TY  - CONF
ID  - epos2140
UR  - https://episodesplatform.eu/eprints/2140/
A1  - Cyrille, Balland
A1  - Anne, Raingeard
A1  - Joël, Billiotte
A1  - Bruno, Tessier
A1  - Emmanuel, Hertz
A1  - Grégoire, Hévin,
Y1  - 2016///
N2  - The  natural  gas  storage  in  salt  caverns  requires  faster  injection  cycles  /  racking  due  to  the  increasing 
dynamics of the energy market. These cycles induce rapid changes in the internal pressure of the stored 
gas  causing  important  temperature  changes  that  can  damage  the  rock  salt  mass.  Several  theoretical 
studies have been conducted to estimate this type of damage (Brouard et al, 2011; Sicsic and Berest, 
2014).  To  experimentally  observe  this  damage,  the  Solution  Mining  Research  Institute  (SMRI)  has 
cofounded the Starfish project between 2013 to 2016 and led by Storengy in partnership with the Ecole 
des Mines de Paris, the Salins du Midi and INERIS. The main objective of this project was to initiate and 
characterize the damage by purely thermal stresses at the surface of a large bloc of salt partially slotted 
in  a  rock  mass  of  the  salt  Mine  of  Varangéville  (France).  This  was  to  determine  the  type  of  failure 
mechanism involved, the nature and extent of the cracks induced, as well as amplification of the damage 
of the solid mass with repeated cooling cycles. 
The salt being favorable to the generation of Acoustic Emissions (AE) and the propagation of the stress 
waves,  the  acoustic  monitoring  method  has  been  chosen  to  follow  the  impact  of  the  salt  cooling.  In 
addition  to  thermal  and  mechanical  sensors,  an  acoustic  monitoring  device  consisting  of  16  ultrasonic 
sensors has been installed on the free surface and in boreholes. It enabled to record and locate a large 
number of AE (58426) with good accuracy (2.5 cm). Those AE can be correlated to the evolution of salt 
fracturing. Acoustic monitoring provided a very good insight in the physics of the damaging process.
KW  - Instrumentation and Monitoring
KW  -  Seismic
KW  -  Underground mine
KW  -  Gas Storage
KW  -  Rock Mechanics
KW  -  
France
TI  - Acoustic monitoring of thermo-mechanical tests in a salt mine
M2  - Galveston, Texas, USA
AV  - public
T2  - SMRI Spring 2016 Technical Conference
ER  -