Gas will be set aside for a rainy day. Gas bins of the metropolis For every fireman

UNDERGROUND GAS STORAGE IN RUSSIA: 60 YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT

Dedicated to the custodians of blue fuel ...

In 1980, by decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, a holiday was established - the Day of Oil, Gas and Fuel Industry Workers, which began to be celebrated on the first Sunday in September.

This is a holiday for everyone who has linked their lives with the development of oil and gas fields, as well as the extraction and storage of these minerals. In the Gatchina region, this is the friendly team of the Leningrad Department of Underground Gas Storage (UGHG), which is located in the village of Lyadino.

The idea of creating underground gas storage facilities in the Soviet Union was born in 1948, but it was only in 1955 that the historic decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 1673 “On measures to ensure the reception of Stavropol gas by consumers in the city of Moscow” was signed. From that moment on, the underground gas storage industry began to develop.

Today, with the expansion of the Unified Gas Supply System of Russia, the importance of underground storage facilities is significantly increasing. Public Joint Stock Company (PJSC) Gazprom supplies natural gas throughout the year. However, during the heating seasons, the duration of which varies in different regions of Russia depending on climatic and weather conditions, the supply volumes increase significantly. Gas reserves in underground storage are a guarantor of supply reliability, primarily during periods of peak demand, and allow regulating seasonal uneven consumption. Storage facilities located on the territory of Russia provide about 20% of gas supplies to Russian consumers and for export during the heating season, and on days of sharp cold snaps this value can exceed 40%.

Improving the management system of the huge gas industry, in 2007 PJSC Gazprom created Gazprom UGS, which united Russian underground gas storage facilities in its structure. The company is headed by Sergey Shilov, Candidate of Economic Sciences, laureate of the Government of the Russian Federation Prize in Science and Technology.

Today Gazprom UGS operates 22 underground storage facilities, created in 26 facilities located on the territory of 19 constituent entities of the country. The company employs more than eight thousand people.

During the successful operation of Gazprom UGS, the potential of underground gas storage facilities has been significantly increased. By the beginning of the 2014-2015 extraction season, the daily productivity increased from 600 to 770 million cubic meters, the volume of the operational gas reserve - from 63 to 72 billion cubic meters. By 2020, it is planned to increase the daily gas extraction capacity from UGS facilities to 900 million cubic meters. Taking into account the above figures and facts, it is safe to say that underground gas storage is one of the priority areas of PJSC Gazprom's activities.

These words are confirmed by the head of the Leningrad UPHG Vladimir Zakoptelov, who became the head of the branch in 2009. Vladimir Nikolayevich graduated from the Ufa Oil Institute and has been working for PJSC Gazprom for 25 years.

The Leningrad UPHG has its own unusual history. The branch is still the only unique underground gas storage department in the world. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that gas is stored in a shallow aquifer, while in the world practice it is customary to store gas in domed underground layers.

June 12, 2015 marks 52 years since the start of gas injection into the Gatchina underground storage facility.

At the Leningrad UPHG, many wonderful people, excellent workers of the gas industry, who have been awarded various medals and honorary signs, have worked and are still working today.

It is impossible not to mention the engineering and technical workers and workers of those who conscientiously, reliably, creatively worked for 30-40 years: Grigory Sobolev - head of the compressor shop, Valentin Zakharov - chief engineer; Tamara Lutsevich - geological engineer, Nikolay Ivanov - operator, the best worker of the Ministry of Gas Industry in 1981 and 1982, awarded the bronze medal of VDNKh, as well as operator V.V. Orlova, MMC machinist G.P. Cherepanov; V.M. Gavrilichev, B.D. Agafonov, Yu.V. Alekseev, T.N. Solovyov and many others.

From 1998 to 2007, he completed his career at the Leningrad UGS facility from an apprentice operator of technological compressors to the head of the station D.V. Grishin, and in 2010 he was appointed Chief Engineer - Deputy General Director of Gazprom UGS LLC.

Vladimir Zakoptelov, the head of the Leningrad UGHG, says with confidence that the most important thing in the work of the subordinate UGHG is hardworking, responsible and disciplined employees who really "root" for their work.

Today the company employs 144 people, 55 of them are young specialists under the age of 30. Excellence in the gas industry and aspiring proactive specialists get along well together. Moreover, the gas industry is an industry where the continuity of generations is not just empty words. According to Vladimir Nikolaevich, whole dynasties work at the enterprise: first grandparents worked, then their children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, nephews came.

The secret of love for the gas industry lies in simple things: good relationships within the team, excellent career opportunities and social security.

Employees of the company can count on additional medical insurance, bonuses for all significant calendar and corporate holidays, 13th salary at the end of each year, vouchers to summer camps for children, a good interest rate at Gazprombank on mortgages, consumer or car loans.

