PowerPoint Presentation

Safety Measures Adopted in Underground Cavern Storage of Crude Oil to Prevent Disastersby Rajan K Pillai, CEO ISPRL 31st January 2014

1CONTENTS OF PRESENTATION2Underground Rock caverns for storage of hydrocarbons in IndiaRisks and Hazards in Underground CavernsConstruction Risks.Operations Risks.Mitigation methodsConstruction phaseOperations phase2Underground Rock caverns for storage of Hydrocarbons in India

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Access Ramp (AR)Upper Connection (UC)Intermediate connection (IC)Upper Shaft Connection (USC)Access Shaft (AS)Operation Shaft (OS)Lower Shaft Connection (LSC)Water Gallery Operation Shaft Connection (WOC) Water Gallery Access Shaft Connection (WAC) Water Curtain Gallery (WCGSump which houses the submersible pumpsLower connection (LC)Isometric drawing of SALPG Cavern Operation Shaft is 201 meters deep

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The Isometric View of the Visakhapatnam UG Facilities Total tunnelling including shafts exceeds 7 kilometres Capacity is 1.33 MMTThe view shows the various parts of the facility which includes access tunnels, water curtain galley, interconnection tunnels & shafts.

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Isometric View of Mangalore UG FacilitiesTotal tunnelling including shafts exceeds 9.2 km. Capacity is 1.5 MMTThe main galleries are 913 m long

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Isometric View of Padur UG FacilitiesTotal tunnelling including shafts exceeds 13.7 km(only top heading). The Padur project capacity is 2.5 MMT. The total excavation is in excess of 36.8 lakh cu m. The facility has 6 storage galleries that are 700 m long and 2 storage galleries that are 650 m long.

A jumbo jet in the foreground for comparisonEntire excavation has been completed

8 mTop HeadingBench 1Bench 2Bench 37 m7 mVariesTypical Cross Section of the Main Cavern The height of the caverns is almost equivalent to a ten storey building 8Photograph of a gallery in the Visakhapatnam Cavern

A view of the Padur Cavern Gallery The galleries are 30 meters tall and 20 meters wide. There are eight galleries. Six galleries are 700 meters long and three are 650 meters long. This photograph is of one of the completed 700 m gallery 9Item Vizag Mangalore Padur Total Access & Connect. tunnels (meters)1632184734296908Water Curtain Tunnels (meters) 1804356038819245Main Cavern (meters) 32503572563212454Shaft lengths (meters) 4052325801217Total Chainage (meters)709192111352229824Borehole Nos 2754895141278Borehole length (kilometers) 17.232.026.976.1Excavated qty in Million tons5.46.39.821.5Quantum of Excavation in ISPRL Caverns The excavated rock debris can fill 2.5 million standard 10 ton trucks 10Item Visakh Mangalore Padur Total Concrete in Cu. m5046435862914231,77,749Shotcrete in Cu. m37395217783507294,245Rock Bolts in tons23601981.722266,568Reinforcement steel in tons 18101565699110,366Explosives used in tons2330210038658,295Approx Quantum of Material used in ISPRL ProjectsThe material would required a huge transport fleet for movement from one spot to the other within the sites. In addition to the materials, workforce also needs to be moved

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Comparison of the Excavation Progress Curves Projects were started on different dates, but for comparison, zero dates have been matched

Risks and Hazards in Underground Caverns

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Geological Risks- During Construction.Slide1 Over breaks and rock fall are major safety concerns during construction and can cause fatalities and can drastically slow down progress. Over Breaks and Rock falls14This bench was excavated Since this fault was below the bench it could not be identified.

15Wedge on the wall started slidingWhen the bench was removed the rock wedge started sliding

16Almost 10,000 tons of rock came crashing down and resulted in one fatality.

