Aquifer and Salt caverns

Storage in Depleted Oil Reservoirs

Most natural gas-storage projects make use of gas reservoirs. This practice is usually desirable when gas reservoirs can be found at all desired location. When none is available, other types of reservoirs are used. The practice of using depleted oil reservoirs for gas storage is becoming popular because of added motivation of recovering substantial quantities of oil that otherwise might be unrecoverable. Complete gas repressing and repeated gas cycling of reservoirs of highly volatile oil may be an economical secondary recovery practice even though gas storage is not the main objective.

 Large recoveries are expected from reservoirs of this type because gas cycling vaporizes oil and the amount of vaporization is related to the volatility of the oil. Oil vaporized in the reservoir will be produced and recovered as condensate or as natural gas liquids in a gas processing plan. Gas storage in oil reservoirs has benefits over storage in other types of enclosures. Gas can be safely stored to pressures at least as high as the virgin reservoir pressure without possible leakage. Secondary oil recovery may result, reducing the cost of producing the oil. Finally, most wells in oil fields can take and deliver gas.

 The conversion of an oil reservoir to gas storage usually requires the use of additional field processing equipment and other operational facilities, reworking, and recompletion of all wells. The surface facilities generally include wellhead heater separators, tank batteries, central separators, and other processing equipment not common to dry gas operations. In addition to the high pressure gas system for injection and withdrawal of gas from the gas cap, a low-pressure gas system for gathering separator gas is required. The rich gas withdrawn from the reservoir as well as all separator gas is passed through a gas plant to remove liquid hydrocarbons so that lean gas will be delivered into the sales line or re-injected back into the reservoir.

 The storage capacity increases with time because more space becomes available for storing gas as the liquid hydrocarbons are produced. The liquid hydrocarbons are produced both by displacement and by vaporization into the injected lean gas with subsequent production as components of a rich gas. Calculating system deliverability is much the same as for a dry gas system. The primary difference is the improvement in the per well deliverability with time as the result of increasing reservoir gas saturation . Because of the saturation gradient that exists across the reservoir in such projects, the deliverability of the individual wells may vary greatly, with the deliverability of wells in the gas cap being higher than that of wells in the oil zone.

Storage in Aquifers
Only if a depleted gas or oil reservoir is unavailable or unsuitable would consideration be given to using a waterbearing structure or aquifer as a storage medium. Tests would have to be conducted to determine the suitability of such a structure to hold gas without leakage to overlying or underlying formation. The need to drill all the necessary wells results in a higher investment per unit of volume of gas stored. Most of the following requirements must be satisfied for a properly designed aquifer storage: 1. There should be a large enough layer of water bearing rock to accommodate a worthwhile volume of gas. 2. The rock should have a porosity that enables water to be forced out by gas at a reasonable pressure and the rate at which gas can be withdrawn should be suitable.

3. 4. 5. 6.

The structure of the layer should preferably be dome shaped the aquifer should be closed on all sides. There should be a suitable layer of completely impermeable rock above the aquifer layer. And the aquifer should be situated in a continuous, unfaulted layer of rock.

Exploring for Aquifer Storage Reservoirs

In exploring for aquifer storage reservoirs, geologists use surface geology, coal structure maps, shallow structure tests, oil and gas tests, water wells, geophysical data (seismic, gravity, magnetic), and test holes in potential storage aquifer (core analyses, drill stem tests, pump or swab tests. When a trap is found, the geologist must also test the cap rock above the reservoir to determine whether gas will leak through it. Special core analyses are conducted to determine the permeability and threshold pressure of the cap rock. Since the cap rock may leak through fractures, core analyses are supplemented with analyses of water sample.

 A difference in composition of the waters above and below the cap rock is supposed to indicate that there is no communication across the cap rock. Some geologists and engineless have used the observed head difference between aquifers as an indication of absence of fractures in the cap rock.

 Pumping tests (Fig. 1) are used to test cap rock. Water is pumped. out of the proposed storage aquifer and the water level in an observation well in a porous zone above the cap rock is observe. The acid test of a cap rock is to inject gas into the storage reservoir and watch for it in observation wells in an aquifer above the cap rock (Fig. 2). If all tests indicate that the cap rock is tight, gas injection should start gradually and let the pressure rise about 100 to 200 psi above the virgin reservoir pressure. The pressure gradient should be kept at less than 0.65 psi/ft of depth, preferably at less than 0.55.

