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This report summarizes recent reviews, observations, and analyses believed to be imperative to our understanding of the recent two million cubic feet salt fall event in Big Hill Cavern 103, one of the caverns of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The fall was the result of one or more stress driven mechanical instabilities, the origins of which are discussed in the report. The work has lead to important conclusions concerning the engineering and operations of the caverns at Big Hill. Specifically, Big Hill, being the youngest SPR site, was subjected to state-of-the-art solutioning methods to develop nominally well-formed, right-circular cylindrical caverns. Examination of the pressure history records indicate that operationally all Big Hill SPR caverns have been treated similarly. Significantly, new three-dimensional (3-D) imaging methods, applied to old (original) and more recent sonar survey data, have provided much more detailed views of cavern walls, roofs, and floors. This has made possible documentation of the presence of localized deviations from ''smooth'' cylindrical cavern walls. These deviations are now recognized as isolated, linear and/or planar features in the original sonar data (circa early 1990s), which persist to the present time. These elements represent either sites of preferential leaching, localized spalling, or a combination of the two. Understanding the precise origin of these phenomena remains a challenge, especially considering, in a historical sense, the domal salt at Big Hill was believed to be well-characterized. However, significant inhomogeneities in the domal salt that may imply abnormalities in leaching were not noted. Indeed, any inhomogeneities were judged inconsequential to the solution-engineering methods at the time, and, by the same token, to the approaches to modeling the rock mass geomechanical response. The rock mass was treated as isotropic and homogeneous, which in retrospect, appears to have been an over simplification. This analysis shows there are possible new opportunities regarding completing an appropriate site characterization for existing operating cavern fields in the SPR, as well as expansion of current sites or development of new sites. Such characterization should first be consistent with needs identified by this report. Secondly, the characterization needs to satisfy the input requirements of the 3-D solutioning calculational methods being developed, together with 3-D geomechanical analyses techniques which address deformation of a salt rock mass that contains inhomogeneities. It seems apparent that focusing on these important areas could preclude occurrence of unexpected events that would adversely impact the operations of SPR.

Abstract not provided.

Throughout the construction and operation of the caverns of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), three types of cavern volume measurements have been maintained. These are: (1) the calculated solution volume determined during initial construction by solution mining and any subsequent solutioning during oil transfers, (2) the calculated sonar volume determined through sonar surveys of the cavern dimensions, and (3) the direct metering of oil to determine the volume of the cavern occupied by the oil. The objective of this study is to compare these measurements to each other and determine, if possible, the uncertainties associated with a given type of measurement. Over time, each type of measurement has acquired a customary, or an industry accepted, stated uncertainty. This uncertainty is not necessarily the result of a technical analysis. Ultimately there is one definitive quantity, the oil volume measure by the oil custody transfer meters, taken by all parties to the transfer as the correct ledger amount and for which the SPR Project is accountable. However, subsequent transfers within a site may not be with meters of the same accuracy. In this study, a very simple theory of the perfect relationship is used to evaluate the correlation (deviation) of the various measures. This theory permits separation of uncertainty and bias. Each of the four SPR sites are examined, first with comparisons between the calculated solution volumes and the sonar volumes determined during construction, then with comparisons of the oil inventories and the sonar volumes obtained either by surveying through brine prior to oil filling or through the oil directly.

Because of limited direct observation, understanding of the interior conditions of the massive storage caverns constructed in Gulf Coast salt domes is realizable only through predictions of salt response. Determination of the potential for formation of salt spalls, leading to eventual salt falls, is based on salt creep and fracture using the Multimechanism-Deformation Coupled Fracture (MCDF) model. This is a continuum model for creep, coupled to continuum damage evolution. The model has been successfully tested against underground results of damage around several test rooms at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Model simulations, here, evaluate observations made in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), storage caverns, namely, the accumulation of material on cavern floors and evidence of salt falls. A simulation of a smooth cavern wall indicates damage is maximum at the surface but diminishes monotonically into the salt, which suggests the source of salt accumulation is surface sluffing. If a protuberance occurs on the wall, fracture damage can form beneath the protuberance, which will eventually cause fracture, and lead to a salt fall.

