Storage Caverns Research Articles

Are French people ready to accept hydrogen underground storage? An answer through the distance from object model

France's response to the climate crisis includes an ambitious policy to make hydrogen a major component of the energy mix. One of the challenges that must be overcome to achieve this goal is to find a practicable and socially acceptable way of storing hydrogen. The present study investigated potential resistance to hydrogen use in France by examining social representations of hydrogen and its underground storage in salt caverns. To this end, we investigate how distance from the object (knowledge, experience, involvement) affects dimensions that contribute to people's perceptions of, and therefore the social acceptability of, hydrogen as a renewable energy. Results provide valuable insights into French people's perceptions of hydrogen and its underground storage in salt caverns. They also highlight the individual processes, and their intertwining within the social context, that help to shape public opposition to projects aimed at accomplishing the widely accepted need to switch to renewable energies.

Techno-economic analysis of coupling wind-powered green hydrogen production with geological storage

Abstract The intermittent nature of wind power creates mismatches between electricity supply and demand, limiting its penetration in modern electricity grids. In this study, we explore the techno-economic potential to balance grid loads by coupling wind power generation with hydrogen (H 2 ) production and underground storage. For a hypothetical 1 GW electricity market, we compare costs and logistics of wind power with and without coupled H 2 storage in three leading underground storage options: salt caverns, lined rock caverns, and depleted oil and gas reservoirs. We calculate rates of return (ROR) for a 30-year facility lifetime based on 12 320 scenarios that span the full range of project variables, including cavern size, cavern installation costs, cost of hydrolysis, transmission costs, production tax credit, and compression costs. The model is built from the perspective of a hypothetical wind power producer that owns and operates the storage facility and is large enough to sell directly to end users, such that electricity sale prices can be assumed to be in the retail range. The model does not include infrastructure and maintenance costs for a hydrogen transmission network. Therefore, the model is not an optimization of an entire energy system, but rather is optimized for a large entity (a utility) within an energy system under the assumption of constant parameters. The results suggest that coupled H 2 production and storage can increase wind power capacity factors from an average of 0.38 to 0.62 without any loss of wind power generation, or a 40% increase relative to typical capacity factors without H 2 storage. Coupled H 2 storage can also increase a wind farm's ROR from c. 8% to over 15% over a 30-year project lifetime, where underground storage in salt caverns provides the greatest potential ROR increase. We also consider different project financing scenarios and find that subsidizing H 2 storage is more effective in improving wind power economics than existing production tax credits, which suggests that understanding and reducing underground storage costs has greater potential to expand wind power penetration than measures focused explicitly on incentivizing wind power production itself.

Gas-mechanical coupled crack initiation analysis for local air-leakage of compressed air energy storage (CAES) cavern with consideration of seepage effect

The gas-tightness and stability of compressed air energy storage (CAES) cavern (usually with three-layered struction of sealing layer, concrete lining and surrounding rock) plays an important role for ensuring the power-generation efficiency of CAES system. Since the action of the compressed air with high temperature and high pressure would possibly cause the local damage of the sealing layer and lead to the air-leakage from the sealing layer to the surrounding rock, it is necassary to study the gas-mechanical (GM) coupled crack initiation behavior of the surrounding rock in order to provide a scientific basis for anti-cracking design and stability evaluation of CAES cavern. Currently, the GM coupled crack initiation are studied mainly by experimental and numerical methods but little by theoretical method, in which the gas pressure is taken as a static pressure regardless of the seepage effect. In this paper, the calculation formulea of GM coupled Mode I and Mode II SIFs are derived by the superposition principle with the consideration of seepage effect firstly. And then the criterion of GM coupled crack initiation is established based on our K-ratio criterion in order to analyze its mechanism for local air-leakage of CAES cavern. Finally, a gas seepage device is designed to conduct the tri-axial GM coupled compression tests of pre-cracked sandstone specimens on MTS815 hydraulic servo testing machine combined with PCI-II AE instrument to measure the crack initiation stress σi and initiation angle θC. Research results show both σi and θC are decreased with the increasing of gas pressure PG, while increased with the increasing of crack inclination angle β. All of these pre-cracked sandstone specimens have initiation mechanisms of Mode II. The prediction results of initiation angle with consideration of seepage effect is more closer to the test results than those of initiation angle without consideration of seepage effect, which can prove the validity of both our SIFs calculation formulea and the GM coupled criterion with consideration of seepage effect.