The Leningrad UPHG has its own trade union organization and a council of young specialists. Employees of the branch visit theaters, concerts, take part in sports competitions of labor collectives of the Gatchina region and sports events, which are organized by PJSC Gazprom within its corporation.

Employees of the Leningrad UPHG are constantly undergoing training to improve their qualifications. In addition, one of the main advantages of working in a company is being close to home without spending additional money on the road.

The management of the Leningrad UPHG does not forget about the honored workers of the branch, meetings are organized with pensioners, the heads of the branch try to actively participate in their lives, help financially.

“Gas workers stick together,” assures Vladimir Zakoptelov. Hence the friendship between families within the team, and joint holidays. Several years ago, a new family was formed in the branch: chief engineer Viktor Leonov and accountant Natalya Davydova, in the good old traditions, created a new unit of society at a separate enterprise. Today the Leonov family has a son. In total, over the past year, eight children were born in the families of employees of the Leningrad UPHG.

Today, the employees of the Leningrad UPHG are preparing for a full-scale reconstruction of the station, which is scheduled for 2016-2017, with a complete replacement of equipment and automation of production. The complexity of the overhaul is that all work will be carried out on the job. The busy season of preparation of the station for the autumn-winter period begins today.

When asked what character traits an employee of the Leningrad UPHG should have, Vladimir Zakoptelov names the most important quality - responsibility. “We have a dangerous job. The discipline should be like in the army. Our workers must understand that they are supported by families, children, residents of nearby settlements, and how safe they are all depends on their actions, ”he says.

What Vladimir Zakoptelov, as the head of the enterprise, dreams of, is the construction of a "small town for oil workers" in the Gatchina region to provide young specialists with housing, and the Leningrad UGHG - with qualified engineers and workers.

Fortunately, so far the enterprise does not lack workers. One of the young specialists, Alexander Turanin, did not immediately find his way to the gas industry. After graduating from the Agrarian University with a degree in chemical protection and plant quarantine, Alexander worked for a commercial company for some time, until one day he learned from a friend about an open vacancy at the Leningrad UGHG. He was attracted by everything: the salary, and a good social package, and proximity to home. For a year and a half, he worked as an oil and gas production operator. In 2013, the branch management appraised the young employee and transferred him to the position of oil and gas production foreman in the operational and production service.

Alexander admits that he really likes the job: “It’s hard at times, but it’s okay. Male work, physically active, with metal. We work in the fresh air, the team is young. " Alexander also added that the management of the branch of the Leningrad UPHG is always open for dialogue with young people: they will prompt, direct, help.

The employees of the Leningrad UPHG decided to celebrate their professional holiday with an excursion around the Bolshekolpansky rural settlement, which was organized by the local administration headed by Marina Bychinina. By the way, the relationship with the local authorities among the leaders of the Leningrad UGHG is more than friendly.

Marina Valentinovna became a guide for the employees of the Gatchina subway for one day. Gas workers visited the Lutheran Church of St. Peter the Apostle, which is located on the territory of the Avangard plant in the village. Small Kolpany, church in the village. Nikolskoye, equestrian club "Gatchinsky" in Bolshiye Kolpani, a memorial sign "Chernitsky stone" near the village. Chernitsa, installed on the site of an anti-tank ditch, where fierce battles took place in 1941.

The excursion around the agro-industrial complex of Gatchinskoye CJSC was personally conducted by the General Director of the company Alexander Lebedev.

Chief Physician of the Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 named after P.P. Kashchenko Oleg Limankin told the guests about the former estate of the Demidovs, which now houses the administrative building of the hospital, and offered to make a wish in an unusual place - on a memorial plate installed right on the ground where the 30th degree of the Eastern Hemisphere of the Earth passes.

The participants of the excursion thanked the local authorities for the opportunity to get to know their native settlement better.

FEATURES OF HYDRODYNAMIC MODELING

GATCHINSKOGO UGS

A.Sh. Gafarov (Gazprom VNIIGAZ LLC)

The Gatchinskoye UGS facility is located 7 km south of Gatchina, the regional center of the Leningrad Region, 45 km from St. Petersburg and is connected with it by a highway. The gas storage is used to cover the seasonal fluctuations in gas consumption in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.

