NOAA Situation Update 02 May 10 for Deepwater Horizon

You can go to the NOAA Site and download the word doc yourselves or for those who cant I'll paste a few key sections about Sundays development..

Situation – Sunday 02 May – Today NOAA restricted fishing in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico threatened by the BP oil spill - from the mouth of the Mississippi to Pensacola Bay (***click below for map***). The closure, which will be in effect for at least 10 days, is to protect consumers and the seafood industry. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke said,

Link to Map

President Obama was on-scene today getting a first-hand look at the spill, which is still leaking at a rate of approximately 5000 barrels (210,000 gallons) per day from three damaged sections of piping on the sea floor. Engineers are working to inject dispersants at the oil’s source - 5000’ below the surface. If successful, it could reduce or prevent an oil plume from forming at the surface. Drilling of a relief or cut-off well started today, but it will take several months to stop the flow. Work also continues on a collection dome at the sea floor; this technique has never been tried at 5000’. Very high winds and rough seas curtailed surface operations, such as skimming and applying dispersant by aircraft. Hundreds of thousands of feet of boom have been deployed to contain the spill, with hundreds of thousands more staged and ready to be deployed.

well that was from yesterday and offical word on where they are... will post updates here when they come in...

[edit on 3-5-2010 by DaddyBare]

[edit on 3-5-2010 by DaddyBare]

ok I have done some math on this.
feel free to check please
and first let me say, I work with pressures just short of 100,000 psi (100k psi) on a daily basis. the force is unbelievable

first area of the hole (I have done both 5 feet and 5 inches)

pipe size > in > r > r2 > pi > sq in
5 feet >60 > 30 >900 >3.14 > 2826
5 inches > 5 > 2.5 >6.25 >3.14 > 19.625

so if we take our area, and multiply by the pressure (30 K as the low side)

psi force(lbs) > force (tons) > cu ft of concrete for same force
30,000 (5') = 84780000 = 42390 = 1630384.
30,000 (5")= 588750 = 294.375 = 11322.

(1 cu ft of concrete = 52 lbs)

50 m X 50 m 10 ft thick concrete slab is only

50 x 50 = 2500 sq m =26909.78 sq ft X 10 ft=269097.8 cu ft x 52 (13993085.6 lbs) enough for the 5 inch hole, but not the 5 ft hole

If the pressure is only 30K, but some "estimates" have gone up to 120k psi
so just multiply the above numbers by 2-4 if so

flow rates reports/estimates are all over the place 200k-500k per day, and as stated, if the hole keeps hydraulicing its self larger it gets much worse
This is not a good situation, and it is NOT getting better with time

good times ahead for all
and by the way

Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on Pestilence.

pestilence - a pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of;

not going all religious, but it does sum it pretty well

dr

reply to post by dr dodge


not a bad guess but the math they use is a bit more complex
Specific gravity (or density);
Evaporation rate;
Boiling range;
Viscosity;
Pour point;
Emulsification ability; and
Water solubility.
all of those effect the outcome...
But like I said real good guess considering your not an oilman...
if you like here's a case study
Example for Oil Spill Movement and Fate

I have yet to read just what size the of the hole is... drill pipe might be 5 inches but I'm guessing there's a 18 inch casing... far larger hole and in the report its not one leak but three..

reply to post by DaddyBare


from three damaged sections of piping on the sea floor?

Is this actually on top or will these 3 pipes be under sea bed? Has anyone got any diagrams or links as to where i can find info on this and also the position of the sunken rig?

Adding to the resources that DaddyBare's posted, this is the link for the Deepwater Horizon response.

Originally posted by jazz10
reply to post by DaddyBare

 

from three damaged sections of piping on the sea floor?

Is this actually on top or will these 3 pipes be under sea bed? Has anyone got any diagrams or links as to where i can find info on this and also the position of the sunken rig?

I dont have details for this one well but here's a couple of pictures of above water equipment so you can kind of see what their dealing with...
this is a BOP-stack
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/cec5d0ab461d.jpg[/atsimg]

this would be the Choke manifold
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9b92aed18f38.jpg[/atsimg]

basicly same equipment only on a larger scale, lots of places for leaks too

I posted this thread and no one replied really.
The ship Carnival Ecstasy had to list, to avoid Buoy?
200 Miles off Louisiana coast
Buoy did not show up on radar

Was it definatley a buoy?
Or could it have been something else?
www.abovetopsecret.com...

