Injection of Brine from Cavern Leaching into Deep Saline Aquifers: Long-Term Experiences in Modeling and Reservoir Survey

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter explains the long-term experiences in modeling and reservoir survey for the injection of brine from cavern leaching into deep saline aquifers. New technical solutions have to be adopted for disposal-well completion to ensure an optimal injection process and avoid corrosion. New technological innovations are necessary to build a cavern storage facility in the interior of a country without the option of using brine industrially on site, discharging the brine into rivers, or building a pipeline to the open sea. The exploration work was not only performed at the Kraak salt dome but also simultaneously extended, with the same scope of investigations, to the injection formation. Suitable geological structures for brine disposal were found in an area north of the Kraak salt dome in Mesozoic sandstones of the Aalen (Middle Jurassic) and Rat (Upper Triassic) formations. Prognosis calculations with the simulation model have shown that the leaching process and the brine injection in the aquifer can be extended as planned, without reaching critical pressure values in the reservoir. Simulation models provide good evidence to ensure economical and safe brine injection into deep aquifers under long-term conditions.