Fracture initiation and propagation in the lined underground caverns for compressed air energy storage: Coupled thermo-mechanical phase-field modeling

In this study, to investigate the mechanism of fracture initiation and propagation in the CAES caverns, a coupled thermo-mechanical phase-field model (PFM) considering cavern excavation is proposed. The proposed PFM is coupled with the thermodynamic process of CAES and solved in COMSOL Multiphysics. To verify the capability and accuracy of the numerical model for predicating the tensile cracks of the CAES caverns, the numerical results obtained by using the proposed model are compared with the existing analytical and numerical results. The influence of the lateral pressure coefficient, critical energy release rate, elastic modulus of rock mass and buried depth on the fracture patterns and critical internal pressure is investigated. The results indicate that the fracture patterns are mainly related to the lateral pressure coefficient. As the lateral pressure coefficient of rock mass increases, the tensile fractures gradually deflect to the horizontal direction. With the increase in the lateral pressure coefficient, critical energy release rate, elastic modulus and buried depth, the critical internal pressure inducing the tensile fractures of the CAES caverns increases.

Measurement of hydrogen dispersion in rock cores using benchtop NMR

Electrolysis followed by underground hydrogen storage (UHS) in both salt caverns and depleted oil and gas reservoirs is widely considered as a potential option to overcome fluctuations in energy provision from intermittent renewable sources. Particularly in the case of depleted oil and gas reservoirs, a denser layer of cushion gas (N2, CH4 or CO2) can be accommodated in these storage volumes to allow for sufficient system pressure control as hydrogen is periodically injected and extracted. These gases/fluids are however fully soluble with hydrogen and thus with sufficient mixing can undesirably contaminate the extracted hydrogen product. Fluid mixing in a porous medium is typically characterized by a dispersion coefficient (KL), which is hence a critical input parameter into reservoir simulations of underground hydrogen storage. Such dispersion data is however not readily available in the literature for hydrogen at relevant storage conditions. Here we have developed and demonstrated novel methodology for the measurement of KL between hydrogen and nitrogen in a Berea sandstone at 50 bar as a function of displacement velocity (0.007–0.722 mm/s). This leverages off previous work quantifying KL between carbon dioxide and methane in rock cores relevant to enhanced gas recovery (EGR). This used infrared (IR) spectroscopy to differentiate the two fluids, hydrogen is however IR invisible. Hence the required time-resolved quantification of hydrogen concentration emerging from the rock core is uniquely performed here using bench-top nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The resultant hydrogen-nitrogen dispersion data as a function of displacement velocity allows for the determination of dispersivity (α = 0.31 mm). This intrinsic rock property compares favorably with previous CO2 dispersion measurements on similar sandstones, hence validating our methodology to some extent. In addition, at very low velocities, determination of the rock core tortuosity (τ, another intrinsic rock property) produces a value (τ = 10.9) that is similar to that measurement independently using pulsed field gradient NMR methods (τ = 11.3).

Research on the development of cement slurries for underground hydrogen storage in salt caverns

Artykuł przedstawia wyniki badań nad opracowaniem zaczynów cementowych przeznaczonych do podziemnego magazynowania wodoru w kawernach solnych. Receptury cementowe opracowane zostały w Instytucie Nafty i Gazu – Państwowym Instytucie Badawczym w Laboratorium Zaczynów Uszczelniających. Badania przeprowadzono dla temperatury 45°C i ciśnienia 10 MPa. W badanych zaczynach cementowych jako spoiwo wiążące zastosowano cement wiertniczy G. Zaczyny cementowe sporządzano na solance o pełnym nasyceniu o gęstości 1,2 g/cm3 ze względu na bezpośrednią obecność soli w otworze. Do solanki dodawano kolejno środki: odpieniający, upłynniający i obniżający filtrację. Pozostałe składniki: mikrocement, gips modelowy oraz cement mieszano ze sobą i wprowadzano następnie do wody zarobowej. W przypadku każdego zaczynu cementowego wykonywano badania parametrów technologicznych, takich jak: właściwości reologiczne, gęstość, rozlewność, odstój wody oraz czas gęstnienia zaczynu. Przeprowadzano również badania wytrzymałości na ściskanie po 2 dniach oraz po 3, 5 i 8 miesiącach, a także pomiar porowatości stwardniałych zaczynów cementowych po 8 miesiącach deponowania we w pełni nasyconej solance. Na opracowanych zaczynach wykonano również badanie szczelności stwardniałego zaczynu cementowego dla wodoru. Opracowane zaczyny cementowe charakteryzowały się dobrymi parametrami reologicznymi oraz zerowym odstojem wody. Gęstości zaczynów cementowych wahały się w przedziale od 1900 kg/m3 do 1910 kg/m3. Wszystkie zbadane stwardniałe zaczyny cementowe charakteryzowały się zwartą mikrostrukturą o niskiej zawartości makroporów. Udział porów o średnicy powyżej 10 000 nm wyniósł od 1,9% do 2,5% ilości wszystkich porów. Natomiast udział porów o średnicy poniżej 100 nm w całej matrycy stwardniałego zaczynu cementowego wyniósł od 95,9% do 96,9%. Średni strumień objętości przepływu wodoru przez stwardniały zaczyn cementowy miał wartość od 0,686 cm3/min do 6,85 cm3/min. Dla ustabilizowanych wartości strumienia objętości przepływu obliczono współczynniki przepuszczalności. Średnie wartości współczynnika przepuszczalności dla stwardniałego zaczynu cementowego wynosiły od 0,0000281 mD do 0,000284 mD, co świadczy o dobrej szczelności uzyskanych stwardniałych zaczynów cementowych.