Tectonically, the Gatcha area is one of the folds of a swell-like uplift complicating the southern slope of the Baltic Shield, about 10 km long from southwest to northeast and 3-4 km wide. The uplift is complicated by a number of gentle local domes with an amplitude of up to 7 m. The geological structure of the area includes metamorphic rocks of the Archean and Proterozoic, as well as the sedimentary complex of the Lower and Middle Paleozoic. On the crystalline basement of the Archean-Proterozoic age, represented by gneisses and granites, and in the upper part - strongly destroyed ("weathering crust"), lies the sandy-clay complex of the Gdovskiy horizon. At the base of the complex is the 1st Gdovskiy reservoir, which serves as a gas storage facility. The average depth of the 1st Gdov stratum in the Gatchina area is 400 m. The Gdov complex also includes the II and III Gdov strata, separated by clay interlayers. The total thickness of the Gdovskiy complex is 90 m.

The Gatchinskoye UGS facility is the only gas storage facility in the world created in a monoclinal aquifer. Gas injection and withdrawal at the storage began in 1963. Beginning with the V cycle of the storage operation (1967), gas flows were found in the direction of the formation rise and improvement of its reservoir properties, and the presence of gas in the II Gdov horizon was also established. The gas reservoir has acquired a complex shape with an extensive zone of crossflows in the northern, northeastern, eastern and western directions. In December 1976, a hydraulic blockade system was put into operation, according to which it was supposed to pump water into a number of injection wells, cutting off the northern, western and northeastern zones of gas spreading.

When constructing a hydrodynamic model of the Gatchinsky UGS facility, the features of its geological structure and formation were taken into account. The repository model is built in the Eclipse 2005 software package from S ^ lumberger. The model was adjusted according to the actual performance of the UGS facility for 1963-2010. The work used a three-dimensional isothermal two-phase (gas, water) filtration model - a black oil model. The 3D geological model of the Gatchinskoye UGS facility previously built at Gazprom VNIIGAZ LLC was used as a basis for constructing a hydrodynamic (filtration) model. To switch from a geological model (consisting of 16,968,000 cells) to a filtration model, a structural frame of the hydrodynamic grid was built, and then the averaging procedure (Upscaling) provided in the RMS software package was used to transfer values from the geological grid to it. The enlargement resulted in an enlarged geological grid with local refinement in the area of production wells, consisting of 194,400 cells.

To adapt the hydrodynamic model based on the history of the Gatchinsky UGS facility, employees of Gazprom VNIIGAZ collected and analyzed historical information on the operation of the Gatchinsky UGS facility. With the highest possible reliability, information has been collected on hydraulic blockade, reservoir pressure measurements for production and control wells, GWC values for geophysical wells, as well as telemetry readings. Also, reports on gas injection and withdrawal cycles were digitized since 1963. The analysis of monthly geological reports of the UGS facility and reports on the author's support was carried out.

Historical data on the values of withdrawals, injections and wells participating in them were distributed as follows: from 06/12/1963 to 05/01/2005. the history is set in cycles, from 06/01/2005 to 04/01/2009. - monthly, from 06/26/2009 to 04/22/2010 - daily. The production and injection values for the wells were entered into the model as fact. The model was adapted to the measured reservoir pressures using the SimOpt program. The adapted parameter was the permeability in the zones closest to the wells with measured reservoir pressure. The adaptation was carried out in five stages, depending on the radius of removal of the zone from the wells. Removal radii

amounted to 5000, 1000, 600, 300 and 200 m. For each stage, the permeability value could change no more than two times.

The movement of the GWC through the wells was monitored by the values of potential flow rates in the cells according to the intervals for measuring the gas saturation coefficient (Kg) in geophysical wells in the Gdov 1 reservoir (wells 17, 34, 60, 62, 65, 82, 87, 134, 157). Well research 17, 34, 134 Kg values from 1997 to 2009 note a constant high value of Kg, which indicates that the well is in the gas-saturated zone. The values of the calculated potential production rates for these wells also show the convergence of the hydrodynamic model with the actual data. Well. 82, 87, 157, 60, 65 between 1997 and 2009 a low Kg value is noted, which confirms the presence of residual gas and its migration through the zones where these wells are located. In the hydrodynamic model, the gas migration process can be observed by reducing the potential gas flow rates. Well. 62 between 1997 and 2009. there is a cyclical change in Kg values depending on the production / injection cycles. In the hydrodynamic model, the values of potential production rates also change cyclically depending on the production or injection.

Based on the model obtained, the distribution of gas in the reservoir layers, the volumes of active and buffer gases were estimated, the dynamics and directions of the main gas flows from the operating zone were determined. The hydrodynamic model confirmed the ideas about the formation of the storage, the directions of gas flows and showed the low efficiency of the hydraulic blockade. Based on the conditions of the average flow rate for each well, three different options for gas withdrawal from the Gatchina UGS facility in the 2011 season were calculated: without a neutral period after injection and a withdrawal period of six months - the minimum withdrawal rate; with a neutral period of one month and a selection period of four months - the optimal rate of selection; with a neutral period of one month and a sampling period of three months - the maximum rate of selection. Based on the results of the calculation, the following conclusions were made: at the optimal rate of gas withdrawal from the UGS facility, the volume of the sampled gas is similar to the volume of the sampled gas at the minimum rate of gas withdrawal; at the maximum gas withdrawal rate, it is impossible to withdraw the same volumes as at the optimal and minimum gas withdrawal rates at a similar level of reservoir pressure drop. The results obtained confirm the correctness of the chosen UGS operation strategy, which fully meets the gas needs during peak seasons.

