The pouring of special concrete for the main structure of China’s first cave-based hydrogen storage facility has been successfully completed

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On the 20th of the month, the pouring of special concrete for the main structure of China’s first underground hydrogen storage facility was successfully completed. This facility is part of the first domestic project for hydrogen storage in caves, which was invested in and developed by MCC Wukan. As a demonstration project under the **Key R&D Program**, the success of this pouring represents a crucial step in enabling China’s cave hydrogen storage technology to make a significant leap from \"0\" to \"1\", laying a vital foundation for the development of an infrastructure for deep-earth hydrogen storage and transportation. It is reported that the project aims to build a cave-based hydrogen storage facility, hydrogen transmission pipelines, a hydrogen compression system, and other supporting facilities. It is led by MCC Wuhan Survey and Design Institute, with the collaboration of institutions such as the Wuhan Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, and China First Metallurgical Group Corporation. The project receives strong support from China Minmetals, China MCC, as well as the Hubei Provincial Department of Science and Technology, the Hubei Provincial Energy Bureau, and the Dye City People’s Government. The project innovatively repurposes abandoned mines as high-pressure hydrogen storage chambers in rock cavities, which imposes extremely high demands on the precision, quality of concrete pouring, and construction safety. Therefore, completing the continuous pouring of large volumes of concrete in a confined space in a safe, high-quality, and efficient manner represents the core challenge of this project. To overcome these technical challenges, the project team organized more than twenty specialized discussions. In collaboration with partner organizations, they carefully examined every detail, from the planning of pouring procedures and the simulation of temperature control measures to emergency response drills, striving for excellence. They also provided thorough technical instructions and safety training to all crew members. Since the commencement of pouring, Yang Chunhe, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the project’s chief scientist, has paid close attention to the progress of the project and provided professional guidance on numerous occasions ； China Metallurgical Wuhan Surveying and Research Institute made every effort to coordinate the progress, with the company’s leadership going to the site to oversee the work. Under the coordinated guidance of the expert team and relevant departments, the project team dynamically optimized the pouring plan and allocated resources as needed, ensuring the smooth progress of the project’s pouring work. During the pouring process, the project team used 3D scanning technology to create accurate models of the irregular chamber spaces, and monitored the amount of concrete used in real time to prevent overuse, underuse, and waste of materials. At the same time, advanced fiber optic sensing technology is employed throughout the process to monitor the temperature of the concrete in real time, along with corresponding temperature control measures, to ensure that the temperature and stress parameters of the mass concrete in confined spaces always meet the requirements of the construction process. Through day and night of relentless effort, the project team successfully overcame challenges such as limited working space and high intensity of continuous work, and completed the pouring task successfully.