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DOE Program for Studying the Use of Salt Caverns for Oil Field Waste Disposal

DOE Program for Studying the Use of Salt Caverns for Oil Field Waste Disposal. John Ford National Petroleum Technology Office. Early Efforts.

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DOE Program for Studying the Use of Salt Caverns for Oil Field Waste Disposal

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  1. DOE Program for Studying the Use of Salt Caverns for Oil Field Waste Disposal John Ford National Petroleum Technology Office

  2. Early Efforts • in 1995, at the request of the Railroad Commission of Texas, NPTO funded Argonne National Laboratory to investigate the technical feasibility and legality of disposing oil field wastes in salt caverns • found that cavern disposal was feasible • several caverns were already in use in Texas, Canada, and Europe • there were no legal prohibitions against cavern disposal • States may need to revise their regulations

  3. Early Efforts - continued • the greatest environmental and health risk occurred following closure of caverns • more research was needed • DOE recommended that 4 research organizations join forces to form the Salt Cavern Research Partnership • Argonne National Laboratory • Sandia National Laboratories • Texas Bureau of Economic Geology • Solution Mining Research Institute

  4. Other Baseline Studies • Argonne conducted two other studies to complete a baseline of information on cavern disposal • cost study • found that caverns could compete economically with other types of oil field waste disposal facilities in the same geographic area • risk study • found that the risks associated with various types of cavern failure scenarios were all below the EPA’s acceptable risk threshold

  5. NORM Study • Argonne’s initial cavern studies looked at oil field wastes other than NORM • NPTO funded another study to evaluate NORM disposal in caverns • the same conclusions as mentioned above apply to NORM • Since then, the Railroad Commission has approved permits for at least two caverns to dispose of NORM waste

  6. Salt Cavern Modeling Efforts • Sandia completed modeling investigations about the behavior of horizontal caverns formed in salt structures • identified potential sites for horizontal caverns • evaluated roof stability • calculated leaching times for different sized caverns

  7. Salt Formation Investigation • the Bureau of Economic Geology evaluated and mapped the bedded salt formations in the Permian Basin • salt thickness • depth to top of salt • salt dissolution

  8. Research on Post-Closure Behavior • Solution Mining Research Institute oversaw preparation of a bibliography for cavern behavior following plugging and abandonment • salt creep and rock strength behavior • permeability of rock salt • temperature and pressure • plugging and sealing

  9. Public Education and Outreach • Salt Cavern Research Partnership Advisory Committee recommended that DOE fund a public education effort to provide information to both a wider audience and to nontechnical audiences • Argonne produced a brochure for nontechnical audiences and the Salt Cavern Information Website • all NPTO-funded cavern reports can be downloaded www.npto.doe.gov/saltcaverns

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