Abstract

Sanliurfa limestone of Turkey is used as an underground deep freeze food storagecavern, because of its high isolation characteristics. Therewithal, the Sanliurfa limestoneincludes high  amount of clay minerals. Clay minerals makes limestone weak and theexcavations become cheap but dangereous. In this study, for choosing the optimumexcavation method in Sanliurfa limestone, the first part of the excavation was done withblasting and  the second part of the excavation was done with excavator. Then, theresults are compared with each other in terms of efficiency, security and costs. Finally,for determining the characteristics of limestone in terms of another rock types, the blastingresults in granite and surface storage when compared with limestone. Sanliurfa limestone is a good isolator and it prevents approximately 20% heat losses. It is affected less byblasting, because of its natural properties. By machine excavation, the stresses around the cavern was maximum 0.06 MPa in the roof, minimum 0.01 MPa in the sidewalls and the safety factors of 4. By the blasting excavation, the stresses around the cavern rised to maximum of 0.1 MPa in the roof, minimum of 0.04 MPa in the sidewalls and the safety factors of 3. It is interpreted that no supporting around the cavern was needed. Also,the construction costs are too much, less than excavations by machine and surface stores (almost half). By the results of these investigations, it can be claimed that Sanliurfalimestone is a suitable formation for underground storages.

Key words: Sanliurfa limestone, underground storage, heat transfer cost, excavation cost,blasting, finite element method (FEM).