The presence of damage in the form of microcracks can increase the permeability of salt. In this paper, an analytical formulation of the permeability of damaged rock salt is presented for both initially intact and porous conditions. The analysis shows that permeability is related to the connected (i.e., gas accessible) volumetric strain and porosity according to two different power-laws, which may be summed to give the overall behavior of a porous salt with damage. This relationship was incorporated into a constitutive model, known as the Multimechanism Deformation Coupled Fracture (MDCF) model, which has been formulated to describe the inelastic flow behavior of rock salt due to coupled creep, damage, and healing. The extended model was used to calculate the permeability of rock salt from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site under conditions where damage evolved with stress over a time period. Permeability changes resulting from both damage development under deviatoric stresses and damage healing under hydrostatic pressures were considered. The calculated results were compared against experimental data from the literature, which indicated that permeability in damaged intact WIPP salt depends on the magnitude of the gas accessible volumetric strain and not on the total volumetric strain. Consequently, the permeability of WIPP salt is significantly affected by the kinetics of crack closure, but shows little dependence on the kinetics of crack removal by sintering.

Use of Gulf Coast salt domes for construction of very large storage caverns by solution mining has grown significantly in the last several decades. In fact, among the largest developers of storage caverns along the Gulf Coast is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) which has purchased or constructed 62 crude oil storage caverns in four storage sites (domes). Although SPR and commercial caverns have been operated economically for many years, the caverns still exhibit some relatively poorly understood behaviors, especially involving creep closure volume loss and hanging string damage from salt falls. Since it is possible to postulate that some of these behaviors stem from geomechanical or reformational aspects of the salt, a method of correlating the cavern response to mechanical creep behavior as determined in the laboratory could be of considerable value. Recently, detailed study of the creep response of domal salts has cast some insight into the influence of different salt origins on cavern behavior. The study used a simple graphical analysis of limited non-steady state data to establish an approach or bound to steady state, as an estimate of the steady state behavior of a given salt. This permitted analysis of sparse creep databases for domal salts. It appears that a shortcoming of this steady state analysis method is that it obscures some critical differences of the salt material behavior. In an attempt to overcome the steady state analysis shortcomings, a method was developed based on integration of the Multimechanism-Deformation (M-D) creep constitutive model to obtain fits to the transient response. This integration process permits definition of all the material sensitive parameters of the model, while those parameters that are constants or material insensitive parameters are fixed independently. The transient analysis method has proven more sensitive to differences in the creep characteristics and has provided a way of defining different behaviors within a given dome. Characteristics defined by the transient analysis are related quantitatively to the volume loss creep rate of the SPR caverns. This increase in understanding of the domal material creep response already has pointed to the possibility y of delineating the existence of material spines within a specific dome. Further definition of the domal geology and structure seems possible only through expansion of the creep databases for domal salts.

Use of Gulf Coast salt domes for construction of very large storage caverns by solution mining has grown significantly in the last several decades. In fact, a nationally important Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) storage occurs in large cavern arrays in some of these domes. Although caverns have been operated economically for these many years, these caverns have a range of relatively poorly understood behaviors, involving creep closure fluid loss and damage from salt falls. It is certainly possible to postulate that many of these behaviors stem from geomechanical or deformational aspects of the salt response. As a result, a method of correlating the cavern response to mechanical creep behavior as determined in the laboratory could be of considerable importance. Recently, detailed study of the creep response of domal salts has cast some insight into the influence of different salt origins on cavern behavior. The study used a simple graphical analysis of the limited non-steady state data to give a bound, or an approach to steady state, as an estimate of the steady state behavior of a given domal salt. This permitted the analysis of sparse creep databases for domal salts. It appears that a shortcoming of the steady state analysis was in masking some of the salt material differences. In an attempt to overcome the steady state analysis shortcomings, a method was developed based on the integration of the Multimechanism-Deformation (M-D) creep constitutive model to fit the transient response. This integration process essentially permits definition of the material sensitive parameters of the model, while those parameters that are either constants or material insensitive parameters are fixed independently. The transient analysis method has proven more sensitive to differences in the creep characteristics and has provided a way of defining different behaviors within a given dome. Creep characteristics, as defined by the transient analysis of the creep rate, are related quantitatively to the volume loss creep rate of the caverns. This type of understanding of the domal material creep response already has pointed to the possibility of establishing various distinct material spines within a given dome. Furthermore, if the creep databases for domal salts can be expanded, one could expect additional definition of domal geology and structure.

