Storage of LPG in large rock caverns. ISRM Book series / Хранение сжиженного газа в больших скальных пещерах. Серия книг ISRM

Under Japan’s energy policy, the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) operates the national stockpiling project of crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). In addition to three existing above-ground LPG tank facilities, in 2002, construction began on two of the world’s largest facilities, Kurashiki (capacity 400,000 t) and Namikata (450,000 t). These rock cavern storage systems were completed in 2012 allowing the longterm stockpiling operation to continue.

For the first time in Japan, these two high pressure gas storages adopted the hydrodynamic containment system, in which the groundwater pressure holds the gas in unsealed rock tunnels. They are of the world’s largest class.<...>