SPE 28127

First underground refrigerated LPG caverns in Brazil

EO. Franciss, Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, PROGEO Engineering Consulting Ltd, Brazil

Copyright 1994. Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 1994 Eurock SPEIISRM Rock Mechanics in
Petroleum Engineering Conference held in Delft, The Netherlands, 29-31 August 1994.

ABSTRACT: It is rep0l1ed about the geotechnological investigations and the subsequent analysis as well as
about the pre-design considerations of a planned underground refrigerated cavern system for gas in Brazil.

RESl.M: On rapporte sur les investigationo; geotechnologiques et les analyses consequentes aussi bien que
sur les considerations de l'avant-projet d'un systeme de stockage souterrain refrigere pow' gas prevu au Bresil.

ZUSAt\;llvIENFASSUNG: Es wird iiber die geotechnologischen Vorerkundungen und die folgende Analysen
sowie iiber des Vorprojektes Uberlegungen eines geplante abgekiihltet Speicherkavernensystem von Gas in
Brasil berichtet.

PRELIMINARIES GEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

The Brazilian state oil company - PETROBR.4.S in-
tends to construct the first underground storage fa-
cility in Brazil. It will be a fully refrigerated one and
for imported LPG at -43 'C. The planned plant is to
be located between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo at
the southeast coast of Brazil in the S. Sebastiao
maritime terminal. Storage space will result from 2
traditionally mined caverns of 115 000 m 3 nominal
capacity each.
According to the observations of Prof. Lindblom in
his first Review Report to PETROBRAS I: "The
interaction between the stored (refrigerated) prod-
uct and the rock masses poses an advanced engi-
neering problem which requires careful planing
and design. " That assertion implies the necessity of
a cautious conduct concerning the design criteria
and the layout conception.
This paper summarizes the results of the investiga-
tions and analysis already made as well as the result-
ing pre-design layout and preferred solutions. These
solutions partly translate the formal opinion and
judgment of Prof. Lindblom. However, whatever
faults and defects the conceptual scheme still has
they are of author's full responsibility.
The rock masses at the selected site belong to the
Brazilian Pre-Cambrian Shield. It is locally consti-
tuted of a diversified gnaissic complex traversed by
recent sub-vertical diabase diques. !vIost of the oc-
curring gnaisses conform to typical migmatites. The
general foliation plunge is N-36 0 127 0 • • The depth
of the weathered cover attains 30 to 40 m. Occa-
sionally, deep altered zones, locally related to mega-
fractures, faults and/or diques crossings, are found
bellow the 100 m depth.
The major geological features examined for de-
termining the caverns location, were the poor ex-
posed megafractures, faults and diques. The statisti-
cal distribution of the slickensides planar features
was also attentively contemplated. Figure 1 shows
the photo-interpreted megafractures.
• All geo-structural measurements are referred to the spherical
coordinates of the normals to the planar features they con-
cern or of the linear ones themselves. Bearing varies from
N-Oo to N-3600. Dip or phmge varies from Z-OO to Z-900

777
 Searing H Bearing; Suring rv 8eanr.g III
variation of the bearing of the major horizontal
/' stress with depth elevation. A clear variation is
t· noted, probably due to the influence of the site
\;- morphology and/or to the unequal intrinsic elastic
F parameters of the non-hom~gen~us r~ck. ~asses,
r ., mainly near the weathered major discontinUItIes.
~
"""/~\~ 30 ----..,..-
,---...,,-----,
j'':; :::<:-: .,>,"

....an. 20~ -
IC
IC IC.• --)(,'-
a( ~---.-.... IC + IC
10 - .__----~ + __ -
------:t='-; + +
~
Figure 1: lriferred megafractures at Silo Sebastiilo ~
+ +
maritime terminal ++
1-
Figure 2 shows the aggregated statistical distribution O~-----~'------~I~--~.
50 100 150 200
of the geological features at the proposed site, ac- .Depth (in)
cording to a detailed field work done by Pr?f. Yo- AJ-~e trr.ndfor so
citeru Hasui and Geol. Soares de Magalhlies n • A~etrendforSH
1- .Min.-1r oonzo~lt.!ils/rr.:ss
a(
_Y~or oonzont.!il .<;hr.ss