The resulting model makes it possible to make calculations in the long term, when predicting the operation of UGS facilities in cycles. But the specificity of the storage facilities is the unevenness of the volumes of gas injection / withdrawal and the impossibility of predicting in advance the demand for gas in a given period of time. The most effective application of the hydrodynamic model is its operational use for predicting the storage capacity in the short term and determining the optimal mode of its operation. But the use of averaged predicted flow rates for wells for this type of forecast is not applicable, the calculation should show the capabilities of each well separately, and not the capabilities of the averaged well.

To assess the reliability of predictive calculations for wells according to the obtained model, calculations were carried out for the period 2008 -2009. without specifying in the initial data the values of production and injection by wells. The total daily volume of gas injections or withdrawals for the storage facility as a whole was set. The calculation results were compared with the actual telemetry values. The table shows the errors in the calculations of the obtained model of gas production / injection by wells with the actual telemetry data.

It can be seen from the table that in isolated cases the values of the errors of the forecast calculations were less than 5%, and the average values significantly exceed this value. This indicates the impossibility of performing predictive calculations of production / injection for wells using this hydrodynamic model. The solution to this problem was an attempt to identify the dependencies of the daily production / injection values for the wells on their filtration characteristics. But the regression analysis of these indicators proved the complete absence of dependencies between them.

Values of errors in the calculations of the hydrodynamic model of the Gatchinsky UGS facility for gas withdrawal / injection by wells

with actual telemetry data

Well No. Gas extraction / injection No. of wells Gas extraction / injection

burial,% abs. burial,% burial % abs. burial%

average min. days Max. days average min. days Max. days average min. days Max. days average min. days Max. days

50 1,0 -299,3 74,7 35,9 0,7 299,3 116 85,2 36,6 98,2 85,2 36,6 98,2

51 -34,3 -295,4 46,0 39,0 0,0 295,4 117 67,6 -36,8 95,9 70,5 3,3 95,9

52 -88,0 -751,1 68,2 126,0 0,4 751,1 118 47,0 -65,0 92,5 51,8 0,1 92,5

68 44,0 -349,4 94,1 86,4 1,6 349,4 120 17,0 -644,8 73,4 37,4 0,1 644,8

70 -105,5 -416,0 71,5 108,3 0,1 416,0 127 -240,3 -745,8 -12,3 240,3 12,3 745,8

83 -187,3 -1 874,4 68,3 193,5 0,7 1 874,4 128 58,9 -41,8 85,3 60,6 0,0 85,3

99 -3,1 -931,7 86,9 97,4 2,4 931,7 129 59,2 20,0 82,4 59,2 20,0 82,4

100 74,8 26,6 90,1 74,8 26,6 90,1 131 -143,8 -667,4 -3,3 143,8 3,3 667,4

101 -743,9 -4 869,2 9,7 744,1 4,8 4 869,2 133 -320,2 -3 723,3 -56,1 320,2 56,1 3 723,3

102 -30,1 -397,7 40,2 46,9 0,0 397,7 135 -14,1 -5 557,1 60,6 61,1 0,3 5 557,1

103 -76,2 -520,4 22,9 80,1 0,4 520,4 138 -208,0 -622,5 -35,0 208,0 35,0 622,5

105 -91,0 -608,7 51,8 117,1 0,3 608,7 145 -563,5 -3 634,3 31,6 567,0 0,1 3 634,3

106 -216,1 -1 118,1 -22,3 216,1 22,3 1 118,1 149 62,7 -31,2 86,4 63,1 2,7 86,4

108 -14,8 -1 865,6 49,4 36,9 0,0 1 865,6 150 -358,2 -1 171,6 39,1 363,8 1,8 1 171,6

109 -2 181,8 -9 561,1 -300,4 2 181,8 300,4 9 561,1 158 -10,1 -191,2 65,9 58,3 0,3 191,2

113 -37,5 -1 073,7 44,5 55,8 0,1 1 073,7 171 99,3 97,4 99,7 99,3 97,4 99,7

114 -114,4 -1 633,3 6,8 114,5 0,3 1 633,3 176 -15,7 -183,1 82,7 57,0 9,3 183,1

115 -0,5 -132,7 27,1 25,2 1,4 132,7 53 10,4 -1 784,7 88,6 92,7 0,0 1 784,7

The calculations show that using a hydrodynamic model of reservoirs, it is impossible to calculate predictive technological modes for each well. The surface and underground structures of the wells themselves, gas gathering networks and gas gathering points have a significant impact on the distribution of gas production by wells. The use of interdependent models of gas gathering points, networks, wells and a reservoir hydrodynamic model built on the basis of a three-dimensional geological model will make it possible to carry out adequate predictive calculations and assess the reliability of the geological model.