Large-scale storage of hydrogen in salt caverns for carbon footprint reduction

This article presents a geomechanical appraisal of green hydrogen (H2) storage in salt caverns opened by solution mining as a technical contribution to carbon footprint reduction. The location of the salt cavern is speculative, within possible limits to be found in the salt deposits in the Gulf of Mexico of the USA, as the aim is to demonstrate the technical feasibility of the concept. It presents the conceptual design of the wells used for the solution mining of the caverns and the operation cycle of injection and withdrawal of hydrogen. The contribution of the study presented stems from the methodology adopted in the simulation of the geomechanical structural behavior of the salt cavern and in its design for storing hydrogen, which has thermomechanical properties more complex than natural gas. The numerical simulation considers the nonlinear physical viscoelastic and elastoplastic phenomena, with different constitutive laws for representing the geomechanical behavior of geomaterials. The constitutive laws based on deformation mechanisms are used (multi-mechanisms of deformation – M.D.) to simulate the creep of the salt rock. The article also presents a protocol for sizing the caverns, considering more than 40 years of experience in the design of conventional and solution mining of rock salt. It presents the concept of admissible halite creep strain and safety factors necessary to establish a stress belt that avoids hydrogen leaks at all stages of cavern construction and hydrogen storage. Using this methodology, the authors found that the cavern studied (220 m in height and 95 m in diameter) can hold 11,968,000 kg of working hydrogen.

Hydrogen and air storage in salt caverns: a thermodynamic model for phase equilibrium calculations

When storing gas in a salt cavern, it occupies most of the excavated volume, but the lower part of the cavern inevitably contains residual brine, in contact with the gas. The design of hydrogen and compressed air storage in salt caverns requires to have a thermodynamic model able to accurately predict both phase properties such as densities, and phase equilibrium (gas solubility and water content of the vapour phase). This work proposes a parameterization of the e-PPC-SAFT equation of state in this context. Experimental data of pure components and mixtures of light gas + pure water and light gas + salted water are reviewed and used to fit pure component parameters for hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and the brine, and binary interaction parameters between H2, O2, N2 + water and H2, O2, N2 + ions (Na+ and Cl−), for temperature ranging from 273 to 473 K and salinities up to NaCl saturation (6 mol/kg). The model developed delivers good accuracy in reproducing data: the average deviation between experiments and calculated data is between 3% and 9% for gas solubility in saturated brine. More interestingly, the model has been validated on its capability to predict data not included in the parameterization database, including the composition of the vapor phase, and its extension to a mixture, such as air. Finally, it has been used in a case study of Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) to evaluate the water content of the gas produced during injection-withdrawing cycles.

