Salt Cavern Siting and Design Criteria

Salt Cavern Siting

In selecting sites for salt caverns, one should consider:

• Distance to populated areas



• Proximity to other industrial facilities



• Current and future use of adjacent properties that may withdraw large amounts of groundwater and potentially increase subsidence rates



• Handling of brine



• Proximity to environmentally sensitive wetlands, streams, and drinking water aquifers



• Proximity to salt boundary



• Proximity to other active or abandoned subsurface activities

Salt Cavern Design

Cavern design should consider:

• A geological review of the area



• Mechanical and chemical properties of the salt and confining rock



• Low permeability zones



• Sufficient inter-cavern spacing (typically spacing to diameter ratio >2:1)

For More Information

For more information on this topic see:

• API, 1994, "Design of Solution-Mined Underground Storage Practices," API Recommended Practice 1114, American Petroleum Institute, Washington, DC, June.



• CSA, 1993, "Storage of Hydrocarbons in Underground Formations – Oil and Gas Industry Systems and Materials," CSA Standard Z341-93, Canadian Standards Association, Rexdale, Ontario, Canada, July.



• IOGCC, 1995, "Natural Gas Storage in Salt Caverns – A Guide for State Regulators," the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, Oklahoma City, OK, October.