June 12 marks the 50th anniversary of the start of gas injection into the Gatchina underground gas storage facility - one of the first underground gas storage facilities in the Soviet Union, Europe and the only one in world practice, in a flat-lying aquifer.

Let us recall and address the words of gratitude to everyone who stood at the origins of domestic underground gas storage - one of the most important areas of the gas industry.

The history of domestic underground gas storage dates back to almost the end of the 50s of the XX century, from the beginning of the intensive development of gas production and transportation. On July 2, 1959, at the suggestion of the Glavgaz of the USSR, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopts Resolution No. 719 " On the organization of underground gas storage in the USSR».

The formation and development of the domestic UGS facility is inextricably linked with the legendary personality of the gas industry - M.V. Sidorenko is the “father of UGS facilities”. The energy, enthusiasm, analytical mind of the statesman allowed him, along with solving the problems of increasing production, creating a Unified Gas Transportation System, optimizing gas transportation, bringing the country to the world gas arena, solving the problem of gas supply reliability by creating underground gas storage facilities in water-bearing structures. due to the absence of large gas consumers in the Central (Moscow) and North-Western (Leningrad) regions of the country of depleted oil and gas fields, where UGS facilities were usually created (USA, Canada). It was a new solution, completely unknown not only in our country, but also making the first steps in world practice, science-intensive and complex, requiring joint work of scientific, design, engineering, exploration and drilling teams. To manage this process, a powerful organizing and coordinating force was needed, a person with the necessary administrative, financial, material and human resources, and M.V. Sidorenko with the active support of A.K. Kortunov managed to solve these problems, of course, with the participation of all teams in the field.

In 1956-58, in the area of Gatchina, geological exploration work was carried out, as a result of which the presence of a gently rolling uplift with an amplitude of 6-7 m was found. The insignificant amplitude, small dimensions did not allow the use of these areas for the creation of UGS facilities. Theoretical work on the creation of UGS facilities in shallow strata began already in 1958. At the Moscow Institute of Chemistry and State Enterprise named after academician I.M. Gubkin under the guidance of Professor D.Sc. I.A. Charny, a world-renowned scientist in the field of underground hydrodynamics, Stalin Prize Laureate and his students D.I. Astrakhan, A.M. Vlasov, A.E. Evgeniev, M.V. Filippov is developing a method for storing gas in flat-lying layers. Thanks to the authority of I.A. Charny and personal support of A.K. Kortunov, already in 1959-61, construction of the compressor station and pilot work on the injection and bleeding of air were carried out to determine the possibility of creating an UGS facility.

On the basis of experimental work on air injection and theoretical studies, the employees of the MINH and GP under the leadership of I.A. Charny completed the technological design, and the Giprospetsgaz Institute completed the technical design of the Gatchinsky UGS facility. In 1961, construction of UGS facilities began.

It should be noted that in 1960, when experimental work was still being carried out and much was unknown, A.K. Kortunov makes a decision to build a gas pipeline - a branch to a future UGS facility with a diameter of 720 mm and a length of 22 km with field design by Giprospetsgaz, and in 1960 this branch was built by SMU-7. In October 1959, a young specialist, a graduate of the Leningrad Mining Institute V.N. Shishlin, on whom the entire responsibility for the creation of the UGS facility fell, in difficult geological conditions. He immediately established himself as an authoritative, responsible, hardworking and creative specialist. Scientific guidance was provided by A.N. Fainshtein, A.M. Vlasov, D.I. Astrakhan.

It is appropriate to recall those with whom V.N. Shishlin began experimental work, many of them then worked for many years at UGS facilities: N.A. Lattu, E.A. Tunney, A.A. Tunney, I.I. Pili, I.I. Voskoboinikov, F.F. Firsov, G.G. Zolotov, some of them were replaced by their children. The construction of the compressor station and the field arrangement of the Gatchinsky UGS facility was completed in early June. The head of the Gatchinsky UGS facility is V.I. Kournikov, who has experience in creating the Kaluga UGS facility, the first in the USSR, V.N. Shishlin - chief engineer, head of the compressor station - Yu.I. Bobkov, the head of the field - I.V. Kharchenko.

