E - Fixed Constructions – 21 – F
Patent
E - Fixed Constructions
21
F
61/2.3
E21F 17/16 (2006.01)
Patent
CA 1093321
A B S T R A C T An underground storage reservoir for LNG or other fluids at cryogenic temperatures comprises an under-ground cavern usually insulated, in which the cryogenic fluid is stored, an inner circulation system surrounding the cavern and comprising a plurality of passages in or adjacent the cavern wall or in the ground immediately surrounding the wall, and an outer circulation system comprising a plurality of ducts surrounding and spaced from the inner circulation system. During operation of the reservoir to store a cryogenic fluid, a heat exchange gas is circulated through the passages of the inner circulation system so that the tempera- ture of the cavern wall and the ground immediately surrounding the wall is maintained within a pre- determined temperature range higher than the temperature of the stored fluid and the critical temperature at which the ground cracks. A heat exchange gas is also circulated through the ducts of the outer circulation system so that a frozen zone is established and maintained in the ground spaced from and encircling the cavern and the inner circulation system. This frozen zone halts the otherwise continuous drainage of water into the reservoir area from the surrounding ground both during construction of the cavern and the inner circulation system and during subsequent operation of the reservoir. In addition, the temperature gradient established by the inner and outer circula- tion systems substantially reduces the rate at which water vapour would migrate through the ground in the reservoir area towards the storage cavern. The invention then involves adjusting the pressures in the inner and outer circulation systems, and perhaps also in the cavern itself, so that gas is caused to diffuse outwards through the ground towards the outer circulation system in counterflow to water vapour migrating inwards, so that the movement of water vapour is halted or reversed.
338952
Grennard Alf H.
Marks & Clerk
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