In recent years, serious investigations of potential extension of the useful life of older caverns or of the use of abandoned caverns for waste disposal have been of interest to the technical community. All of the potential applications depend upon understanding the reamer in which older caverns and sealing systems can fail. Such an understanding will require a more detailed knowledge of the fracture of salt than has been necessary to date. Fortunately, the knowledge of the fracture and healing of salt has made significant advances in the last decade, and is in a position to yield meaningful insights to older cavern behavior. In particular, micromechanical mechanisms of fracture and the concept of a fracture mechanism map have been essential guides, as has the utilization of continuum damage mechanics. The Multimechanism Deformation Coupled Fracture (MDCF) model, which is summarized extensively in this work was developed specifically to treat both the creep and fracture of salt, and was later extended to incorporate the fracture healing process known to occur in rock salt. Fracture in salt is based on the formation and evolution of microfractures, which may take the form of wing tip cracks, either in the body or the boundary of the grain. This type of crack deforms under shear to produce a strain, and furthermore, the opening of the wing cracks produce volume strain or dilatancy. In the presence of a confining pressure, microcrack formation may be suppressed, as is often the case for triaxial compression tests or natural underground stress situations. However, if the confining pressure is insufficient to suppress fracture, then the fractures will evolve with time to give the characteristic tertiary creep response. Two first order kinetics processes, closure of cracks and healing of cracks, control the healing process. Significantly, volume strain produced by microfractures may lead to changes in the permeability of the salt, which can become a major concern in cavern sealing and operation. The MDCF model is used in three simulations of field experiments in which indirect measures were obtained of the generation of damage. The results of the simulations help to verify the model and suggest that the model captures the correct fracture behavior of rock salt. The model is used in this work to estimate the generation and location of damage around a cylindrical storage cavern. The results are interesting because stress conditions around the cylindrical cavern do not lead to large amounts of damage. Moreover, the damage is such that general failure can not readily occur, nor does the extent of the damage suggest possible increased permeation when the surrounding salt is impermeable.

The experimentally determined creep responses of a number of domal salts have been reported in, the literature. Some of these creep results were obtained using standard (conventional) creep tests. However, more typically, the creep data have come from multistage creep tests, where the number of specimens available for testing was small. An incremental test uses abrupt changes in stress and temperature to produce several time increments (stages) of different creep conditions. Clearly, the ability to analyze these limited data and to correlate them with each other could be of considerable potential value in establishing the mechanical characteristics of salt domes, both generally and specifically. In any analysis, it is necessary to have a framework of rules to provide consistency. The basis for the framework is the Multimechanism-Deformation (M-D) constitutive model. This model utilizes considerable general knowledge of material creep deformation to supplement specific knowledge of the material response of salt. Because the creep of salt is controlled by just a few micromechanical mechanisms, regardless of the origin of the salt, certain of the material parameters are values that can be considered universal to salt. Actual data analysis utilizes the methodology developed for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) program, and the response of a bedded pure WIPP salt as the baseline for comparison of the domal salts. Creep data from Weeks Island, Bryan Mound, West Hackberry, Bayou Choctaw, and Big Hill salt domes, which are all sites of Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) storage caverns, were analyzed, as were data from the Avery Island, Moss Bluff, and Jennings salt domes. The analysis permits the parameter value sets for the domal salts to be determined in terms of the M-D model with various degrees of completeness. In turn this permits detailed numerical calculations simulating cavern response. Where the set is incomplete because of the sparse database, reasonable assumptions permit the set to be completed. From the analysis, two distinct response groups were evident, with the salts of one group measurably more creep resistant than the other group. Interestingly, these groups correspond well with the indirectly determined creep closure of the SPR storage caverns, a correlation that probably should be expected. Certainly, the results suggest a simple laboratory determination of the creep characteristics of a salt material from a dome site can indicate the relative behavior of any potential cavern placed within that dome.