It should be noted that there was no experience in the design, construction and operation of UGS facilities. Much was decided in operational contact with the specialists of the design institute Giprospetsgaz, with whom V.N. Shishlin had an exceptionally trusting relationship, and especially with the head of the technical department R.E. Freeman, chief engineer of the project A.Z. Vainchel, chief specialist I.D. Garbuzov and others, as well as with builders and installers of SU-4 and SMU-7: senior foreman A.F. Revunov, V.T. Neklyudov, thanks to which changes were made to the design solutions in a timely manner. LUMG leaders V.N. Khorkov, S.F. Barmin, head of department V.N. Eichmann is an authoritative theorist and practitioner of UGS facilities; he constantly visited the facilities, was aware of all matters, helped, knew the engineers and workers well, treated them with confidence and encouraged them.

The head of the USSR Glavgaz A.K. Kortunov, his first deputy M.V. Sidorenko, Deputy Director of VNIIGAZ V.N. Raaben, director of the UGS department at VNIIGAZ S. N. Buzinov and promptly solved the emerging problems.

The main employees of the UGS facility of this period were young specialists, among whom V.N. Shishlin. He infected everyone with his enthusiasm, ideas, creative activity. It was interesting to work. Many young specialists headed the services. The first years of operation showed that the gas storage is complex, problems and questions are ahead. During the expansion, commissioning of new production and observation wells, it became clear that the geological structure of the reservoir is even more complex and unsuitable for the creation of UGS facilities than it was known at the beginning of the creation of the Gatchinsky UGS facility.

In the first years, all UGS facilities were operated manually, there was a shortage of personnel, qualifications and salaries were low, therefore, starting in 1969, a lot of painstaking work began to automate all UGS facilities. A young specialist P.A. Kremenenko. He was the generator of many ideas. One of the first was the idea to fully automate, without permanent watch personnel, a steam technological boiler room with two boilers DKVR 2.5 / 13. Only with a high creative activity of all those working on this problem was it possible for three years to develop, approve in the Gosgortechnadzor the conditions for automation, automate and obtain a permit for operation. Indeed, everything has been thought out, developed, many engineering decisions have been made at the highest engineering level, and it has been reliably and reliably operated for 40 years. Automation enthusiasts: instrumentation locksmith N.A. Korablev, operator of technological compressors V.I. Belov, operator E.A. Tunny, Head of the Gas Compressor Service G.T. Sobolev. For 28 years he successfully led a complex, responsible service (GKS) with the family of the GPA G.T. Sobolev, ensuring the reliable operation of all equipment. Along with the automation of facilities, the qualifications of workers serving these facilities grew, and, most importantly, their wages. On average, it became the highest among the Lentransgaz divisions. Salaries also grew due to the introduction of brigade forms of labor organization, the introduction of " Shchekino method», Reducing the number by increasing labor productivity. In 1973, after the merger of the Gatchinsky UGS facility and the Kolpinsky UGS facility, the enterprise was renamed the Leningrad underground gas storage station.

So, by 1975 the Leningradskaya SPHG appeared to be a highly automated facility with a small number of maintenance personnel and a high production culture. Based on the results of the work, it was repeatedly recognized as the best SPHG in the Mingazprom, State Enterprise Lentransgaz. In 1978, the team was awarded the title "Collective of High Culture", it was presented at VDNKh. In 1983 he was awarded the title of "Communist Labor Collective". This is very pretentious and ideological, but “ A team of conscientious and creative work"- it is deserved.

Housing issues were well resolved: in the period 1962-1988, five houses with 358 apartments were built in the city of Gatchina for the workers of the UGS facility and State Enterprise Lentransgaz.

But the most important thing is that many wonderful, hardworking, proactive specialists, excellent workers of the gas industry, awarded with orders and medals of our Motherland, medals of the Exhibition of Economic Achievements, worked at the UGS facility, and there are only 15 people in total.

Since the beginning of gas injection (June 1963), one of the best workers of Mingazprom, the operator of technological compressors V.I. Belov is the best rationalizer of the Ministry of Gas Industry, is listed in the Book of Honor of the Ministry of Gas Industry, awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of Friendship of Peoples, the medal "For Labor Distinction."

