Publications Details

A user`s manual for the computer code HORSMIC

Russo, A.J.

The code HORSMIC was written to solve the problem of calculating the shape of hydrocarbon (gas or liquid) storage caverns formed by solution mining in bedded salt formations. In the past many storage cavems have been formed by vertically drilling into salt dome formations and solution mining large-aspect-ratio, vertically-axisymmetric caverns. This approach is generally not satisfactory for shallow salt beds because it would result in geomechanically-unstable, pancake-shaped caverns. In order to produce a high aspect ratio cavern in the horizontal direction a more complicated strategy must be employed. This report describes one such strategy, and documents the use of the computer model HORSMIC which can be used to estimate the shape of the cavern produced by a prescribed leaching schedule. Multiple trials can then be used to investigate the effects of various pipe hole configurations in order to optimize over the cavern shape.