Numerical and laboratory investigations of thermally induced fractures in rock salt

In order to widen the basis for the dimensioning of storage caverns in rock salt, some special attention must be paid to the temperature developments within the cavity during its operation. Passed numerical investigations have shown that a temperature change in the storage medium, such as natural gas or hydrogen, can cause stress differences of several MPa in the rock mass surrounding the cavern. If, as a result, the difference between horizontal and vertical stresses is increased, the rock being additionally loaded by a fluid pressure can fracture orthogonally to the lowest principal stress. The knowledge of temperature conditions and heat flows in the cavern surrounding salt rock are therefore of great importance. A wide variety of factors must be considered when investigating such mechanisms. The novel test facility at the Institute of Geotechnical Engineering of the Leibniz University Hannover is used to simulate the situation that occurs at the caverns edge when storage medium is withdrawn. This means, the cooling and the gas pressure inside the cavity are reconstructed on hollow cylindrical test samples made of rock salt from various locations to draw conclusions about the propagation of fractures and thus the safety of salt caverns under gas-loading. Before inducing any mechanical loads by means of a triaxial cell, a comprehensive investigation of the temperature field, resulting from the locally limited, artificially induced cooling of a sample is carried out with the new testing facility. While local temperatures in the sample drop by about 20 Kelvin, it is free to contract inwards, causing thermal stresses to decrease significantly. Therefore, the facility needs to be optimized and the testing scheme is changed. Instead of reducing stresses thermally, one of the mechanical loadings is diminished while the gas pressure inside the borehole is kept constant. As a result, the material visibly fractures while mechanical loadings are at a fully-compressive state.

Rock Stress Measurement Methods in Rock Mechanics—A Brief Overview

The current brief review paper on rock stress measurement methods is very crucial factors in mining, civil infrastructure, geothermal energy, nuclear underground disposal, large underground oil storage caverns, etc as well as in geology and geophysical area. Measurement of in situ rock stress is a very challenging and difficult quantity and not possible to measure directly. Measure the deformation or displacements or hydraulic factors by perturbing the rock and converting the measured quantity into rock stress. There are two main categories for measuring methods: direct and indirect methods. The most common methods of direct in situ stress techniques are briefly described including advantages, disadvantages and limitations. Moreover, authors included the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for rock stress measurement methods.

Experimental observation and enlightenment from the water inflow abnormal increase for underground water-sealed storage cavern: a case study

Experimental observation and enlightenment from the water inflow abnormal increase for underground water-sealed storage cavern: a case study

Seawater Intrusion Risk and Prevention Technology of Coastal and Large-Span Underground Oil Storage Cavern

The presence of a high concentration of Cl− in saltwater will erode the structure and facilities, reducing the stability and service life of the underground oil storage cavern. In order to reduce the risk of seawater intrusion, this paper studies the risk and prevention technology of seawater intrusion based on a case study of a coastal and large-span underground oil storage cavern. A refined three-dimensional hydrogeological model that comprehensively considers permeability coefficient partitions, faults, and fractured zones are constructed. The seepage fields and seawater intrusion risks of the reservoir site in its natural state, during construction, and during operation are examined, respectively. The study quantifies the water inflow and optimizes the seawater intrusion prevention technology. The results indicate that there is no risk of seawater incursion into the cavern under natural conditions. The water inflows after excavating the top, middle, and bottom sections of the main cavern are predicted to be 6797 m3/day, 6895 m3/day, and 6767 m3/day, respectively. During the excavation period, the water supply from the water curtain system is lower than the water inflow of the cavern, providing the maximum water curtain injection of 6039 m3/day. The water level in the reservoir area decreased obviously in the excavation period, but the water flow direction is from the cavern to the sea. Additionally, the concentration of Cl− in the cavern area is less than 7 mol/m3; hereby, there are no seawater intrusion risks. When only the horizontal water curtain system is deployed, seawater intrusion occurs after 18 years of cavern operation. The concentration of Cl− in the southeast of the cavern group exceeds 50 mol/m3 in 50 years, reaching moderate corrosion and serious seawater intrusion. In addition to the horizontal curtain above the cavern, a vertical water curtain system could be added on the southeast side, with a borehole spacing of 10 m and extending to 30 m below the cavern group. This scheme can effectively reduce seawater intrusion risk and extend the service life of the cavern. The findings of this research can be applied as guidelines for underground oil storage caverns in coastal areas to tackle seawater intrusion problems.

Dynamic tightness evaluation of salt cavern energy storage

Salt cavern tightness evaluation is a prerequisite for salt cavern energy storage. The current salt cavern tightness testing method can only qualitatively evaluate the salt cavern tightness. In this paper, using logging data from a 61-day closed well in a salt cavern of the Jianghan gas storage cavern, a classification model is developed to analyze the factors affecting salt cavern tightness. A hierarchical model is established to analyze the influence weights of temperature and pressure on salt cavern tightness. A population competition model is constructed to analyze the relative importance of pressure and temperature in evaluating salt cavern tightness. Combined with the results of the above analysis, a principal component analysis evaluation model of salt cavern tightness at different moments is established. The accuracy of the evaluation model is verified by combining pressure data. Then, a prediction model is established to analyze the late changes in pressure. The results of the models show that the pressure change has the greatest influence on the salt cavern tightness. The possibility of salt cavern tightness destabilization increases in the pressure anomaly region. The established dynamic evaluation method of salt cavern tightness has a reference value for the engineering practice.