The contribution of workers is enormous - those who have worked conscientiously, reliably, creatively for 30-40 years or more: E.A. Tunny is a gas dehydration operator, the first at LSPHG to be awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, G.T. Sobolev, V.V. Zakharov, who has worked his way up from a mechanic for instrumentation and automation to the chief engineer of the enterprise, who has worked for more than forty years. T.M. Lutsevich is a geological engineer, the first of us, more than fifty years ago, to start developing these areas for underground storage, responsible and conscientious. N.I. Ivanov - the best operator of Mingazprom for 1981, 1982, awarded the Bronze Medal of the Exhibition of Economic Achievements and the Moskvich car. NS. Zorina, V.V. Orlova - who brought up many young operators, themselves "an example of labor." Chief engineer G.P. Kretov, who left untimely in 2007. Operator B.S. Matveev, V.V. Yudchenko, who worked as the head of the station for 15 years, V.M. Gavrilichev, B.D. Agafonov, V.I. Panyukov, Yu.V. Alekseev, T.N. Solovyova, L.P. Kalyagina, V.F. Yudin, V.N. Novikov, S.I. Gingerbread, V.V. Boykov, S.M. Kiselev, A.T. Dotsenko, N.A. Skvortsov, spouses Pruss, Yakovlevs, Belash, A.A. Pilly, V.M. Grishin, N.I. Spaschansky, E.A. Prudnikova and many others.

The works on drilling, re-equipment of wells, development and implementation of filter designs, searches for structures were carried out by the Leningrad EGB. Experienced, authoritative specialists worked there: the head of the EGB A.M. Burov, chief engineer B.A. Tolstosheev, head of the PTO A.S. Muravyov, chief geologist M.N. Peysik, drilling foreman G.V. Walter. Geophysical control over the injection and air extraction was carried out by the employees of the MINH and GP M.M. Sevastyanov, N.N. Maryenko, under the guidance of Ph.D. A.I. Choline. The highly qualified geophysicist G.N. Murzin, who made a great contribution to ensuring control over the creation and operation of UGS facilities, we remember his analytical conclusions.

Today, the team of the Leningrad Underground Gas Storage Administration is successfully solving a very important and responsible task - the overhaul of production wells. Ahead is a huge, creative work on the reconstruction of the compressor station, gas drying, collection points and other facilities. Many employees of the Leningrad UPHG continue their glorious labor traditions.

I myself have been dealing with the problems of UGS facilities at Lentransgaz for 40 years and almost 10 years in public work in the Fund for Social Support of Veterans of Lentransgaz LLC, including 31 years at the Leningradskaya UGSF, since 1960, where I went from foreman to head of UGS. All this time I have worked with so many wonderful people. I would especially like to thank the UGS team, it was here that I formed myself as an engineer, here I experienced the joy of my first success.

S. I. MARKIN, Honorary Worker of OJSC "Gazprom"

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It is difficult to say whose bright mind the idea came to keep a part of the extracted gas "in reserve" in reservoirs created by nature itself - right in the bowels of the Earth. It turned out to be difficult to implement this idea. In the Soviet Union, such work began in the mid-fifties of the last century near Leningrad. And in 1963, not far from Gatchina, the world's only gas storage facility, created in flat-lying aquifers, was commissioned - now the Leningrad Department of Underground Gas Storage (UGS). The divisions of the company, which it belongs to, Gazprom UGS LLC, operate today in 19 regions of the country.

The most important units of the gas storage system near Gatchina are being modernized step by step. PHOTO courtesy of the Leningrad UGS Department

For every fireman ...

Several unremarkable buildings, "backs" of pipes coming out of the ground and low metal structures. That is all that can be seen when one finds himself at this object, sheltered from prying eyes, which is located near the village of Lyadovo right behind Gatchina.

It is hardly possible for an uninitiated person to guess by sight about the purpose of such structures, and the main part of the engineering-geological "iceberg" is, of course, not visible here. This is intriguing if one imagines that natural gas is not stored in mighty steel tanks, like oil products, but underfoot, at a depth of more than 400 meters. And when necessary, it goes into action: it comes to St. Petersburg, the regions of the Leningrad region and even for export ...

Why bury gas at all where it was produced from? “The fact is that boiler houses and heating plants are unevenly loaded: in the warm season, the demand for“ blue fuel ”decreases, and with the onset of the heating season, it increases significantly,” explained Vladimir Zakoptelov, head of the Leningrad UGS facility.

To regulate the load on pipelines taking into account the seasonal factor, and at the same time to keep a reserve supply of fuel for every fireman, as they say, in case, the gas underground "pockets" were needed. In the North-West there are three similar objects: near Gatchina (the very first), Veliky Novgorod (the largest) and Kaliningrad (the youngest).

Stubborn geology

What is so unusual about the Gatchina "underground", as gas workers sometimes call such enterprises? The geological structures used there for storing methane are not used anywhere else in the world in this role. It was once believed that they, in principle, are not suitable for solving such problems. But Soviet scientists, who were pioneers in this direction, proved the opposite.