ROBERT, La. - The Transocean drillship, Discoverer Enterprise, prepares to conduct recovery operation for BP using a specially-built "dome" at the sea floor Monday, May 3, 2010. With the use of the dome and connection system to flow the leaking oil the crew of the Discoverer Enterprise will be capable of recovering up to 125,000 barrels of oil. Photo provided by Transocean.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/35e6104b0fc9.jpg[/atsimg]

ROBERT, La. - The ultra-deepwater semisubmersible rig Development Drill III had begun operations for drilling a relief well Monday, May 3, 2010. A relief well is designed to drill down and intersect the existing well bore and pump heavy fluids and cement in to stop the leaking oil. Photo provided by Transocean.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/483059826af1.jpg[/atsimg]
In the Past 24 Hours:

•The President has dispatched the secretaries of Commerce, Interior and Homeland Security, as well as the NOAA Administrator, to return to the Gulf Coast this week. Specific details on their travel will come from their departments and agencies, but collectively they will be inspecting the ongoing, coordinated response efforts to mitigate the impact of the spill on public health, the environment and the economy. They will meet with business owners to discuss potential economic impacts of this spill across the Gulf Coast region.
•Secretary Salazar, Secretary Napolitano, EPA Administrator Jackson and other members of the Obama administration today met with BP CEO Tony Hayward and BP America Chairman and President Lamar McKay at the Department of the Interior to discuss ongoing, coordinated response efforts and receive an update on BP’s mitigation plans for potentially impacted Gulf Coast states. This is the most recent in a series of meetings that have taken place between administration leadership and BP leadership.
•Response crews continue to test a new technique to break up the oil before it reaches the surface—a remotely operated underwater vehicle dispensing sub-surface dispersant at a rate of nine gallons per minute—with encouraging results so far. Nearly 3,000 gallons of subsea dispersants were applied, and BP and NOAA continue to evaluate these tests to determine the feasibility of continued use of subsea dispersants.
•More than 2,000 volunteers have been trained to assist in the response effort to date. Volunteer recruitment efforts include outreach to local fishermen with boats, which can be used as vessels of opportunity to assist contractors in deploying boom.
•Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels visited Louisiana with a team of experienced hazardous materials professionals leading an effort to ensure that oil spill cleanup workers receive necessary protections from the hazards of this work. OSHA is consulting with BP, as well as federal agency partners, to ensure that workers receive appropriate training and protective equipment.
•Nine staging areas are now set up to protect vital shoreline in all potentially affected Gulf Coast states (Biloxi, Miss., Pensacola, Fla., Pascagoula, Miss., Dauphin Island, Ala., Port Sulphur, La., Shell Beach, La., Slidell, La., Port Fourchon, La., Venice, La.).
•BP is now accepting claims for the Gulf Coast oil spill. Please call BP’s helpline at 1-800-440-0858. A BP fact sheet with additional information is available here. For those who have already pursued the BP claims process and are not satisfied with BP’s resolution, can call the Coast Guard at 1-800-280-7118. More information about what types of damages are eligible for compensation under the Oil Pollution Act as well as guidance on procedures to seek that compensation can be found here.


By the Numbers to Date:

•Personnel were quickly deployed and approximately 3,000 are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife.
•Nearly 200 vessels are responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
•Hundreds of thousands of feet of boom (barrier) have been deployed to contain the spill—nearly 700,000 feet are available.
•More than 1 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
•More than 156,000 gallons of dispersant have been deployed. An additional 230,000 gallons are available.
•Nine staging areas have been set up to protect vital shoreline in all potentially affected Gulf Coast states (Biloxi, Miss., Pensacola, Fla., Pascagoula, Miss., Dauphin Island, Ala., Port Sulphur, La., Shell Beach, La., Slidell, La., Port Fourchon, La., Venice, La.).
•More than 2,000 volunteers have been trained to assist in the response effort to date.

You left out the most important number. For this hoax to escalate to catastrophic levels, we need a count on the oil-covered birds and dead marine animals.

— Doc Velocity

Originally posted by Doc Velocity
You left out the most important number. For this hoax to escalate to catastrophic levels, we need a count on the oil-covered birds and dead marine animals.

— Doc Velocity

LOL... I'll leave that to the other's who crave all the drama...
My little mostly unnoticed thread is simply about what's going on, what their doing and how much longer we can expect this to go on...