There have existed for some time relatively sparse creep databases for a number of domal salts. Although all of these data were analyzed at the time they were reported, to date there has not been a comprehensive, overall evaluation within the same analysis framework. Such an evaluation may prove of value. The analysis methodology is based on the Multimechanism Deformation (M-D) description of salt creep and the corresponding model parameters determined from conventional creep tests. The constitutive model of creep wss formulated through application of principles involved in micromechanical modeling. It was possible, at minimum, to obtain the steady state parameters of the creep model from the data on the domal salts. When this was done, the creep of the domal salts, as compared to the well-defined Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) bedded clean salt, was either essentially identical to, or significantly harder (more creep resistant) than WIPP salt. Interestingly, the domal salts form two distinct groups, either sofl or hard, where the difference is roughly a factor often in creep rate between the twcl groups. As might be expected, this classification corresponds quite well to the differences in magnitude of effective creep volume losses of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) caverns as determined by the CAVEMAN cavern pressure history analysis, depending upon the specific dome or region within the dome. Creep response shoulcl also correlate to interior cavern conditions that produce salt falls. WMle, in general, the caverns in hard sah have a noticeably greater propensity for salt falls, a smaller number of similar events are exhibited even in the caverns in soft salt.

The development of deep underground structures (e.g., shafts, mines, storage and disposal caverns) significantly alters the stress state in the rock near the structure or opening. The effect of such an opening is to concentrate the far-field stress near the free surface. For soft rock such as salt, the concentrating effect of the opening induces deviatoric stresses in the salt that may be large enough to initiate microcracks which then propagate with time. The volume of rock susceptible to damage by microfracturing is often referred to as the disturbed rock zone and, by its nature, is expected to exhibit high permeability relative to that of the native, far-field rock. This paper presents laboratory data that characterize microfracture-induced damage and the effect this damage has on permeability for bedded salt from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant located in southeastern New Mexico. Damage is induced in the salt through a series of tertiary creep experiments and quantified in terms of dilatant volumetric strain. The permeability of damaged specimens is then measured using nitrogen gas as the permeant. The range in damage investigated included dilatant volumetric strains from less than 0.03 percent to nearly 4.0 percent. Permeability values corresponding to these damage levels ranged from 1 {times} 10{sup {minus}18} m{sup 2} to 1 {times} 10{sup {minus}12} m{sup 2}. Two simple models were fitted to the data for use in predicting permeability from dilatant volumetric strain.

Hanging casing strings are used for oil and brine transfer in the domal salt storage caverns of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Damage to these casings is of concern because hanging string replacement is costly and because of implications on cavern stability. Although the causes of casing damage are not always well defined, many events leading to damage are assumed to be the result of salt falls impacting the hanging strings. However, in some cases, operational aspects may be suspected. The history of damage to hanging strings is updated in this study to include the most recent events. Potential general domal and local operational and material factors that could influence the tendency for caverns to have salt falls are examined in detail. As a result of this examination, general factors, such as salt dome anomalies and crude type, and most of the operational factors, such as geometry, location and depressurizations, are not believed to be primary causes of casing damage. Further analysis is presented of the accumulation of insolubles during cavern solutioning and accumulation of salt fall material on the cavern floor. Inaccuracies in sump geometry probably make relative cavern insolubles contents uncertain. However, determination of the salt fall accumulations, which are more accurate, suggest that the caverns with the largest salt fall accumulations show the greatest number of hanging string events. There is good correlation between the accumulation rate and the number of events when the event numbers are corrected to an equivalent number for a single hanging string in a quiescent, operating cavern. The principal factor that determines the propensity for a cavern to exhibit this behavior is thought to be the effect of impurity content on the fracture behavior of salt.