Viscoelastic analysis of surface deformation above salt caverns for gas storage based on semi-infinite space

The construction of salt caverns for energy storage is of strategic significance, but the operation of underground gas storages in salt formations will cause surface deformation. The research and analysis of surface deformation is an important part of the stability evaluation of salt caverns for gas storage. From the perspective of classical mechanics theory, the analytical solution of surface deformation above salt caverns for gas storage is deduced. The surface displacement caused by the contraction of a salt cavern is regarded as the boundary displacement caused by the surface force acting on a spherical cavern in a semi-infinite space. The equivalent conversion of load form is carried out based on the mirror principle. The vertical subsidence and horizontal displacement of the surface of the elastic semi-infinite space is obtained. According to the elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle, the viscoelastic solution of the surface displacement of the semi-infinite body, regarded as Maxwell body, can be obtained. A numerical model of a salt cavern for gas storage is established based on the engineering practice. The results of the analytical solution and the numerical simulation are compared and analyzed to verify the accuracy of the analytical solution. The analytical solution was applied to predict the surface displacement above a group of caverns, and the influence of the layout of salt caverns and cavern center spacing on the surface displacement is analyzed. The research results show that the regular triangular layout is slightly better than the square layout. The larger the cavern center spacing, the smaller the maximum surface subsidence. The proposed theoretical prediction model can provide a theoretical basis for controlling surface deformation for the construction of gas storage caverns.

Hydrogeological model for underground oil storage in rock caverns

For underground engineering, hydrogeological conditions of the engineering site are usually complicated, and a fine hydrogeological model is the basis for the accurate analysis of groundwater flow fields. A 3D fine hydrogeological modeling method applicable to large underground engineering was proposed in this study, which was mainly composed of data preprocessing, initial model establishment and model calibration. The modeling method adequately considers the complexity of geometric parameters and the non-uniformity of the spatial distribution of physical parameters in the geological zone. The boundaries of the model were determined based on independent hydrogeological units. The hydrogeological model is calibrated based on the monitoring data and supplementary investigation information. The 3D fine hydrogeological modeling method has been successfully applied to a large underground water-sealed oil storage engineering under construction. The groundwater level, water inflow and flow directions in four typical construction stages were used as the calibration information. Based on the fine hydrogeological model, the flow analysis was conducted to assess the containment properties of the oil storage caverns during operation. The feedback analyses of the buried depth of underground engineering and the permeability reduction ratio of the grouted zone of caverns were carried out. Through flow analyses, the complex geological conditions had obvious influence on the groundwater flow field, and the hydraulic connection between the oil storage and the river boundaries was obtained. The permeability reduction ratio of the grouted zone of caverns in this engineering was from 18% to 45%. The analysis results showed that the oil storages met the requirements of containment properties during operation. The 3D fine hydrogeological model is helpful to accurately analyze the groundwater flow field for underground engineering, and can provide scientific guidance to the design, construction and operation of underground water-sealed oil storage engineering.

Migration behaviour of LNAPL in fractures filled with porous media: Laboratory experiments and numerical simulations

With the increasing requirement of maintaining world energy security and strategic reserves, oil storage and transportation facilities are being built at a large scale. Taking the safe and efficient operation of petroleum storage projects as the goal, a set of experimental apparatus to investigate the migration of contaminants in fractures filled with media was developed to predict and evaluate the environmental risk of oil contaminants leakage. A multiphase numerical flow model based on COMSOL was built based on the laboratory experimental model. Specifically, the migration behaviour of Light Non-aqueous Phase Liquid (LNAPL) through a sand-filled fractured medium was studied by laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. Image and chemical analyses methods were used to monitor and study LNAPL migration behaviour for varying grain sizes of porous medium filling the fractures and varying groundwater table elevations. Laboratory experimental results showed that the LNAPL migration velocity in filled fracture network was significantly faster than that in adjoining porous media during the initial stage of infiltration. The migration velocity increased with the relative permeability of filled sand, which was closely related to the Van Genuchten (VG) model parameters α and n. LNAPL migrated downward with the falling groundwater table and became entrapped with the rising groundwater table, and the amount of entrapment depended on VG model parameters. Hydrogeological parameters were calibrated and LNAPL migration in filled fractured media was predicted using the calibrated numerical model. Simulation results revealed that fracture inclination had an important influence on LNAPL migration in filled fractured media and its migration velocity decreased with a decrease in fracture inclination. These research results can be applied to the control and remediation of oil-contaminated sites in fractured rock settings, such as at underground oil storage tanks and caverns, as well as at underground oil pipelines.

