Schematic of BP’s cementing plan:
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Source:
Costly, time-consuming test of cement linings in Deepwater Horizon rig was omitted, spokesman says
David Hammer
The Times-Picayune, May 19, 2010
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/costly_time-consuming_test_of.html
"Always borrow money form a pessimist, he doesn't expect to be paid back." —Author Unknown
Staying with the belief that the Fed can still do more, Bernanke said they are prepared for more accommodation if needed but he finally publicly acknowledges that "central bankers alone cannot solve the world's economic problems." He gives color on what left the Fed can do if circumstances warrant but acknowledges drawbacks to each perceived benefit. On the economy, "although private final demand, output, and employment have indeed been growing for more than a year, the pace of that growth recently appears somewhat less vigorous than we expected...Much of the unexpected slowing is attributable to the household sector, where consumer...
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May 25th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Interesting, I always wondered how all that worked.
May 25th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Ooh, that there picture is real purty and engineer-y like.
Here’s a partial list of other things I wouldn’t let those assholes anywhere near:
-digging a septic system
-installing an in-ground pool
-rebuilding Iraq
-repaving a street
-NASA
-my kids’ Lego set
-offering me fries with that
May 25th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
This talk of O-rings, & sealers is reminding me of another disaster …
May 25th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
@seana0325:
:-)
http://feynman.com/
“For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.”
-Richard Feynman
May 25th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
I bet the oil quits spewing on its own before they get any of this stuff in place. I mean, it does have to quit spewing eventually, doesn’t it? I imagine BP would love to get beyond petroleum about now.
May 25th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
I guess it could stop spewing when it empties – about 98M barrels later.
I question how they are just going to be able to force mud down the BOP for a top-kill. Usually, they
would have the advantage of 5000′ of mud in the riser aiding in this process.
May 25th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
I doubt it will work, there are so many sealings to take care of!
Why on earth they dont try to freeze the oil flow by using liquid nitrogen is beyond me. It is nowhere as risky or costly of what they are trying to do and has far more chances of succeeding.
It shows that big corporation have become paralised by their own big inner bureauracy just as the goverments and all creativity is chocked to death by layers and layers of incompetent managers.
May 25th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
mad Albanian,
that’s an interesting idea, re: cryogenics, see..
http://clusty.com/search?input-form=clusty-simple&v%3Asources=webplus&query=cryogenic+piping
whay kind of delivery system were you envisioning?
also, #4 in last link, below..Developments In Subsea Pipe Freezing For Deepwater Applications
Developments In Subsea Pipe Freezing For Deepwater Applications INTRODUCTION Pipe … system using a heat exchanger to cool a secondary cryogenic medium, allowing freezing to take …
~~
http://www.mms.gov/tarprojects/index.htm
http://clusty.com/search?input-form=clusty-simple&v%3Asources=webplus&query=cryogenic+piping+freezing+deepwater+blowouts
May 25th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Here’s some pretty pictures and a youtube animation explanation of the top kill from the oildrum via clusterstock:
“Here Is Everything You Need To Know About BP’s Dramatic “Top Kill” Bid To Halt The Oil Leak”
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-a-top-kill-2010-5
May 25th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
Mark,
The idea is very simple indeed and it works.
I did create once an ice plug on a 500mm dimeter pipe with 2000m3/h of water flowing through it and no isolation valves to isolate the leak. You just build a casing around the pipe and inject liquid nitrogen from a std bottlle on one side of the casing and vent it on the other. It took around 8 hours to have the complete plug formed but it is eazy to make the calculations and very simple to try. Oil has a much higher viscosity at lower temperatures and it will be much easier than water to stop the flow by freezing I would imagine.
Anyway, I would guess if it was so simple they must have thought about it, but having worked in some of those coorporation, nothing would surprise me, since MBA have replaced engineers on most coorporate managment levels, the ideas travel very slow from bottom to the top and most on the top dont have a clue about them.