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a facility located in a bedded salt formation in Carlsbad, New Mexico, is being used by the U.S. Department of Energy to demonstrate the technology for safe handling and disposal of transuranic wastes produced by defense activities in the United States. In support of that demonstration, mechanical tests on salt were conducted in the laboratory to characterize material behavior at the stresses and temperatures expected for a nuclear waste repository. Many of those laboratory test programs have been carried out in the RE/SPEC Inc. rock mechanics laboratory in Rapid City, South Dakota; the first program being authorized in 1975 followed by additional testing programs that continue to the present. All of the WIPP laboratory data generated on salt at RE/SPEC Inc. over the last 20 years is presented in this data report. A variety of test procedures were used in performance of the work including quasi-static triaxial compression tests, constant stress (creep) tests, damage recovery tests, and multiaxial creep tests. The detailed data is presented in individual plots for each specimen tested. Typically, the controlled test conditions applied to each specimen are presented in a plot followed by additional plots of the measured specimen response. Extensive tables are included to summarize the tests that were performed. Both the tables and the plots contain cross-references to the technical reports where the data were originally reported. Also included are general descriptions of laboratory facilities, equipment, and procedures used to perform the work.

This paper is concerned with describing a damage mechanics formulation which provides for non-isotropic effects using a scalar damage variable. An investigation has been in progress for establishing the constitutive behavior of rock salt at long times and low to moderate confining pressures in relation to the possible use of excavated rooms in rock salt formations as repositories for nuclear waste. An important consideration is the effect of damage manifested principally by the formation of shear induced wing cracks which have a stress dependent orientation. The analytical formulation utilizes a scalar damage parameter, but is capable of indicating the non-isotropic dependence of inelastic straining on the stress state and the confining pressure. Also, the equations indicate the possibility of volumetric expansions leading to the onset of tertiary creep and eventually rupture if the damage variable reaches a critical value.

This report provides calculational results from the updated Lagrangian structural finite-element programs SPECTROM-32 and SPECTROM-333 for the purpose of qualifying these codes to perform analyses of structural situations in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Results are presented for the Second WIPP Benchmark (Benchmark II) Problems and for a simplified heated room problem used in a parallel design calculation study. The Benchmark II problems consist of an isothermal room problem and a heated room problem. The stratigraphy involves 27 distinct geologic layers including ten clay seams of which four are modeled as frictionless sliding interfaces. The analyses of the Benchmark II problems consider a 10-year simulation period. The evaluation of nine structural codes used in the Benchmark II problems shows that inclusion of finite-strain effects is not as significant as observed for the simplified heated room problem, and a variety of finite-strain and small-strain formulations produced similar results. The simplified heated room problem provides stratigraphic complexity equivalent to the Benchmark II problems but neglects sliding along the clay seams. The simplified heated problem does, however, provide a calculational check case where the small strain-formulation produced room closures about 20 percent greater than those obtained using finite-strain formulations. A discussion is given of each of the solved problems, and the computational results are compared with available published results. In general, the results of the two SPECTROM large strain codes compare favorably with results from other codes used to solve the problems.

Data are presented from the Air Intake Shaft Test, an in situ test fielded at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The construction of this shaft, well after the initial three access shafts, presented an unusual opportunity to obtain valuable detailed data on the mechanical response of a shaft for application to seal design. These data include selected fielding information, test configuration, instrumentation activities, and comprehensive results from a large number of gages. Construction of the test began in December 1987; gage data in this report cover the period from May 1988 through July 1995, with the bulk of the data obtained after obtaining access in November, 1989 and from the heavily instrumented period after remote gage installation between May, 1990, and October, 1991.

