Feasibility and key technologies for the construction of salt cavern helium storage in China

[Objective] Due to the scarcity of helium resources, insufficient production, high external dependence and single source, the security situation of helium resources in China is very severe. Utilizing salt caverns for helium storage is a significantly advantageous technology for large-scale helium storage that can effectively guarantee the helium supply capacity and improve helium security. However,China is devoid of underground salt cavern helium storage in operation, and related research and construction are still in the stage of initial development, requiring targeted feasibility and key technology researches. [Methods] Based on an investigation of helium resources and helium storage construction as well as China's experience in salt cavern gas storage construction, the feasibility of salt cavern helium storage construction in China was analyzed, and the suggestions on the development of key technologies for salt cavern helium storage were proposed,such as site evaluation, airtightness evaluation, cavern co