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Area of brittle fracture The triangular block which slid downSmooth face 18

Man standing near rock slide areaWeakness zone, consisting of highly sheared and disintegrated material

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Geological Risks- During Construction.Slide3 Water bearing zones or aquifers zones could result in large water ingress into the caverns or shafts. Such a problem was encountered in the SALPG cavern project. Water ingress into shaftUnderground Aquifers21

Large seepage of water into the Padur cavern during construction22

Traffic Hazards- a major concern during construction Large number of equipment required for excavation of the caverns. Movement of equipment adds to the risks. . 23

Equipment handling during Construction24Drilling & Blasting Method of Excavation

Holes are charged with explosives after drilling and controlled blasting carried outJumbo used for drilling holes in rock25

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PullDrilling & Blasting Method of Excavation

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26In ISPRL the quantum of explosives that have been used is huge. We have use approx 8300 tons of explosives in our projects.When handling such large quantities of explosives, there is the risk of accidental blasts or misfires.There is also the risk of the explosives being pilfered during their transportation and use and thereafter being used for undesirable activities.

Explosives handling- a concern during construction

27The vibrations can be large if the quantum of explosives used is large.Vibrations can cause damage to the surrounding rock and effect the stability of the cavern. Vibration can also cause damage to surrounding surface structures. Blast induced ground vibrations can create social problems as they could disturb the people residing in the vicinityVibration due to blasting another concern.

28Air borne dust particles when inhaled into the lungs can lead to various diseases, like bronchitis. There is particular concern that silica dust can lead to cancer. Crystalline silica is a common mineral present in sand stone, quartz and many other rocksDuring blasting operation fumes are produced. These fumes can be harmful to humans working inside the tunnels.The oxygen levels in the cavern can become low after the blasting operation and therefore poses a health hazard Fumes and dust a health hazard

29Loss of ContainmentDue to hydro geological reasons.Due to sabotage/failure of aboveground facilities Intermingling of different grades of crude oil.Fire/Explosions within caverns due static electricity discharge.

30Risks During Operation Phase

30Mitigation Methods

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To ensure there is good stability of the cavern, rock bolts need to be installed and shortcrete applied. Poorer the rock strata, larger is the support requirement.Mitigation methods-Construction Phase Slide 1Rock boltsShotcrete

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Monitoring of the movement of the walls of the cavern using optical targetsLarge number of optical targets installed in the caverns . The bright spots are the optical targets

33Pre-Grouting in excessive water bearing zonesPre-Grouting involves drilling a number of holes on the face and pumping cement paste under pressure into them till sealing is achieved. High permeability and water bearing strata could result in higher grouting and slow excavation progress.

34The cavern access tunnels and junctions to be well designed.Only specialized equipment to be used for evacuating muck (equipment with all safety features)Drivers to be imparted specialized training for underground works. Tool box talk to be made mandatory before start of work.Housekeeping to be one of the important requirements in contract management.Good rewards and punishment system should be planned .Mitigation Methods for Traffic Hazards

35Obtaining all applicable Legal Permissions as per The explosive Act 1884 and Explosive Rules 1983.Putting in place a well defined explosive handling procedure and clearly describing steps to be followed during transportation, storage and handling of explosives. Ensuring qualified & authorized personnel only handle the explosives.Reconciliation of all explosive material and authentication of reconciliation statement by Magazine In charge.

Mitigation Methods for explosives handling

36The vibration problems can be best controlled by having properly designed blast patterns. The number of blast holes, their length, amount of explosives to be charged and the detonation type.Once these parameters are controlled properly, they can reduce vibration levels drastically. After ensuring properly designed blast patterns, ensure the vibration levels are monitored on a regular basis.The site to be trained to ensure that only smooth blasting techniques are followed at all times inside the caverns. Mitigation Methods for excessive vibration

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Mitigation Methods for fumes and dustHuge motor driven air blowers installed at the entrance of the caverns to pump in fresh air to the blasting faces and cavernsHuge flexible ducts inside the access tunnels which carry air to the blasting faces and caverns

38Water tableMitigation Methods Loss of containmentPiezometersIt is important that during the operation phase, the water table is monitored at all times

3940GasLPGWaterColumn of water acts as a seal and shuts off cavernMitigation Methods Failure of AG piping Failure of pipeline. LPG starts to leak

40Mean Sea Level(MSL)Water Curtain BoreholesWater curtain tunnelsStorage Caverns Separation of different products to be stored

41Storage Caverns The caverns for products other than LPG are intertized by filling the vapour spaces with either nitrogen or flue gases. The oxygen content reduced to less than 8% . This will avoid any explosions caused by static electricityMitigation Methods For fires /explosions Crude oilNitrogen or flue gas

42Measures Adopted for Monitoring the SAFETY & DISASTERS in Underground storage caverns

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