Measurement of Brine Jet Height and Dilution

Abstract

A Strategic Petroleum Reserve is being created along the Gulf coast of southeast Texas and southern Louisiana. Storage caverns have been created in salt domes using a leaching process, and the resultant brine solution is pumped offshore through a submerged pipeline where it is discharged through a multiport diffuser. The storage caverns are subsequently filled with oil to form the reserve. The vertical extent (height) and the dilution of the brine at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve's Bryan Mound diffuser site located offshore of Freeport, TX, are measured by acoustic methods and a conductivity, temperature, and depth sensor. The field data were analyzed using linear regression techniques, and new empirical equations were obtained to predict the vertical extent and dilution. The equation for the vertical extent of the brine jets predicts greater heights than those obtained from similar equations based upon laboratory studies. The dilution data of the dense jet results in an empirical equation that agrees well with the laboratory results but predicts higher values than previous offshore measurements at the same diffuser.