The Air-stripping Process Conjugated with the Ultrasonic Treatment to Remove TOC in Groundwater around the LPG Underground Storage Cavern

The Air-stripping Process Conjugated with the Ultrasonic Treatment to Remove TOC in Groundwater around the LPG Underground Storage Cavern

Blowout Prediction on a Salt Cavern Selected for a Hydrogen Storage Pilot

To prevent climate change, Europe and the world must shift to low-carbon and renewable energies. Hydrogen, as an energy vector, provides viable solutions for replacing polluting and carbon-emitting fossil fuels. Gaseous hydrogen can be stored underground and coupled with existing natural gas pipe networks. Salt cavern storage is the best suited technology to meet the challenges of new energy systems. Hydrogen storage caverns are currently operated in the UK and Texas. A preliminary risk analysis dedicated to underground hydrogen salt caverns highlighted the importance of containment losses (leaks) and the formation of gas clouds following blowouts, whose ignition may generate dangerous phenomena such as jet fires, unconfined vapor cloud explosions (UVCEs), or flashfires. A blowout is not a frequent accident in gas storage caverns. A safety valve is often set at a 30 m depth below ground level; it is automatically triggered following a pressure drop at the wellhead. Nevertheless, a blowout remains to be one of the significant accidental scenarios likely to occur during hydrogen underground storage in salt caverns. In this paper, we present modelling the subterraneous and aerial parts of a blowout on an EZ53 salt cavern fully filled with hydrogen.

Shape design and safety evaluation of salt caverns for CO2 storage in northeast Thailand

Salt caverns are an adequate solution for the sequestration of CO2 (large capacity, safety and long-term operation). The large rock salt deposits of the Maha Sarakham Formation represent a very promising location. Designing salt caverns is still a complex issue. In this paper, the stability of typical cavern shapes (spherical, cylindrical, teardrop, bulb, and pear) was evaluated based on displacement, von Mises stress, safety factor, and volume change. The analysis aimed to find the optimal cavern shape for salt deposits at Ban Nong Plue, Borabue district, Maha Sarakham province, northeast Thailand. The Finite Element simulations investigating the cavern stability are carried out for a time span of 600 years (> 500 years is considered permanent storage). The bulb-shaped cavern yielded the best results, indicating that it constitutes the optimal shape in the given geological conditions. The stability of all analyzed caverns showed a dependence on the operating stage. Each stability factor exhibited large differences between the periods of cavern construction/brine discharge and pre-pressurization by CO2 injection. A lower cavern pressure negatively affected the evaluated factors. The results can be useful in planning future cavern fields for CO2 storage (and other gases) in salt deposits.

Study on thermodynamic behaviour of natural gas and thermo-mechanical response of salt caverns for underground gas storage

Using salt caverns for underground gas storage (UGS) is an important energy storage solution. A coupled aero-thermo-mechanical (ATM) model with an integrated wellbore–3D realistic cavern geometry was established to investigate the thermodynamic behaviour of natural gas and the thermo-mechanical response of rock salt for UGS caverns. Unlike classical thermo-gas-mechanical (TGM) models that assume the cavern gas is an ideal gas and in an isotropic thermodynamic state, the ATM model solved thermodynamic properties for the real gas, and revealed the tempo-spatial varying gas state and its mechanism. Predictions of gas temperature, pressure and flux by ATM modelling well captured the in-situ measurements obtained by the distributed optical cable monitoring system during a one-month field testing at Jintan UGS site. Effects of the tempo-spatial varying gas state on the mechanical response were unveiled by ATM modelling. Predictions of mechanical response by TGM modelling shared similar patterns as that by ATM modelling, however, the TGM model tended to underestimate the risk of creep failure, tensile failure, fatigue failure and plastic damage due to the isotropic gas state. The proposed model could be used to improve the thermodynamic and mechanical predictions that are pertinent to the optimal design and the stability of caverns.