Storage underground

Underground storage is considered one of the oldest practices to store a surplus of grains. The method protects the grain from unfavorable environmental conditions and inhibits pests due to the lower oxygen and high carbon dioxide concentration that diminishes both intrinsic and extrinsic grain deterioration (Sauer 1992). 

For years, the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) industry has used pressurized underground liquefied gas storage. This technique has been applied to ammonia also. DuPont has operated a rock cavern in the United States with a capacity of 20 0001. Norsk Hydro has one in Norway at 50 000 t. Because of the contaminants occurring in liquid ammonia stored this way and the lack of suitable construction sites, no further storage facilities of this kind have been built for a long time. Underground fertilizer ammonia storage was planned in Russia [1310]. 

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Groundwater. Spkls of refined petroleum product on land, and leaking underground storage tanks, sometimes contaminate groundwater. Bioremediation is becoming an increasingly popular treatment for such situations. 

Natural gas production and transmission systems are complemented by underground storage systems. These systems provide the capabdity to respond to short-term gas demands which exceed the immediate production levels or transmission capabdities. They also provide an opportunity to sustain some production by refilling the storage areas when seasonal temperature variations lead to periods of reduced gas demand. In the United States in 1990, there were 397 storage pools having a combined capacity of 2.2 x 10 (1). 

The demand for gas is highly seasonal. Thus pipeline companies economi2e by si2ing production faciUties to accommodate less than the system s maximum wintertime demand. Underground storage faciUties are used to meet seasonal and daily demand peaks. In North America, gas is stored in three main types of underground formations depleted oil or gas fields, aquifers that originally contained water, and caverns formed by salt domes or mines. 

NFPA 326 Standard Procedures for the Safe Entry of Underground Storage Tanks, 1993 edition. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA. 

Are any underground storage tanks on-site (Note number.) ... 

Tank installations with underground storage tanks and station piping should, if possible, be provided with conventional cathodic protection [3]. This is sometimes not possible because electrical separation cannot be achieved between the protected installation and other parts of the plant (see Section 11.4). The necessity for cathodic protection can be tested as in Ref. 13. In tank farms, a distinction should be made between coated, buried storage tanks and aboveground, flat-bottomed tanks in which the base contacts the soil. 

Underground storage = 0.0 Earth covered above grade = 0.03... 

U.S. EPA. Underground Storage Tank Corrective Action Technologies, EPA/625/6-87/015, January, 1987. 

Brenoel, M. and R.A. Brown. Remediation of a Leaking Underground Storage Tank with Enhanced Bioreclamation. In Proc. 5th National Symposium and Exposition on Aquifer Restoration and Groundwater Monitoring, National Water Well Association, Worthington, Ohio, 1985. pp. 527. 

Figure 16. Shows severe pitting and corrosion on the wall of a steel underground storage tank.

The J 984 Federal Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA, pronounced "hiss-wa") to RCRA requires phasing-out land disposal of hazardous waste. Some of the other mandates of this law include increased enforcement authority for EPA, more stringent hazardous waste management standards, and a comprehensive underground storage tank program. 

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