Fig. 1 Pumping test for cap rock (after Bond)

Fig. 2 Testing cap rock by injecting gas (after Bond)

Growth of Storage Bubble

When gas flows through a porous., water-saturated rock, it does not displace all of the water from the pores of the rock. Even after a large volume of gas has been injected, the rock still contains a residual water saturation. This residual water saturation varies from about 15 to 30% of the pore space in typical aquifers; it must be taken into account when an estimate is made of the amount of gas in a given volume of aquifer rock. As relatively dry gas is cycled into and out of the aquifer,, the water in the rock around the well evaporates. As the rock dries out. it develops a greater capacity for gas; the permeability of the rock to the gas also increases, resulting in higher injection and withdrawal rates in the operating wells.

 Consider an ideal aquifer that has the same rock properties throughout. Further., assume that the reservoir is isotropic that is , it has the same permeability in all direction.. For this hypothetical reservoir, one would expect that when gas was injected into a well in such an aquifer,, the gas would displace water uniformly in all directions and form a bubble with a circular interface between the gas and water. The storage bubble is a gas-saturated zone surrounded by a doughnut of compressible watersaturated rock, with a layer in between where gas and water flow in the same direction (Fig. 3).

 In practice, however, no aquifer has such ideal uniform properties. Generally, the permeability of the rock varies with depth; also, the horizontal permeability is usually greater than the vertical permeability. The result is that gas that is first injected into such an aquifer preferentially flows into the zones of high permeability. Later, gas rises into the rock above these permeable zones, while water trickles down into them because of gravity. Gradually, the entire space around the well becomes filled with gas to some degree to form a bubble with more or less uniform saturation of gas and water (Fig. 4). This may take many month., depending on the permeability and homogeneity of the aquifer..

Fig. 3 Flow regions in and around a gas storage bubble (after Bond)

 Consider the storage of natural gas in an aquifer.. Suppose initial pressure, thickness of reservoir, radius of gas bubble, permeability of storage rock, and porosity of storage rock are known. The storage bubble grows at a constant rate ew; that is. water is displaced at the rate ew. The aquifer is assumed very large in comparison to the storage bubble. How will the reservoir pressure change with time as gas is injected?

 This can be found in the following manner. First, the dimensionless time (tD) is calculated:
(1)

Fig. 4 Gas wafering during initial injection in aquifer [after Katz and Coats]

 From pD-tables (Table 13.1), the value of the dimensionless pressure (pD) is found that corresponds to this value of tD. Finally, the reservoir pressure p is calculated from:
(2)

Table (13-1)

 On the other hand, suppose a bubble is of known thickness and radius. Gas will be injected into the bubble while maintaining the pressure in the bubble at a pressure (p) greater than the initial pressure p0 in the aquifer. The amount of water displaced during a given period of gas injection will be calculated. The cumulative water influx (efflux) We in terms of QD, dimensionless water influx (efflux), is given by:
(3)

 The procedure is to calculate tD from Eq. (1). Then from QDtables (Table 13.2) the value of QD that corresponds to this value of tD is determined. Finally, the value of QD is inserted in Eq. (3) to give We. This procedure helps estimate how the bubble will grow as gas is injected into the reservoir.

In these calculations, an infinitely large aquifer has been assumed. If the aquifer is enclosed (for example, a sand lenses surrounded by shale), it is called a limited aquifer. The treatment of the problem is the same, but different values of QD are used.

Example.1.
p0 = 900 psia , h = 100 ft , rb = 2,000 ft ,k = 500md ,c = 6 X 10-6 psi-1 = 0.16 , = l cp ,ew = 60,000 ft3 pore volume/day Solution Calculate the reservoir pressure at 30, 60, 120, 180 and 300 days after initiation of gas injection. Assume the aquifer to be infinite in extent and that its performance can be approximated by the radial mode. Solution: The dimensionless time for a value of time t in days is given by Eq.

(1):

(2)

Operation of Aquifer Storage Reservoirs

The flow lines from the injection wells are connected to a compressor station, itself connected to the gas supply line. The gas bubble formed as gas is injected through wells on the crest of the structure gradually extends in all direction, forcing the water back. As it expands and reaches the base of further wells, these are brought into operation and gas is pumped down them, increasing the rate of injection. In order to confine the gas within predetermined limits, observation wells are drilled round the perimeter of the area to be used. These are similar to the operational wells but no gas is pumped into or with drawn from them.

