Future of Storage Technology
Research is being conducted on many fronts in the gas storage field to help identify new improved and more economical ways to store gas. Research being conducted by the US Energy department is showing that salt formations can be chilled allowing for more gas to be stored. This will reduce the size of the formation needed to be treated, and have salt extracted from it. This will lead to cheaper development costs for salt formation storage facility type. Another aspect being looked at, are other formations that may hold gas. These include hard rock formations such as granite, in areas where such formations exists and other types currently used for gas storage do not. In Sweden a new type of storage facility has been built, called "lined rock cavern". This storage facility consists of installing a steel tank in a cavern in the rock of a hill and surrounding it with concrete. Although the development cost of such facility is quite expensive, its ability to cycle gas multiple times compensates for it, similar to salt formation facilities. Finally, another research project sponsored by the Department of Energy, is that of hydrates. Hydrates are compounds formed when natural gas is frozen in the presence of water. The advantage being that as much as 181 standard cubic feet of natural gas could be stored in a single cubic foot of hydrate.
Read more about this topic: Natural Gas Storage
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