Figure 3: Variation of the major and minor horizontal

geostatic stresses with depth
'0
j ~ 200--------------~----~
E ',- 0
:J
Z o
100 o o
-----------------0
00
o
o -100 50
~ '!
0 0
';
0
'1
0
"1
c
"'!
c
'! "I
0 c
-;
c 0
r
c
N
c
OJ
c
• ~ .
c
I? c
II .
c
.Depth elevatil.m (rn./
83eringd;J) o .MiI/or oonzont.!ilstress

~M; OAt
I
A ver4!?e direclIi'f1
IIICqsIl:ul
I
Figure 4: Variation of the orientation of the major
horizontal geostatic stress with depth
Figure 2: Statistical distribution of the orientation of
the geolOgical features
Groundwater And Permeability

ROCK A.-IASS DATA Groundwater level at site varies very quickly during
and past intense Summer storms. However they are
Geostatic Stresses quite stable during the dry periods. An estimate of
the lowest water level elevation for design purposes,
Hydraulic fracturing measurements were made by for a long dry period, was based on data from a
Prof. Haimson iii. Figure 3 shows the depth distri- borehole located near the hill border. A limit of + 10
bution of the values found for the ·major and minor m was inferred and assumed to be the minimum
horizontal stresses. Some unexpected high values pre-design water level. Figure 5 shows the declining
are quite difficult to explain. Mean estimates are water level measurements and their forecast. Water
11.5 and 7.0 MPa for the major and minor stresses, level changes are continuously being controlled to
respectively. The lithostatic vertical stress was as- produce more dependable data.
sumed to be a principal. one. Figure 4 shows the

778
 ~
~ 30 r-------------~----------_, JO
1. I
$'
/----------------
.~

<\)

"'---- ---..... -
"
11::
~
20 ~ I -----______.
e,
<\) I
I
- -
I
~
10
.~
~<\)
10 L-__________ ____________ ~
I I
~ ~

0
0 2 4 6
10 100
Spacingc m)
DIY pr.n'x/ (i:I~v)
Wale-f Ie-vc/ drop
Joint spacing
00 Wale-f Ie-vclfDe-as/.lfe'D1e-ols
Figure 7: Inferred joint spacing statistical distribution
Figure 5: Declining water table at borehole SR6:
measured and predicted
Mechanical And Thermal Properties
Results from 99 Lugeon tests perfonned along 2
Mechanical
inclined boreholes gave an average apparent hy-
draulic conductivity around 10 - 8 mise Lower values Intact rock average uniaxial compressive
attained 10 - 6 to 10 - 7 mls indicating the existence strength: 81.1 Afpa
of favored hydraulic conduits of much higher per- Intact rock average uniaxial tensile strength: -5.7
meability. A crude estimate of the mean hydraulic ~"IPa
conductivity tensor, based on a bias corrected statis- Hoek-Brown m parameter for the intact rock:
tical analysis of the polar coordinates of the sampled around 14
fractures along the oriented cores, gave the result
shown on figure 6. The downward orientation of Hoek-Brown s parameter for the rock mass:
the highest penneability KPT/ax reflects the existence 0.03, as modal value
of a set of parallel and transversal high dip joints to Intact rock average modulus of elasticity: 51 844
the gnaissic foliation. AfPa

N Thermal t

Average thermal diffusivity: <X.-r = 1.21 +

0.00615·T cm2/s, ()(.T=200C = 1.24.10-2 cm2 /s
Average specific heat: Cp = 2.332.10-1 callgOC
Average thennal capacitance: Ss = 6.251.10-1
callcm3 0C
Average thennal conductivity: K T = 3,33-
Kmax 1.7 10 /\ - 8 m1s 0.0172·T calls cm oC, KT='...o0c = 7.75.10-3
calls cmoC; estimated anisotropy: K.n.x =
o Eigenvalues 8.350.10-3 calls cmoC, II to foliation and
Kmm = 6.680.10-3 calls cmoC, 1. to foliation
Figure 6: Average hydraulic conductivity tensor of the Average thermal expansion coefficient: \3 =
rock mass 8.1.1006 /oC