 Their purpose is to determine when the interface between the gas and water has reached the predetermined perimeter of the storage. Fig. 5 shows the storage as it is being filled with the gas-water interface not yet as far as the observation wells. The initial filling will necessarily be slow since the water, being more viscous than the gas, can only be forced back slowly. Once the storage is full, however,, gas can be withdrawn and injected relatively quickly. Furthermore, once the bubble is established at its fullest extent,, withdrawal of gas with consequent lowering of pressure inside the bubble does not result in appreciable movement of the water backward into the gas storage because of gas's greater mobility. Therefore, once the storage is established, withdrawal and refilling give rise only to relatively small changes in the physical extent of the gas bubble in the storage.

Aquifer Behavior
A blanket water-bearing sand with impermeable top and bottom that extends over many miles is often described as an "aquifer." When wells are drilled into an aquifer and water is produced, the water in the sand flows to the well because of the pressure reduction. It may take years for water production to lower the pressure significantly some 10 miles from the well, since the capacity of the sand is large and the expansibility of the water and porous medium in the area around the well provides the water. When gas is stored in an aquifer, gas pressure in the reservoir must be maintained higher than the original water pressure to force any water out into the aquifer. During the initial injection of gas into a water well, pressures from 100 to 300 psi above the water reservoir may be required to start gas entering the porous rock. Once gas has started flowing, the usual flow considerations

Storage in Salt Cavities

The success of solution mined cavities is evident by the increasing number and size of the cavities being built. Cavern storage of hydrocarbons such as propane and ethylene has become a generally accepted practice. Recent advances in solution mining techniques for developing these caverns have enabled a more diversified use of salt for underground storage. Three factors should be considered in selecting a storage cavern to be created by solution mining: a sufficient salt thickness at adequate depth, an adequate supply of fresh water for salt leaching (solutioning, and a means of brine disposal.)

1. 2. 3.

 A cavity in salt is normally created by controlled injection of freshwater, and subsequent removal of salt brine generated by solutioning. The salt brine is either pumped or flowed to the surface. A concentric arrangement of different diameter casings is installed into the salt and is used to pump the fresh water into the cavern and remove the brine. Utilizing cavities which were created in salt formations by means of solution mining for hydrocarbon storage was first conceived in Germany during World War I (Allen). Now, use of such caverns is wide spread throughout Canada and the United States.

 The operation of a natural gas storage cavern differs from liquid hydrocarbon storage; brine is not used for product displacement. In salt caverns used for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage, the product is physically displaced by injecting brine into the bottom of the cavity while the product is being withdrawn from the top. The dry-type (brine-free) gas storage cavern operates between a maximum and minimum gas storage pressure, with the gas volume between these two pressures being usable storage gas. Natural gas is stored at a maximum pressure of 4,000 psia. During withdrawal, the cavern pressure drops to a minimum of 1,225 psia. Fig. 13.10 is a cross section of the Eminence Dome during the leaching process. Fig. 13.11 illustrated the operation of the Eminence gas storage facility.

The use of salt caverns for underground storage of liquefied petroleum gases such as propane, butane, etc., has been in practice for over ten years. Considerations related to location, creation, operation, size, capacity and deliverability of salt cavern storage

Creation of Salt Cavern Reservoirs

The process of washing out a cavern in rock salt is inexpensive (from 19 cents to $1.80 per bbl) and quite simple. A shaft is drilled into a subterranean salt stratum and the salt is dissolved and brought to the surface by pumping in fresh water and pumping out brine, leaving an opening of the desired size within the stratum. In theory, every 6.03 bbl of fresh water will dissolve one bbl of salt. Salt cavities should be formed in an area free from shale ledges if possible. If present, these ledges may break off and kink or snap any brine or product tubes that might be located in the cavity. In some operations, the amount of insolubles may be excessive and tubing may have to be raised from the bottom of the cavity to prevent plugging.

There are three methods of developing the salt cavity (Fig. 6.2) a) bottom injection; b) reverse circulation, and c) progression technique. When creating caverns in salt layers, fracturing may be employed to facilitate the cavern construction. Two or more wells may be sunk then be washed out to provide a large storage area. Fracturing probably cannot be used in salt domes because the general homogeneity of physical properties of salt may not lend itself to controlled horizontal fracturing. Figure 6.2 shows graphically three distinct methods of developing salt cavities of controlled shape.

