Underground gas storage

A gas storage facility is a geological structure or artificial reservoir used to store gas. The storage operation is characterized by two main parameters - volumetric and power. The first characterizes the storage capacity - the active and buffer volumes of gas; the second indicator characterizes the daily productivity during the selection and injection of gas, the duration of the storage period at maximum capacity.

Under the operating mode, underground gas storage facilities are divided into basic and peak .

The basic UGS facility is designed for cyclic operation in the basic technological mode, which is characterized by relatively small deviations (increase or decrease in the range from 10 to 15%) of the daily UGS facility during gas extraction and injection from monthly average production values. Peak UGS facilities are designed for cyclic operation in the peak technological mode, which is characterized by significant increases (peaks) of more than 10-15% of the daily UGS capacity for several days when gas is taken and injected relative to the average monthly productivity.

According to their purpose, underground storage facilities are divided into basic , regional and local .

The base UGS facility is characterized by an active gas volume of up to several tens of billions cubic meters and a capacity of up to several hundred million cubic meters per day, has regional significance and affects the gas transmission system and gas producers. A regional UGS facility is characterized by an active gas volume of up to several billion cubic meters and a capacity of up to several tens of millions cubic meters per day, has regional significance and affects consumer groups and sections of the gas transmission system (gas production enterprises, if any). A local underground gas storage facility is characterized by an active gas volume of up to several hundred million cubic meters and a capacity of up to several million cubic meters per day, has local significance and an area of ​​influence limited to individual consumers. According to the type, ground and underground gas storages are distinguished. Terrestrial tanks include gas holders (for storing natural gas in gaseous form) and isothermal reservoirs (for storing liquefied natural gas), while underground ones include gas storages in porous structures, in salt caverns and mine workings.

Underground gas storages in depleted fields

The world's first pilot gas injection into a depleted gas field was carried out in Canada in 1915 (Welland County field), the first industrial underground gas storage facility with a capacity of 62 million m³ was created in the USA in 1916 (Zohar gas field, district of Buffalo) .

In Russia, the first UGS facility in a depleted field was created in 1958 on the basis of small gas deposits developed in the fields of the Kuibyshev (now Samara) region. The successful injection and subsequent gas extraction contributed to the strengthening of work in the field of underground gas storage throughout the country. In the same year, gas injection began in Yelshanskoye (Saratov Oblast) and Amanakskoye (Kuibyshev Oblast) depleted gas fields.

In 1979, the creation of the world's largest storage facility in a depleted gas field, the North Stavropol (Stavropol Territory), began. The UGS mining allotment area is over 680 km². It was created on the basis of depleted gas deposits of the same name in the green suite (1979) and the Khadum horizon (1984) at abnormally low reservoir pressures. These horizons are independent operational facilities located at depths of 1000 and 800 m, and significantly differ in their characteristics and operating modes. During the construction of the North-Stavropol UGSF in the Khadum horizon, a long-term reserve was created, which can be taken from the storage facility after a sampling period, even if additional gas was not injected.

Underground gas storage in aquifers

The first UGSF in an aquifer was created in 1946 in the USA - Doe Run Upper UGS (Kentucky). In the USSR, the first gas storage in the aquifer was created in 1955 in the Kaluga region - Kaluga UGS facility (projected volume of active gas is 480 million m³). The world's largest storage in the aquifer - the Kasimovskoye UGS facility (Ryazan region) - was created in 1977 (the projected volume of active gas is 4.5 billion m³).