Joints LAYOUT AND DESIGN ISSUES

The statistical distribution of the general joint spac-
ing, based on scan line counts, is shown in figure 7.
The modal value is around 2 m. The two dominant
joint trends, one parallel and other normal do the
strike of the foliation, are N-27 ° 186 0 and
N- 136 ° /82 ~ Secondary joints traverse foliation at
low angles.
Cavern Axis Orientation
The best cavern axis orientation should match the
major horizontal stress direction and diverge from
those related to the major geological features. It was
t Temperature T in degree centigrade

779
initially supposed that the major horizontal stress
bearing was exactly the reverse of the true picture
revealed at depths greater than the -80 m elevation.
The hydraulic fracturing results imply a best orien-
tation around N+500. Conversely the major geo-
logical features imply two possibilities: N-15 a to N-
25°andN+80 0 to N+l 100.
As major geological features are always related to
wan and roof instabilities, mainly slikenside trends,
it was decided to select the cavern axis orientation
based on their presumed consequences. Thi-; was
done despite the relative importance of the direction
of the major horizontal stress. However, this direc-
tion has a great spread as shown in figure 4. Bearing
N+50° is a tendency at the low elevations of the
rock mass core but not near its borders, as indicated
by the upper and lower points of figure 4.
The selected bearing was N-20o. Orientation be-
tween N+80 a and N+ 1 00 a was discarded because it
crosses a very deep weathered zone detected by the
geophysical survey. Figure 8 shows the adopted lo-
cation.
457.600 N
West cavern l
I
East cavern
,>-\
\ · · ••. ·., PTEN
1 water-saturated rock mass is capable of maintain-
'\\ I \'\
\~\\" iI \\·.~k
\,.
~\i--S. PTEM
\~ \\\
}\\ \¢\
\\A.··. . IPTES
\~~
I \ \. . \.\.. PTOS
II \\
I
Figure 8: Caverns location
Cavern Depth
The roof elevation of the caverns should not be
primarily based on geological grounds alone. The
geological factors only assist its choice. The main
criterion is to simultaneously avoid the hazardous
mixing of the liquefied LPG with the surrounding
groundwater at temperatures above oce and/or to
hamper the groundwater inflow towards the cavity.
It was suspected that the stored liquefied LPG could
enter the opened fractures of the over-relaxed rock
mass near the cavern walls. Probably, due to the
progressive cooling of the rock mass, the liquefied
LPG could continue to percolate farther, mainly in
the horizontal direction. Indeed, the hydraulic aper-
tures of the rock mass fractures could gradually ex-
pand as a result of the gradual thermal shrinkage of
the intact rock blocks.
A suggested design criterion for refrigerated LNG
caverns is to halt the hydraulic aperture growth due
to the rock blocks thermal contraction by augment-
ing the cavern depth. hence increasing the
lithostatic stresses. However, applying that criterion
for refrigerated LPG caverns leads to uneconomical
depths. Moreover, for refrigerated LPG caverns
such a design philosophy conflicts with the empiri-
cal evidence. " ... it is surprising... ", as stated by
Dahlstrom referring to the above design criterion
iv • "... that propylene can be stored satisfactori(Y in
an unlined rock cavern at -40'(:' in Stenungsund
with an overburden of only 15m." According to
Prof. Undblom v: ''The continuous tightening ef-
foct of ice in rock fractures surrounding a refrig-
erated LPG cavern is proven in a number of proj-
ects in Scandinavia. At the boiling point tempera-
tures and vapor pressures typical of propane (and
propane/butane mixtures), it is apparent that a
ing its tightness as the frozen zone is migrating
outwards. Opening of the joint ~ystem in the ro<-*
ma')s in this process thus appears to be accompa-
nied by continuous water migration towards the
7.367.600E
cavern and concurrent ice growth in the rock
fractures. This basic principle for .frozen LPG
storage is also proven to work well in the case of
large caverns with stress-relaxed rock walls. "
Results of a crude heat transfer analysis, shown be-
low, effectively suggest that very thin films of slow
seeping water can tum to ice under very low spe-
cific thermal loads, thus ensuring the tying of the
frozen zone.
According to Prof. Lindblom Review Report i " .••
the roof level of the caverns could be raised to
about -50 In elevation without technical difficulties
but evident advantages regarding cost, time and
technical simplicity ... ". To glk'lfantee plenty
groundwater and preselVe a minimum hydrody-
namic pressure above the roof, without the help of a
water curtain, "... pre-grouting should be made of
all charge holes in the access tunnel and in the
caverns, which display flow qf water upon comple-
tion qf drilling ... ".
780
Disregarding the batTier effect secured by pre- groundwater level variation control should be done
grouting, the lowest final groundwater height stabi- during the excavation and the cooling down period.
lizes around J 0 m above the roof, except near the Remedial measures can be taken if needed. Figure
shafts. Supposing an overall rock mass penneability 11 shows the cavern and terrain pro:ftle at the se-
around J 0 - 8 mis, considering the initial groundwa- lected depth.
ter level at + J 0 m elevation, assuming an unavoid-
Or--r-,-----------~,-----------~,-,
able groundwater drainage towards the caverns, de-
spite pre-grouting, and locating the access tunnel
outside the draining zone, a minimum groundwater -
level above the cavern roof at -50 m level can be
roughly predicted as shown in figures 9 and 10. -
--60 L..---1.
I ____________- 'I-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _-I' - - - - '
-zoo o 200
Distance from CL (m)
Water table profile
Roof level

