Fault tree analysis of salt cavern storage during its operational period

Based on the good characters of creep property, low permeability and self-healing of damage, salt rock has been widely used in energy storage of oil and gas. Nowadays, most researches are concerned on the mechanical properties of salt rock at home and abroad; but the studies about risk analysis of the salt cavern storage are still few. So in order to explore the risk mechanism of salt cavern during the operational period, with the demonstration project of the Jintan oil-gas storage of salt rock in Jiangsu Province, the risk factors during the operational period are identified. Fault tree analysis (FTA) is applied to establishing the analytical models for cavern failure, surface subsidence and storage leakage. Then the minimal cut sets and structure importance are used to sort the risk factors for their influence level. At last, FTA is evaluated to provide guidance for further risk assessment and control during the operational period.