9/12/2014

Offshore World

Underground Rock Cavern Storages Challenges and Project Management

R K Pillai, CEO, Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL)

With rapid economic growth and the increasing energy requirement of Indian households, the issue of
Energy Security has assumed importance. In view of the countrys high dependence on imported crude
oil, volatility of oil prices in the international market as well as perpetual political instability in some of
the major oil exporting nations/regions, the Indian Government appointed Indian Strategic Petroleum
Reserves Limited (ISPRL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV), to build and commission strategic storage
of crude oil at three locations (Visakhapatnam, Mangalore, and Padur) to ensure uninterrupted supply of
crude oil to the countrys large and well spread energy supply chain. R K Pillai, CEO, Indian Strategic
Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL), details the challenges and geological risks while excavating the
underground rock caverns storages. He also describes the magnitude of works, project management, and
bidding process in successfully commissioning the underground caverns. Edited excerpts from Pillais
presentation delivered during the Oil & Gas World Expo 2014.
In January 2006, the government approved the financial plan for the strategic reserves to create 5 million
metric tonnes (MMT) of crude oil storage. The capacity is almost 75 days of the entire crude oil
production of ONGC. This storage was to be in underground rock cavern. The client ISPRL was
required to create the largest underground caverns, ever excavated, in the country, without any technical
expertises, the necessary land acquisition, environment clearance and supporting infrastructure, within a
timeline of six years. The height of the caverns is almost equivalent to a ten story building and the main
storage galleries as long as 913 meter.
Risk & Challenges Involved in Underground Works
It is noted that storage in rock caverns is akin to storage of
hydrocarbon and porous vessels. Hence there were challenges
with respect to containment of products. Unlike aboveground
works where it is possible to a large extent to determine the timelines required for different activities,
determination of timelines for underground works is not easy because geology can change very rapidly
in underground works.
Drilling & blasting method for excavation in underground works can vary depending upon the rock
quality. When the rock quality is good, it is possible to excavate large quantum of rock, but when the
rock quality is poor, excavation can be painfully slow. This is because the support requirements for
stabilising the cavities are different.
This is a major factor in deciding the timelines for underground project and can also be a major issue
while deciding the performance of a contractor. A good contractor despite his best effort can end up
being slow in excavation when he encounters poor rock condition. Geological risks during construction
of underground cavern include wedge failures that can cause fatalities and slow down the progress of the
project.
Fault can cause a rock slide, hidden behind the bench. When the bench is excavated because of the
weight of the rock, a rock slide can occur, and huge quantities of rock can come crashing down,
resulting in accidents and delays.
Water bearing zones or aquifers could result in large water ingress into caverns or shafts, resulting in a
slow down of works. Such problems were encountered by ISPRL in cavern projects in Vishakhapatnam.
Water jetting out of the joints of the caverns with a speed as high as 17/18 kg per square centimeter can
create problems for the progress of the underground works.
Large number of equipment are deployed for excavation of caverns in underground works and handling
these equipments like loaders, huge excavators PC 200 can be risky because these are louvered
through shafts.

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9/12/2014

Offshore World

Magnitude of Works in Caverns

A typical process scheme of crude cavern is included the
construction of both underground and aboveground facilities
(Figure 1). Aboveground facilities are to be constructed as per
standard oil industry practice and layout shall be as per Oil
Industry Safety Directorate (OSID) guidelines.
For the underground facilities, the quantum of excavation
made by ISPRL is shown in Figure 2.
In Figure 2, the encircled highlights that the total tunneling
requirement was approximately 30 km, drilling of borehole of water curtain was to the extent of 76 km
and rock excavation was almost 22 million tonnes. The excavated rock debris can fill almost 2.5 million
standard 10 ton trucks.
For the underground facilities, the quantum of material used
by ISPRL is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3 shows that the amount of concrete used was around
1,77,000 cubic meter, shotcrete around 94,000 cubic meter,
rock bolts around 7,000 tonnes, reinforcement steel around
10,000 tonnes and explosive around 8,300 tonnes.
The aboveground facilities were also a complex task; and packages and systems used by ISPRL in
aboveground facility included:
In-shaft facilities
DCS, Metering skids and instrumentation
Hot oil circulation system including boilers & heat
exchangers
Diesel/Fuel oil storage facilities
Flare system
Nitrogen system
Effluent treatment plant
Electrical substation, switchyard and distribution system
Standby generator
Compressed air supply system
The quantum of work involved in the aboveground facility was equal to a crude unit in a medium size
refinery.

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