Method and system for determining an amount of a liquid energy commodity in storage in an underground cavern

1. A method for determining an amount of a liquid energy commodity in storage in an underground cavern based on an estimation of a volume of a brine in a brine pond associated with the underground cavern, comprising the steps of:

establishing a volume function for the brine pond based on physical contours of the brine pond, and storing the volume function in a database;

acquiring an image of the brine pond at a subsequent time;

transmitting the acquired image to a central processing facility;

identifying a first contour in the acquired image at or near a top edge of the brine pond;

identifying a second contour in the acquired image representative of a level of the brine in the brine pond;

determining an average distance between the first contour and the second contour;

calculating a depth of the brine in the brine pond based on the average distance;

estimating the volume of the brine in the brine pond based on the calculated depth and using the volume function stored in the database;

determining the amount of the liquid energy commodity in storage in the underground cavern associated with the brine pond based on the estimated volume of the brine in the brine pond; and

communicating information about the amount of the liquid energy commodity in storage to a third-party market participant.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the step of establishing the Volume function includes the sub-steps of:

using a camera to acquire an image of the brine pond in a substantially empty state;

tracing two or more contours over the acquired image;

digitizing the two or more contours into X-Y coordinates;

calculating an area bounded by each of the two or more contours;

determining the depth for each of the two or more contours; and

calculating an area function as a function of the determined depth.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 , in which the liquid energy commodity is crude oil.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , in which the liquid energy commodity is natural gas liquids.

5. A method for determining an amount of a liquid energy commodity in storage in an underground cavern, wherein a brine pond is associated with the underground cavern, and wherein a volume function stored in a memory component provides an estimate of a volume of brine in the brine pond as a function of a depth of the brine in the brine pond, comprising the steps of:

using a camera to acquire an image of the brine pond;

using a computer system to

(a) identify a first contour in the acquired image at or near a top edge of the brine pond,

(b) identify a second contour in the acquired image representative of a level of the brine in the brine pond,

(c) determine an average distance between the first contour and the second contour by making a number of discrete measurements between the first contour and the second contour,

(d) calculate a depth of the brine in the brine pond based on the average distance,

(e) estimate a volume of the brine in the brine pond based on the calculated depth and using the volume function, and

(f) determine the amount of the liquid energy commodity in storage in the underground cavern associated with the brine pond; and

using the computer system to communicate information about the amount of the liquid energy commodity in storage to a third-party market participant.

6. A method in a computer system for determining an amount of a liquid energy commodity in storage in an underground cavern associated with a brine pond, comprising the steps of:

storing in a memory of the computer system a slope of a wall of the brine pond as a function of a location on a perimeter of the brine pond;

storing in the memory of the computer system a volume function for determining a volume of the brine pond as a function of a depth of the brine pond;

storing in the memory of the computer system data regarding a type of liquid energy commodity in the underground cavern associated with the brine pond;

at a later time, receiving into the memory of the computer system a digital image of the brine pond containing an unknown amount of brine;

processing, by a processor of the computer system, the digital image to determine a first contour representing a top edge of the brine pond in the digital image and a second contour representing a level of brine of the brine pond in the digital image;

determining, by the processor of the computer system, an average distance between the first contour and the second contour from a predetermined number of discrete measurements;

determining, by the processor of the computer system, and based on the average distance and the slope of the wall of the brine pond, a depth of a brine in the brine pond; and

estimating, by the processor of the computer system, and based on the depth of the brine and the volume function, the volume of the brine in the brine pond; and

determining, by the processor of the computer system, and based on the estimated volume of the brine in the brine pond, the amount of the liquid energy commodity in storage in the underground cavern associated with the brine pond.

7. The method as recited in claim 6 , and further comprising the steps of:

storing in the memory of the computer system a first digitized contour representing a bottom of the brine pond, a second digitized contour representing a maximum level of the brine pond, and a third digitized contour representing the top edge of the brine pond; and

upon receiving into the memory of the computer system the digital image of the brine pond containing the unknown amount of brine, transforming, by the processor of the computer system, using a generalized coordinate transform on the first contour to scale, shear, and rotate the first contour to match the third digitized contour representing the top edge of the brine pond which was previously stored in the memory of the computer system, and then applying the generalized coordinate transform to the second contour.

8. A system for determining an amount of a liquid energy commodity in storage in an underground cavern associated with a brine pond, comprising:

a memory component;

an input/output interface in communication with the memory component;

a processor in communication with the memory component and the input/output interface, the processor executing a program of instructions for:

receiving from the input/output interface and storing in the memory component: (a) a first digitized contour representing a bottom of the brine pond; (b) a second digitized contour representing a maximum level of the brine pond; and (c) a third digitized contour representing a top edge of the brine pond,

receiving from the input/output interface and storing in the memory component a slope of a wall of the brine pond as a function of a location on a perimeter of the brine pond,

receiving from the input/output interface and storing in the memory component a volume function for determining a volume of the brine pond as a function of a depth of the brine pond,

receiving from the input/output interface and storing in the memory component data regarding a type of liquid energy commodity in the underground cavern associated with the brine pond,

receiving from the input/output interface and storing in the memory component a digital image of the brine pond containing an unknown amount of brine,

processing the digital image to determine a first contour representing the top edge of the brine pond in the digital image and a second contour representing a level of a brine of the brine pond in the digital image,

transforming, using a generalized coordinate transform on the first contour to scale, shear, and rotate the first contour to match the third digitized contour representing the top edge of the brine pond which was previously stored in the memory component, and then applying the generalized coordinate transform to the second contour;

determining an average distance between the transform of the first contour and the transform of the second contour from a predetermined number of discrete measurements;

determining, using the average distance and the slope of the wall of the brine pond, a depth of the brine in the brine pond;

estimating, using the depth of the brine and the volume function, the volume of the brine in the brine pond; and

determining, based on the estimated volume of the brine in the brine pond, the amount of the liquid energy commodity in storage in the underground cavern associated with the brine pond.