Transport of brine - technological pipelines,
Kosakowo,
Poland
Transport of brine - technological pipelines
The technological pipelines transporting the brine washed out during the construction of underground gas storage facility followed by its discharge into the Puck Bay.
The extension of underground gas storage facilities is very important from the perspective of Poland’s gas security and thus for a number of years has been one of investment priorities of PGNiG. KPMG Kosakowo is the first underground methane-rich content gas storage facility in northern Poland constructed in rock salt bed. The gas will be stored in adapted salt chambers at the depth of 1000 to 1200 m. The completion of the entire investment is planned for 2020 and as of 2014 it will be operating with capacity of 100 million m3.
The construction of target ten storage chambers of total capacity of 250 million m3 will involve excavation of 3.4 million tones of salt in the form of a brine of approx. 18 million m3 volume. The storage chambers are created by salt leaching with the use of water pumped into the salt bed. This process results in the formation of a brine, which should be managed or discharged in a safe manner into the reservoir.
As of 2010 this brine is discharged through pipeline WehoPipe PE DN 355 into the Puck Bay. A system of diffusers was installed in the distance of 2.3 km from the shore at 8m depth, which allows to control the distribution of the brine in the Puck Bay waters. The current failure-free operation of the brine pipeline confirms the suitability of PE system to such demanding and high-level applications.