Hydraulic and earth engineering – Fluid control – treatment – or containment – Fluid storage in earthen cavity
Patent
1979-07-24
1981-02-10
Taylor, Dennis L.
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Fluid control, treatment, or containment
Fluid storage in earthen cavity
299 5, E21F 1716, E21B 4328
Patent
active
042498333
ABSTRACT:
A salt cavern is leached with fresh water by cementing its surface casing in a hole to the depth of the roof of the cavern to be leached, and inserting coaxial short and long leach strings into the hole, with a petroleum liquid between the surface casing and the outer leach string to protect the roof salt from dissolution when fresh water is run down one of the leach strings and the produced brine out the other. To check the progress of cavern formation, the leach strings are removed to permit unimpeded sonar survey; but before this can be done, the pressures within the surface casing and the short and long leach strings must be neutralized, because the petroleum liquid and fresh water and brine all have different specific gravities and so exert different hydrostatic heads. Moreover, as salt dissolution continues during pressure equalization, the specific gravity of the brine changes, so that pressure equalization can take several days. The present invention shortens the pressure equalization time, by pumping petroleum liquid into the annulus between the leach strings, to the same level as the existing petroleum liquid in the annulus between the surface casing and the outer leach string, then inserting a plug in the central leach string at that same level and replacing the aqueous liquid above this plug with petroleum liquid. Finally, the pressure beneath the plug is released, whereupon the cavern has been depressurized and the leach strings can be raised.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2994200 (1961-08-01), Carpenter
patent: 3066732 (1962-12-01), McEver
patent: 3083770 (1963-02-01), Villalon et al.
patent: 3088717 (1963-05-01), Myers
patent: 3632171 (1972-01-01), French
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