Stability Analysis of Salt Caverns in Bedded Saline Formations for the Storage of Green Hydrogen
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Caverns executed in saline formations by leaching processes are postulated as one of the best green hydrogen storage systems. The usable saline formations are very well distributed throughout the world and can be categorized into two types: dome-type formations, that is, large underground, fungal geometry formations with diameters of up to 2 km, and on the other hand, bedded-type stratified horizontal formations with a layer thickness approximately 100 m. In the design of caverns in bedded formations there is a clear restriction of a geometric type since the thickness and therefore the height of the cavern will be quite limited. For this reason, in order to achieve larger volume designs, it will be necessary to increase the size of the caverns in the horizontal direction while maintaining their stability. As a methodology for this analysis we use numerical simulation sweeping different sizes of spherical-cylindrical geometries and defining the stability criteria that allow the choice of a design. Our main finding is that we have determined combinations of cushinon gas pressure, useful life and cavern size in order to achieve a cavern design that allows hydrogen to be stored stably in bedded-salt formations.