The intent of the WIPP, being constructed in the bedded geologic salt deposits of Southeastern New Mexico, is to provide the technological basis for the safe disposal of radioactive Transuranic (TRU) wastes generated by the defense programs of the United States. In determining this technological basis, advanced reliability and structural analysis techniques are used to determine the probability of time-to-closure of a hypothetical underground shaft located in an argillaceous salt formation and filled with compacted crushed salt. Before being filled with crushed salt for sealing, the shaft provides access to an underground facility. Reliable closure of the shaft depends upon the sealing of the shaft through creep closure and recompaction of crushed backfill. Appropriate methods are demonstrated to calculate cumulative distribution functions of the closure based on laboratory determined random variable uncertainty in salt creep properties.

Data are presented from the intermediate scale borehole test, an in situ test fielded in the pillar separating Rooms C1 and C2 at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The test was to provide data on the influence of scale, if any, on the structural behavior of underground openings in salt. These data include selected fielding information, test configuration, instrumentation activities, and comprehensive results from a large number of gages. Construction of the test began in December 1989, with the drilling of the intermediate scale borehole in December 1990. Gage data in this report cover the period from January 1989 through June 1993.

Data are presented from the Geomechanical Evaluation (first phase), a very large scale in situ test fielded underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). These data include selected fielding information, test configuration, instrumentation activities, and comprehensive results from a large number of gages. Construction of the test began in December 1984 and the test has been in operation since that time; gage data in this report cover the period from December 1984 through November 1990.

Data are presented from the 18 W/m{sup 2} Mockup for Defense High-Level Waste, a very large scale in situ test fielded underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). These data include selected fielding information, test configuration, instrumentation activities, and comprehensive results from a large number of gages. The results in this report give measured data from the thermal response gages, i.e., thermocouples, flux meters, and heater power gages emplaced in the test. Construction of the test began in June 1984; gage data in this report cover the complete test duration, that is, to June 1990.

Data are presented from the 18 W/m{sup 2} Mockup for Defense High-Level Waste, a very large scale in situ test fielded underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). These data include selected fielding information, test configuration, instrumentation activities, and comprehensive results from a large number of gages. The results in this report give measured data from the mechanical response gages, i.e., room closure gages, extensometers, and stress meters emplaced in the test. Construction of the test began in June 1984; gage data in this report cover the complete test duration, that is, to June 1990.

The modern investigation of the thermochemical behavior of salt started in the mid-1930's and, for what appears to be a very narrow discipline, salt mechanics'' has acquired considerable technical depth and sophistication. The last three decades have been especially productive in constitutive model development and laboratory investigations of time-dependent creep behavior. This has been largely due to anticipated use of domal or bedded salt deposits as sites for radioactive waste repositories and to expanded need for hydrocarbon and feedstock storage caverns. Salt is an interesting material, in that it is metal like''; and, therefore, constitutive modeling can draw upon a large body of metal deformation information to arrive at appropriate models of behavior. Testing apparatus and methods have centered on either uniaxial or triaxial compression to obtain steady state and transient creep responses. Flow and fracture potentials have been defined. Validation attempts of the models against field data, although limited, have proved promising. 27 refs.

In 1981 the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Project, under the direction of the US Department of Energy (DOE), began construction of a facility in southeastern New Mexico to develop the technology for disposing of radioactive waste from the defense programs. This facility may eventually become a repository for defense Transuranic (TRU) wastes, provided that the facility is demonstrated to be acceptable. Although the complete facility includes both surface and underground construction, the Repository Isolation Systems Division of the Nuclear Waste Technology Department at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is primarily concerned with development of the underground portion of the facility; we focus on that portion of the facility in this report. This report is specific to the Thermal Structural Interactions (TSI) in situ tests of the Experimental Area and is one of a series intended to document the data obtained from the TSI in situ tests and to make these data available to potential users. 32 refs., 60 figs., 29 tabs.

In summary, through thermal/structural calculations and detailed comparisons of the results of a large scale, in situ heated experiment at the WIPP facility, it should be possible to validate the temperature dependence of room deformation. The experiment, when used in conjunction with an identical experimental room which was unheated, is very specific to only the thermal portions of the calculational model. 4 refs., 6 figs.