Research on rock cave energy storage technology

Can salt caverns be used for energy storage?

Storage of green gases (eg. hydrogen) in salt caverns offers a promising large-scale energy storage option for combating intermittent supply of renewable energy, such as wind and solar energy. Caverns are artificially created by a controlled dissolution mining process within the host rock formation 1.

What are the construction stages of salt cavern energy storage?

In this work, built upon design experience and on-site practice in salt cavern gas storage, the four pivotal construction stages – conceptual design, solution mining simulation, tightness assessment, and stability evaluation – have been thoroughly enhanced, strengthening the technical framework for salt cavern energy storage.</p>

Why is China so difficult to build energy storage caverns?

China is rich in salt resources, but most of these resources have the characteristics of bedded structures, thin salt layers, and complicated geological conditions, which make it very difficult to construct energy storage caverns in the these strata.

Can subsurface rock salt caverns store green gases?

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative A promising option for storing large-scale quantities of green gases (e.g., hydrogen) is in subsurface rock salt caverns. The mechanical performance of salt caverns utilized for long-term subsurface energy storage plays a significant role in long-term stability and serviceability.

Do complex shapes and material heterogeneity affect salt caverns used for energy storage?

The higher the depth, the higher is the lithostatic pressure leading to higher creep deformation. In this work, the influence of complex shapes and material heterogeneity in the geological domain on salt caverns employed for energy storage technology is studied using a 2D finite element solver.

How do gas storage salt caverns work?

Taking Jintan Salt Mines and Qianjiang Salt Mines as examples, all gas storage salt caverns are built by single-well-vertical (SWV) technology. Only one well collects the above-ground equipment to the underground target salt strata. In this well, a technical casing is needed to separate the overlying strata from the string system.