True, hydrogeological studies were initially unsuccessful. They were held in 1955 - 1957. not far from Leningrad - a large industrial center, remote from the areas of raw material extraction, already then needed a gas storage. Scientific support was provided by representatives of the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Natural Gases (VNIIGAZ) and the All-Union Petroleum Geological Prospecting Institute (VNIGRI). Leningrad designers, pipelines and geophysicists took part in these works.

After examining the drilled wells, the experts came to the conclusion that geology would say no to the construction of the required facility. For gas storage, structures with a domed trap of certain sizes and amplitudes were used - similar to those in which gas is formed underground. Most of the "subways" in Russia are just arranged in depleted gas fields. And it was not possible to find them in our places.

But ... here again it is necessary to remember the role of personality in history. Isaak Charny, a leading expert in the field of underground hydrodynamics, proved that this area is also suitable for gas storage. The scientist was supported by the equally famous Alexei Kortunov, who then headed the General Directorate of the Gas Industry under the Council of Ministers (Glavgaz of the USSR) in the rank of minister and promoted the idea of creating a unified gas supply system for the country.

Gdov's plate

Sandstone strata of the Gdovskiy horizon (an ancient aquifer) in the Gatchina area go in waves, interspersed with impermeable clay covers with a thickness of several meters. And in this puff cake, saturated with underground waters, there are areas that resemble an inverted plate in outlines.

It was proposed to "place" gas for storage in gently sloping strata. Experiments helped to verify their suitability - millions of cubic meters of air were pumped underground. The head of Glavgaz was so convinced of the viability of the idea that he ordered to start building a line to the future object from the main pipe, without waiting for the subsoil to be "tested" to the end.

The memories of Sergei Markin, the former head of the Leningrad UGS facility, have been preserved. "Difficult living conditions did not frighten," he wrote, "although everyone had to live together in two small rooms of a wooden office, located next to the compressor station and wells, in order to always be in the know ..."

The best in Gazprom

By trial and error, the specialists prepared a project for the Gatchinsky UGS facility - construction began in 1961. A year later, the construction of the second gas storage facility near Leningrad, Kolpinsky, was launched. It has not survived: in 1988, “upstairs” hurried to close it, liquidation work dragged on for almost ten years.

On the basis of these combined enterprises, the Leningrad UGS plant was later created, which was considered one of the best in Gazprom in terms of labor organization and level of automation. Suffice it to say that all her equipment was serviced by five people per shift: a dispatcher, a machinist, an operator of a collection point, a driver of a car on duty and a watchman.

Even in the difficult 1990s, when funding for repair and restoration work was minimized, the company kept afloat. Maybe because its staff was “fed” at the expense of specialists living in neighboring villages and Gatchina (although there are also Petersburgers among them), who treated work in a special way, like a “domestic” blood business. It is not surprising that for more than half a century, several working dynasties have formed there.

Meanwhile, one of the oldest gas storage facilities in Russia does not feel its solid age and, thanks to two programs of modernization and import substitution, is constantly updating its equipment. Its facilities today include seven powerful compressors, a gas treatment unit, a chemical laboratory, an "internal" gas pipeline network with a length of about 70 km, plus a system of production, water injection and observation wells. In the work of the object, mathematically precisely calculated cyclicality is observed.

Hydrocarbon on the chain

Methane enters the Gatchina subsoil through wells from a pipe passing through an underground storage facility and connecting gas pipelines in a half-ring, one of which is directed towards St. Petersburg. Injection takes place from May to October, but not evenly, but according to the schedule, which geologists draw up on the recommendation of scientists and designers.

Summer breaks - the hottest time for gas workers, when it is necessary to diagnose equipment, to repair and change something. Then hydrocarbons are injected again. But not over the entire multi-kilometer area of the mining allotment, but only in the necessary gentle areas (geologists identify these sectors), where the gas will not "scatter" to the sides, but will be guaranteed to be saved.

In the cold season, it comes out like a genie from a vessel, in separate portions, returning through the wells into the same pipe. It is like a piston pushes the contents of these storerooms (the so-called buffer gas, "living" there constantly). The groundwater extracted in this case is separated and pumped back into the strata, after taking samples for analysis (up to 40 thousand cubic meters per season), and the gas itself is dried and brought to marketable condition.

That's the whole technology, where reliability and environmental safety are at the forefront. The object of the first class of danger is under the continuous "sight" of state bodies (Rostekhnadzor, Rosprirodnadzor, the environmental prosecutor's office, the Committee for Nature Management of the Government of the Leningrad Region, etc.).

To monitor the "underground" system, observation wells were built, and not only the dispatcher on duty monitors the operation of the equipment. All technological processes can be monitored by his Moscow colleagues: the "picture" is sent to the central control room in real time. To Moscow...