Figure 10: Water table pr~file above cavern ro~lat -50

m elevation. Barrier effttct secured by pre-grouting is
not talam into account

PTOS

.,...-' ...----f/
~..-"-~-"""- I
PTOM .//'/ I

--l
PTON ,/ I
~m / ( i
-'IT-l I
--t-----
I
l38,0

I
in
j
1
114,0 m

PTON30. - 20,4 m
PTON9 - 41,4 m
PTONB - 44,4 reo
i 114,0 m

PT0t.130. - 21,0 m
f-'T0t.19. - 42,0 m
PTOMB - 45.0 rn
PTOS30 - 22.B rr.
PTOS9 - 45,6 m
PTOSB. - 48,6 m
-~1.0m ___ ~-

Figure 11: Cavern and terrain pr~file at the selected

depth

Cavern Cross-section. Shqfis And Access Tunnel

~'------ ---..--~ ...

-2ov&+--------~I--~==~I==~--~--~-,_~I-O------~ Cavern cross-section

-100 -50 0 ' 100
S Two alternatives for the excavation of the main
cavern cross-section will probably be given to the
Figure 9: Final steady state water table contour plot
bidding contractors, as was done in Finland vi. The
for the cavern roof at -50 m elevation and excluding
first one, of less common shape, corresponds to a
the barrier ttffect secured by pre-grouting. All data are
shorter cavern. The second one, of usual shape, re-
in m. The rectangular coordinates of the map are re-
ferred to the symmetry axis of the 2 caverns. sults in a longer cavern. Both are shown in figure
12. The barrel shaped cross-section was suggested
It is taken for granted that an extensive and careful by the late Prof. Leopold MUller' and adopted once
pre-grouting should hamper such a large drawdown, by NESTE OY. It is undoubtedly the most suitable
chiefly around the shafts. Thus a much higher over-
pressure is counted upon, around 30 to 40 m, se-
cured by the mandatory rock mass extensive grout Oral communication by the late Stig Johansson from
treatment around the excavated space. Continuous NESTEOY.

781
shape for the geostatic stress conditions at site. The THERMAL Al'.'D MECHANICAL ANALYSIS
conservative and well proven shape is more compli-
ant to the common practice. The barrel shaped has Thermal Ana{vsis
a rather small topheading area and is preswned to
As a tentative pre-design criterion it was decided
be followed by 3 horizontal benches. The traditional
that before the start up of the commercial operation,
shape has a greater topheading and is planned with
the zero degree isotherm at the most critical part of
only 2 vertical benches. Final selection will be based
the cavern should stay at least 3 m above its roof,
on economical criteria.
planned to be initially kept under -12.5 <t::'.

