Size and Shape of Salt Caverns

• Caverns can be formed in domal salt or bedded salt (See figures below).



• Salt mining has produced irregularly shaped caverns as well as caverns that are nearly cylindrical.



• Caverns presently in use have a wide range of sizes
  • Caverns in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve are very large and have an average volume of 420 million gallons.
  • Disposal caverns in Texas are much smaller (18 million gallons).


• DOE funded Sandia National Laboratory to analyze the feasibility of constructing long, horizontal caverns in relatively thin bedded salt deposits.
  •  Waste Disposal in Horizontal Solution Mined Caverns – Considerations of Site Location, Cavern Stability, and Development Considerations (232 KB)

Schematic Drawing of a Cavern in Domal Salt

Schematic Drawing of a Cavern in Bedded Salt