A groundwater seal evaluation method based on water inflow for underground oil storage caverns

A novel groundwater seal evaluation method based on water inflow for is proposed. The groundwater seepage field and the water inflow of an oil storage cavern obtained with different water curtain parameters are studied via numerical simulations. The sensitivity of water inflow to various water curtain hole parameters is studied based on regression analysis. A novel concept of minimum water inflow is proposed, and the weak area of the groundwater seal is revealed. The results indicate that the water curtain pressure (p), the length of the water curtain hole (l), and the inclination angle (a) are positively correlated with water inflow, while the water curtain hole spacing (s) is negatively correlated with water inflow. The relative influences of water curtain system parameters on the groundwater seal of the oil storage cavern are ranked as follows: p > l > s > a.