A Modified Method for Out Flow Test Performed for Abandoning Potential of SaltCavern

Over recent years, considerable research effort, especially by the SMRI, has been invested on the subject of the long-termabandonment of salt caverns. At this point in time, the industry has still not clearly identified a universally accepted concept orapproach to this major problem. One seemingly promising trend already identified is to consider the evolution of a saturatedbrine filled salt cavern with respect to the thermal (brine expansion), geomechanical (cavern closure by creep) and hydraulic(brine micro-permeation) characteristics. These phenomena specially creep closure rate causes volume changes in cavern whichcan be assessed through shut-in pressure and outflow tests. Shut-in pressure tests consist of closing the cavern and measuring thepressure evolution at the well head with respect to time, however, the outflow performed in opened cavern by measuring theflow of flu-id expelled from the wellhead. In out flow tests, since the expelled brine cannot comes back into central tube, thepressure decrease occurred in cavern is appeared by moving down the brine-air interface in well and do not appears incumulated brine mass-time curve. So, in order to prevent the misinterpretations, it must be made a connection between centraltube (filled by fluid) and the container filled by expelled brine in which the expelled brine could moves in to or out fromcontainer. Then, in order to determine the out flow rate, it must be measured the height of brine-air interface in container insteadof measuring the out flow rate at wellhead

کلیدواژه ها:

SALT CAVERN ، ABANDONMENT ، OUT FLOW ، SHUT-IN ، CREEP CLOSURE