Constructing salt caverns in deep formations poses significant challenges due to their high geostresses,pronounced creep behavior,and particularly intense pressure fluctuations.This study first conducted mechanical ex...Constructing salt caverns in deep formations poses significant challenges due to their high geostresses,pronounced creep behavior,and particularly intense pressure fluctuations.This study first conducted mechanical experiments to investigate the long-term creep behavior of salt rock and to examine the differences in its mechanical response under cyclic loading compared with traditional triaxial loading.The results revealed a confining-pressure-dependent nonlinear creep behavior as well as a degradation mechanism induced by cyclic loading.A numerical model was then developed that incorporates the nonlinear creep law with periodic parameter weakening.Comparative analyses of cavern dilatancy under cyclic versus constant pressure conditions were conducted,validating the necessity of integrating the periodic weakening mechanism into the numerical model.The results indicate that cyclic loading enhances the plastic deformation capacity while lowering its dilatancy threshold.For the cyclic gas pressure(CGP)mode,a minimum operational pressure of 9.6 MPa is infeasible due to excessive sidewall convergence and extensive spalling risk zones,with 12.0 MPa recommended as the lower limit.The constant brine pressure(CBP)mode exhibits superior performance in controlling deformation and damage.For the constant gas pressure(GP)mode,a constant pressure of 19.2 MPa results in no significant dilatancy damage zones in the salt layer.Critically,neglecting the dynamic weakening of parameters induced by cyclic loading leads to substantial underestimation of long-term deformation,by 20.2%in this study,primarily accumulated during the unloading(gas production)phase.The findings are expected to provide valuable insights into deep salt caverns with high-pressure fluctuations.展开更多
In China,gas storage in deep salt caverns faces challenges due to high in situ stresses,elevated geothermal temperatures,and the presence of interbedded salt-mudstone formations.These factors lead to heterogeneous def...In China,gas storage in deep salt caverns faces challenges due to high in situ stresses,elevated geothermal temperatures,and the presence of interbedded salt-mudstone formations.These factors lead to heterogeneous deformation and stress concentration,which adversely affect the stability and sealing capacity of salt caverns.To address these issues,this study systematically investigates the differences in the mechanical responses of a dual-cavern system located in a representative deep salt district under synchronous and asynchronous injection-production processes.The impacts of key operating parameters on the long-term deformation evolution of salt caverns under thermo-mechanical coupling are examined,and the effectiveness of the asynchronous operation strategy in optimizing the cavern stability is quantitatively evaluated.The results demonstrate that asynchronous operation significantly enhances the stability of the inter-cavern pillar.Specifically,this strategy disrupts the connection between zones with high stress-to-strength ratios,thereby reducing the risk of coupled failure between the two salt caverns.Furthermore,this strategy improves the distribution of the dilatancy safety factor of the surrounding rocks.Asynchronous operation also performs well in mitigating long-term deformation of the salt caverns,resulting in a lower risk of unilateral pillar instability,reduced cavern roof subsidence,and diminished volume shrinkage.Notably,asynchronous operation can effectively suppress cavern deformation under high-frequency injection-production cycles.Increasing the operating rate and decreasing the minimum pressure result in decelerating and accelerating deformation trends,respectively.Sensitivity analysis identifies the minimum pressure as the primary factor directly controlling cavern deformation,while operating frequency benefits most from the adoption of an asynchronous operation strategy.Overall,the findings of this study are expected to advance the construction and operational optimization of deep salt caverns for gas storage in China.展开更多
基金Projects(U24A20616,U24B2038)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaProject(2025NSFTD0012)supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Projects in Sichuan Province,ChinaProject(E2024508032)supported by the Hebei Natural Science Foundation,China。
摘要Constructing salt caverns in deep formations poses significant challenges due to their high geostresses,pronounced creep behavior,and particularly intense pressure fluctuations.This study first conducted mechanical experiments to investigate the long-term creep behavior of salt rock and to examine the differences in its mechanical response under cyclic loading compared with traditional triaxial loading.The results revealed a confining-pressure-dependent nonlinear creep behavior as well as a degradation mechanism induced by cyclic loading.A numerical model was then developed that incorporates the nonlinear creep law with periodic parameter weakening.Comparative analyses of cavern dilatancy under cyclic versus constant pressure conditions were conducted,validating the necessity of integrating the periodic weakening mechanism into the numerical model.The results indicate that cyclic loading enhances the plastic deformation capacity while lowering its dilatancy threshold.For the cyclic gas pressure(CGP)mode,a minimum operational pressure of 9.6 MPa is infeasible due to excessive sidewall convergence and extensive spalling risk zones,with 12.0 MPa recommended as the lower limit.The constant brine pressure(CBP)mode exhibits superior performance in controlling deformation and damage.For the constant gas pressure(GP)mode,a constant pressure of 19.2 MPa results in no significant dilatancy damage zones in the salt layer.Critically,neglecting the dynamic weakening of parameters induced by cyclic loading leads to substantial underestimation of long-term deformation,by 20.2%in this study,primarily accumulated during the unloading(gas production)phase.The findings are expected to provide valuable insights into deep salt caverns with high-pressure fluctuations.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.U24B2038)Scientific and technological research projects in Sichuan province(Grant No.2025NSFTD0012,2024YFHZ0286)Hebei Natural Science Foundation(Grant No.E2024508032).
摘要In China,gas storage in deep salt caverns faces challenges due to high in situ stresses,elevated geothermal temperatures,and the presence of interbedded salt-mudstone formations.These factors lead to heterogeneous deformation and stress concentration,which adversely affect the stability and sealing capacity of salt caverns.To address these issues,this study systematically investigates the differences in the mechanical responses of a dual-cavern system located in a representative deep salt district under synchronous and asynchronous injection-production processes.The impacts of key operating parameters on the long-term deformation evolution of salt caverns under thermo-mechanical coupling are examined,and the effectiveness of the asynchronous operation strategy in optimizing the cavern stability is quantitatively evaluated.The results demonstrate that asynchronous operation significantly enhances the stability of the inter-cavern pillar.Specifically,this strategy disrupts the connection between zones with high stress-to-strength ratios,thereby reducing the risk of coupled failure between the two salt caverns.Furthermore,this strategy improves the distribution of the dilatancy safety factor of the surrounding rocks.Asynchronous operation also performs well in mitigating long-term deformation of the salt caverns,resulting in a lower risk of unilateral pillar instability,reduced cavern roof subsidence,and diminished volume shrinkage.Notably,asynchronous operation can effectively suppress cavern deformation under high-frequency injection-production cycles.Increasing the operating rate and decreasing the minimum pressure result in decelerating and accelerating deformation trends,respectively.Sensitivity analysis identifies the minimum pressure as the primary factor directly controlling cavern deformation,while operating frequency benefits most from the adoption of an asynchronous operation strategy.Overall,the findings of this study are expected to advance the construction and operational optimization of deep salt caverns for gas storage in China.