Zum langfristigen Tragver halten von verschlossenen solegefullten Salzkavernen-ein neuer Ansatz zu physikalischer Modellierung und numerischer Simulation

摘要

In the two previous publications on the load-bearing behaviour of sealed brine-filled caverns,the first deals with the theoret-ical and basic lab-analytical principles befand the physical modelling and develop-ment of the INFIL Software for numerical Simulation[1].The second paper numeri-cally simulates and analyses the load-bearing behaviour of a typical cavern shut down and abandoned in this way.It also discusses the mainfindings relevant for applying these principles in practice[2].At this stage at the latest,the question natu-rally arises as to whether,and with what level of quality,the theoretically prognosed behaviour agrees with the actual results when applied to a cavern structure.Several field experiments are knownfrom generally available and less generally available litera-ture which look at the behaviour of cavities in salt(boreholes,caverns)under the influ-ence of high fluid pressures.An excellent case study delving into this issue is the Etzel Field Test which was set up to observe the behaviour of a sealed brine-fuled cavern.The fest involves a brine-fuled and appro-priately technically equipped cavern being subjected to rising internal pressure by in-jecting brine,and then analysing the behaviour of the brine under increasing pressure-cavern/salt rock mass during several pressure increase and Observation phases.This field fest is to be used for the first Validation of the INFIL Software package.After presenting the results of this first Validation,the second part of the paper..dis-cusses some other aspects which arise from the application of the infiltration model de-velopedhere to the whole problem of cavern abandonment.Of particular importance in this context is the earliest time at which a cavern can be sealed after shutting down Operations-particularly with regard to the ef-fects of thermally-induced brine expansion caused by the influx of heat from the sur-rounding rock mass.The end of the paper also includes a brief discussion of other work concerning lateral infiltration,bedded salt formations,and oriented mineral grain fabrics,as well as the degeneration of sec-ondary migration paths.