Underground gas storage in salt caverns

Underground storages in salt caverns are mainly used to cover peak loads, since they can be operated in a “jerky” mode with a sampling capacity that is an order of magnitude higher than the sampling capacity from underground storage facilities in porous structures, and the number of cycles can reach up to 20 per year. For these reasons, the creation of underground storage facilities in rock salt is given great attention in developed countries. This is also related to the market conditions for the functioning of the gas supply system, since underground storage facilities in rock salt can serve to compensate for short-term fluctuations in gas consumption, to prevent fines for imbalances in gas supplies due to accidents in gas pipelines, and to plan purchases at the regional level taking into account monthly or daily fluctuations in gas prices. About 70 underground gas storage facilities have been created in the world in rock salt deposits with a total active capacity of about 30 billion m³. The largest number of UGS facilities in salt caverns is operated in the USA - 31 UGS facilities, the total active capacity of which is about 8 billion m³, and the total withdrawal volume is more than 200 million m³ / day. In Germany, 19 UGS facilities are operated in salt caverns with a total volume of active gas of about 7 billion m³, and it is also planned to expand existing and build new UGS facilities with a total active capacity of about 8 billion m³. Currently, 3 underground gas storage facilities are being built in Russia in salt caverns: Kaliningrad (Kaliningrad region), Volgograd (Volgograd region), Novomoskovsk (Tula region), a storage facility for helium concentrate (Orenburg). UGS facilities are currently operating in the territory of Armenia, the total volume of which is 150 million m³. Work is underway to expand UGS facilities to 380 million m³.

Underground gas storages in solid rocks

Demand for underground storage facilities is actively increasing in the world, but not always there are optimal geological conditions for creating underground storage facilities based on depleted deposits, in aquifers or in rock salt. In this regard, technologies for the creation of underground gas storage in stone caves and coal mines are being developed and implemented. Examples of such storages are sporadic, but in each case they are technically the only possible and economically feasible object for reserving the necessary volume of natural gas. Norway, the USA, Sweden and the Czech Republic have the greatest experience in organizing such storage facilities, who consider this option as a more economical and affordable alternative to organizing underground gas storage in salts and on-ground storage of liquefied gas.

Underground gas storages in rock cavities

In Sweden, in the Halmstad region, near the main gas pipeline, a demonstration project of the Skallen UGS facility in a lined rock cavity was commissioned. In a granite at a depth of 115 m one cavity was built (geometric volume is 40 thousand m³), ​​the walls of which are reinforced with steel mesh.

Underground gas storages in used mines

To date, two of the four UGS facilities operated in spent mines are operated: UGS Burggraf-Burnsdorf (potash salt mine, eastern Germany) and UGS Leiden (Leiden Coal Mine, Colorado, USA). The Burggraf-Burnsdorf UGS facility has been in operation for about 40 years, with a maximum working pressure of more than 3.6 MPa (the highest for storage facilities of this kind). The main factor for maintaining such pressure is the storage sealing with the help of special concrete plugs, the properties of the surrounding rocks (potassium and rock salt), as well as hydraulic and mechanical sealing systems.

Currently, Russia has developed a developed underground gas storage system that performs the following functions:

• regulation of seasonal unevenness in gas consumption;
• storage of gas reserves in case of abnormally cold winters;
• regulation of uneven export gas supplies;
• gas supply in case of emergency in the UGSS;
• Creating long-term gas reserves in case of force majeure during gas production or transportation.

Underground gas storages (UGS) are an integral part of the Unified Gas Supply System of Russia and are located in the main gas consumption areas.

On the territory of the Russian Federation, 27 underground gas storage facilities are located, of which 8 were built in aquifers, 1 in rock salt deposits ^[1] and 18 in depleted deposits.

Twenty underground gas storages operate within the UGSS of the Russian Federation, of which 14 were created in depleted fields: Peschano-Umetskoye, Elshano-Kurdyumskoye (two storage facilities), Stepnovskoye (two storage facilities), Kiryushkinskoye, Amanakskoye, Dmitrievskoye, Mikhailovskoye, Severo-Stavropolskoye ( two storage facilities), Krasnodar, Kushchevsky, Kanchuro-Musinsky UGS facilities (two storage facilities), Punginskoye, Sovkhoznoye, with the commissioning of the Krasnodar Territory - Crimea gas pipeline, the Crimean Glebovsky UGS facility will also be included in the system.

7 were created in aquifers: Kaluga, Schelkovskoye, Kasimovskoye, Uvyazovskoye, Nevskoye, Gatchinskoye, Udmurtia reservation complex (two storage facilities).

Kaliningrad underground gas storage created in rock salt deposits ^[1]

In addition, construction is underway: In aquifers: Bednodemyanovskoe In rock salt deposits: Volgograd

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• Underground gas storage at Gazprom website
• Underground Gas Storage