Abstract:

With the rapid economic development in China in the 21st century, energy becomes more and more important. China’s oil importation quantity becomes higher and higher and China’s dependence on the imported oil grows unprecedented. Largescale underground watersealed energy storage caverns need to be built in China for the purpose of strategic storage of oil and natural gas. In the paper, the stateofart of the underground watersealed energy storage caverns in China and foreign countries is surveyed, the advantages of the underground watersealed energy storage caverns are analyzed, and key construction technologies for the underground watersealed energy storage caverns, including the stability of the caverns, the reliability of the water sealing system, the tightness of the sealing plug and the controllability of the grouting, are summarized. The underground watersealed energy storage caverns built in China, including Shantou LPG storage cavern project, Jinzhou national oil storage cavern project and Huizhou national oil storage cavern project, are introduced. As a main mode of underground energy storage, underground watersealed energy storage caverns can provide strong support for China’s economic development and national defense and shall be developed dramatically in the near future. 

Key words: underground watersealed energy storage cavern, energy storage mode, cavern stability, water curtain technology, sealing plug, grouting