Creation of Salt Cavities-Dissolution

Creation of a salt cavity requires not only a main well for injecting water into the cavity, but also a source of fresh water and a brine disposal system, often rock layers of high permeability containing brackish water. The time of dissolution is predictable; it depends upon the water injection rate. Cavern development on a site located by cores drilling or other data involves drilling the well through which fluid enter and leave the cavity (Figure 9.6). Using normal surface casing for potable water protection, the main casing size is determined by the size of the cavern. When drilling into salt, mud with saturated brine gives protection from further dissolution of salt while the hole is drilled to the bottom of the proposed cavern. Fracturing of salt is to be avoided for storage projects.

The direct leaching flow system involves pumping fresh water down the inner tube of the well to the bottom of the drilled hole. The brine, after dissolution, comes up the annulus between the fresh water tube and the casing. For reversed leaching the fresh water is introduced in mid chamber from an annulus, with brine exiting through the inner tube (Figure 9.7). Experiences show that using various positions of the water supply and exit can control the brine concentration and the shape of the cavern. Sonar caliper tools (Figure 9.8) are used to obtain the wall distances at various levels.

ECONOMICS OF STORAGE
Several items enter into the total investment necessary to put an underground storage field into operation. These items include cost of acquisition, development, cushion gas, dehydration, compression, and transmission. Acquisition cost will involve purchase of all physical equipment in the field including remaining gas or oil wells, gathering lines, process equipment, compressor station, etc. It will be necessary to purchase the remaining recoverable gas or oil in the formation and the right to use the formation for storage. Physical equipment can often be purchased for its depreciated value. Remaining minerals can usually be acquired at the same rate as the rate paid during production.

Development cost includes cost of drilling storage wells, observation wells, and structure-control wells and cost of wellhead structures and gathering system. Complete drilling costsincluding drilling, well casing, cement, logging, coring, and testingcould vary from $5 to $100 per foot, depending upon the depth and amount of logging, coring, and testing that is done. A shallow storage well less than 2,000 ft in depth could be drilled and completed for no more than $10 per foot. Wellhead structures might cost up to $5,000 per well.

Gathering-system costs will depend upon the capacity of the wells and well-spacing patterns, but should not cost more than 10,000 per well. Another significant cost in some fields might be the money necessary to redrill and activate or permanently plug and abandon all old gas or oil wells abandoned during the producing history of the field. This item could amount to a larger figure per well than the cost of drilling new wells. In the average underground storage field, the total reservoir capacity is divided approximately into 50 per cent cushion gas and 50 per cent working gas. The cost of cushion gas could fluctuate from 25 to 50 cents per Mcf, depending upon the locality. In any instance it should be equal to the pipeline company's off-peak or interruptible sales price.

 Compression, transmission, dehydration, and other gastreating costs are entirely dependent upon individual situations. Compressor stations can be built for $250 to $300 per installed horsepower. Transmission-line costs vary widely. A rule of thumb that would prove satisfactory for approximate costs would be 50 to 60 cents per inch of diameter per foot of length of transmission line. Gas-treating costs would depend upon what treatment is necessary. Separators and gas cleaners would be included in the compressor-station costs.

Illustrative Problem
A gas bubble 1,000 ft in radius has been developed on an anticline in a blanket fresh-water sand 50 ft thick. The permeability of the sand is 300 millidarcys and the porosity 20 per cent. The temperature of the reservoir is 68F and the pressure is 1,000 psia. How much gas can be injected over a period of 1 year by maintaining the gas bubble at 100 psi above the original aquifer pressure and pushing water out into the surrounding area? The stored gas has a gravity of 0.6.

Solution
The compressibility of water and formation are taken as 3.2 X 10-6 psi-1 and 3.6 X 10-6psi-1 respectively, for a total of 6.8 X 10-6 vol/(vol)(psi). q = 6.283 X 0.20 X 6.8 X 10-6 X 1,0002 X 50 X 100Qt = 42,700 Qt

From Table 10-4, at tD = 509, Qt = 165.1. Therefore, q = 42,700 X 165.1 = 7,050,000 cu ft of water At 1,100 psia, the 7,050,000 cu ft of space would hold 7,050,000 X 93 (from Fig. 11-30) or 655,000,000 cu ft of gas, which would be injected at constant pressure as a result of water moving out from the bubble.