T
I I I

~ 2 r- ",
,

"'-... -
28.4 to 31.5 m

1
]
1'"
~
lr-

0
I
',---
.---------
I I
-

o 100 200 300 400

t1S.5 to 20.5 m ~ t-18t020m ~ Required cooling period (day)
- - Cooling period x Load
BARREL SHAPED TRADITIONALLY SHAPED
Figure 13: Required cooling periods to fit the design
Figure 12: Cross-section alternatives
criterion

Shafts
Shaft diameter is reduced to almost 3 m. A lined
shaft sinking is planned to cross the 20 to 30 m
weathered cover. A raised bored one appears to be
more favorable than sinking for the continuing 45 to
55 m depth. An extensive pre-grouting program is
0.4
imperative to avoid free groundwater drainage. .500 1000 1.500 2000 2.500 3000

Access tunnel Thermolload (kW)

According to Prof. Undblom recommendations in
his Review Report', the access tunnel should not be
located over and in the vicinity of the caverns roofs
as to preserve the hydrostatic groundwater pressure.
That guideline can be kept with an average inclina-
tion slightly less than 1: 7.
It is presupposed that forced ventilation through the
access tunnel can be arranged as to fit the Brazilian
excavation works code until completion of the
shafts.
As only one addit per cavern should be permitted,
the sloping floor solution, as shown in fIgUre 11,
will be retained for both cavern cross-section alter-
natives. Despite its pros and cons, the sloping floor
solution was consider most suitable for the planned
caverns vii •
- - Load x Costs
Figure 14: Relative total costs for different thermal
loads, including im'estment, operation and financial
ones.
The North border of the cavern, near the shaft,
where the "heat inflowlboundary swf"ace" is great-
est, was considered to be the most critical one.
Cooling times for distinct thermal loads at that loca-
tion were estimated considering a natural rock mass
temperature of +24CC:. For economic and contin-
gency reasons, a 1 380 kW plant was selected by the
owner. The required cooling periods to fit the de-
sign criterion and the relative total costs for different
loads, including investment, operation and financial
ones, are shown in figures 13 and 14.

782
 1.5 I roughly estimated considering a cavern volume of
~-------- ...... 1/5 000 m 3 and an available maximum thermal10ad
"\ of J 380 kW. An empirical regional relationship
)
- between the fracture spacing and the equivalent hy-
\ draulic aperture was used in those calculations. An
\
",~--- - unit downward hydraulic gradient above roof was
assumed. Figure 17 shows the resulting relationships
o '--_ _ _ _ _ _""--1_ _ _ _ _- - - ' among the equivalent hydraulic aperture of the
fractures, the available specific thermal load, the
o 200 400
required one to bring down the inflow to the freez-
Cooling period (day)
ing point and the needed one to turn it to ice.
Time x Load
Figure /5: lvlodulated ideal thermal load to ensure a 10 r-----..."r------.r---/----.
freezed 3m thick zone above the (..'avem roof at the
North border as well as -12.5'C at the wall periphery
and to allow the beginning of the second cavern cool-
/ ---
ing down almost 6 month later, using the same refrig-
eration plant
/
..---
.-- .

-
The corresponding "time x temperature" plot in the
critical section for different distances from the cav-
ern roof are shown in figure 16. At the middle of
the caverns the temperature fall at a point located 3 -
m above the roof attains -7"C for the same modu-
lated load.

