments were conducted to select the suitable chemical agent and study the relation between salt rock and agent. A device simulating the leaching process of insoluble sediments was developed to evaluate different factors on deposits and XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) was used to analyze mineral compositions of various salt cavern gas storages. SEM scanning electron microscope and Zeta potential measurements as assisted means to investigate the surface morphology of salt powder contacted with swelled-clay-shrinking agent. The result showed that these hydrated cuttings carry a negative charge leading to the electrostatic repulsion between each other, which promotes the loose accumulations of these physical deposits. Therefore, the main controlling factor for the volume swelling of the bottom insoluble sediments in the salt cavity is the electrostatic repulsion. The relation between rock composition and agent is clarified and the selected chemical agent has a certain adaptation in salt cavern gas storages through the tests above. In addition, the result provides an experimental basis for reducing the volume of the salt carven sediments to store more natural gas.</p>

Optimization and Evaluation of Chemical Shrinking Agent for Deposits in Salt Cavern Gas Storage

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/OMAE/OMAE2021/volume/85116

OMAE 2021

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