40 I I
0.01
o 200 400 600
Hydraulic aperture (micra)
20 Load to congeal
Q '- ", Load to freeze to + OC
~
\ '--. ' Available load
::s \,
.
2
~
0 '.". ---" ..............
Figure 17: Equivalent hydraulic aperture and the
~ .....................;--:---~ available specific load, the required specific load to
-20 ......,............
.... _----..-----...
..'/ bring down the groundwater inflow to +O'C and the
needed specific load to freeze it

-40~------------~------------~
o 200 400
For equivalent hydraulic apertures smaller than 200
Cooling period (da.'l.1
J.i the available thermal load is adequate to guaran-
Roof temperature tee a relative fast freezing. For apertures between
J m above roof
200 and 400 J.i only slow icing can be ensured layer
2 m above roof
by layer, beginning at the fracture borders and
3 m above roof
gradually enlarging up to its center. Above 400 f.I
- 12.5 C
the available thermal load is insufficient even to cool
Figure 16: Varying temperatures at and above cavern the moving water to 0 "C. A correct analysis is more
roof related to the modulated ideal thermal load complicated due to the alterations of the physical
properties of the occluded water, particularly at and
Heat transfer dwing the cooling down of the satu- near its boundary layer. However these preliminary
rated rock mass is influenced by the water discharge results enforce the absolute need of pre-grouting, as
rate through the rock mass fractures. Minimal 10 to 20 % of the rock mass fractures at site have
conditions to solidify the groundwater inflow were equivalent hydraulic openings greater than 400 f.L

783
A similar heat transfer and freeze process may ex-
plain the uninterrupted icing of the progressive and
slow groundwater influx through a saturated rock
mass around a refrigerated LPG cavern, as the fro-
zen zone migrates outwards and intact rock blocks
shrink.
Thermomechanical Analysis
iii Haimson, B. C. 1992. Hydraulic fracturing stresses
measurements at the Sao Sebastiao terminal,
PETROBRAs
ivDahlstrom, L. O. 1992. Rock mechanical conse-
quences of refrigeration, Chalmers University
vLindblom, U. 1994. Answer,s to questions raised on
Review Report, PETROBRAS
vi Ignatius, v., Johansson, S., Ravaska, P.: Underground

High horizontal geostatic stresses ordinarily subsi~t oil project U20-U22 NESTE OY Porvoo works, Fin-
land, 1982.
in the Brazilian Pre-Cambrian shield. These high
vii Branfors, S. , Nord, G.: Design of underground
compressive stresses induce a reasonably relaxed
structures with respect to modem construction meth-
zones behind tunnel and cavern walls without any ods from a contractor's view point, IV ISRM Interna-
apparent severe consequences. even for very large tional Congress, Montreux, 1979.
spans. However, the cooling down of the LPG cav-
erns will certainly displace the outer boundary of the
roof and wall relaxed zone deeper inside the rock
mass, far away from the opening periphery. That
refrigerated zone will certainly be over-relaxed due
to the intact rock blocks shrinkage. The temporary
compressive stresses due to the progressive icing of
the gradual inflow of groundwater will rapidly dis-
appear owing to the ice high plasticity. The near
roof compressive stresses at - 40'C will be pre-
sumably lower than the highest ones induced after
the last bench excavation.
Correct judgments ought to be done up till the
cooling down. Issues still under analysis are the ap-
propriate design criteria and the materials prescrip-
tions for the rock mass reinforcements to assure the
long term stability of the frozen caverns.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks go to the technical staff from
PETROBRAS for their assistance in the preparation
of this paper. Author is also indebted to the Trans-
port Department Head Mr. Eugenio Koslinsky, to
the General Project Manager Mr. Paulo Cesar
Dutra da Silva and to the Project Coordinator Mrs.
Claudia Fernandes Carneiro Leao for their helpful
support. Particular thanks are extended to Prof.
Linblorn, PETROBRAS Specialist Consultant, for
his consequential appraisal and remarks during his
visit to Brazil and through his Review Report.

REFERENCES
i Lindblom, U. 1994. Refrigerated LPG Storage in
Rock Caverns at TEBAR, Review Report,
PETROBRAs
ii Y ociteru, H. and SO,ares Magalhaes, F. 1991, Modelo
Geo-estrutural da Area do Projeto de Armazenagem
de GLP no Terminal Maritimo Almirante Barroso,
Sao Sebastiao. PETROBRAs

784