Plenty of real life drama right here... Now that BP is now accepting claims for the Gulf Coast oil spill. I expect there will be a lot more drama in in the coming days

the NOAA site that monitors all the bouys on the gulf (actually world wide) is here:

www.ndbc.noaa.gov...

not sure, but almost looks like the "dead station" # 42375 could have been the actual rig. I am concerned with water surface temps due to added solar absorbtion from darkening the water, and its reflection changes, as those trends directly effect hurricane strength. I remember some had live feed cameras, but have not found any yet.

and by the way, I am as was said, not an oil man
I am a pressure metrologist.
the petro companies are my customers
and other than density in relation to the plugs bouyancy, most of those variables are how the pressure at the hole is calculated.
being as my calculations used their "estimated pressure" they are not as relevent to my calculations.

If you treat the hole like the piston bore of a dead weight tester, those are the general calculations you would use

that was not just a guess

the num,bers do give you an idea of the vast forces in play here, and the task those people attempting to fight it are

great thread, and good luck and god speed all those individuals involved in the response, repair, and clean up.

dr

reply to post by dr dodge


What I meant by good guess is that oil wells like this are pretty dirty...
its not just oil coming out... without knowing just what's mixed in with that oil you cant really guess at the total mass volume and flow... if we,re lucky a lot of that outflow is gasses... that reduces the mass considerably... too much gas trapped under their dome might just fill it up and make said dome useless... Remember too its not one leak but three... when the rig went down it bent and twisted a mile of riser pipe... its not one but three leaks along the pipe sitting on the sea floor...

I just came across this minutes ago, then something clicked.
Could this be the solution to limit the oil spreading?
I really think that if beavers are capable of this then im sure we can too. What you all say?
www.telegraph.co.uk...

reply to post by DaddyBare


I completely agree about the calculation of flow. I am actually suspicious of the fact that we have been at the same calculated flow for almost a week. pretty hard for me to believe it has not changed. one would assume if the flow doubled, its in BP's best interest to "omit" the higher numbers and use the old ones, but that is pure conjecture.
I can not imagine how hard the fighting effort must be, its gotta be pretty violent at the sea floor, with silt and good old muddy gulf water mixing with the high pressure gas and oil. a small very nasty tornado underwater.

I wish them all the luck in the world with that dome idea, but really have my doubts. they have never used it over 1500 ft. and the added hydrostatic pressures could seriously hamper the effort to deploy.

dr

reply to post by DaddyBare


Thanks for your unwavering diligence in sharing your knowledge and providing realistic and factual updates. The trolls will try to misdirect, politicize and suggest "hare-brained" solutions.

I find your thread the most accurate, calm and drama free one thus far. Please continue your valiant effort and calm resolve.




[edit on 4-5-2010 by kinda kurious]

reply to post by kinda kurious


thank you.... most kind...
But I'm just that kind of guy who wants fact not wild speculation ya know...
while I'm at it here's the
Current Operations for
May 4, 2010 Operations:

Total Vessels (including tugs and skimmers): 196
Boom deployed: 486,940 feet
Boom available: 668,081 feet
Oil and Water Mix - Recovered: 23,968 gallons
Dispersant Used : 156,012 gallons
Dispersant availailable: 230,000 gallons
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV): 10
Overall Personnel Responding: 7,484

In addition to the overall personnel responding, more than 2,000 volunteers have been trained to assist in the response effort.



9 staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines. These areas include:

Biloxi, Miss.
Pensacola, Fla.
Venice, La.
Pascagoula, Miss.
Port Sulphur, La.
Port Fourchon, La.
Gulfport, Miss.
Dauphin Island, Ala.
Shell Beach, La.

Originally posted by DaddyBare
ROBERT, La. - The ultra-deepwater semisubmersible rig Development Drill III had begun operations for drilling a relief well Monday, May 3, 2010. A relief well is designed to drill down and intersect the existing well bore and pump heavy fluids and cement in to stop the leaking oil. Photo provided by Transocean.

That should work, if they get the bottom of the drill deep enough before they start pumping heavy fluids and cement. To have the best chance of working they heed to get the tip of the drill pipe as close to the bottom of the existing hole as possible. If they don't have it deep enough the oil will just push the heavy fluids and concrete back up.

I used to work on drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico so I have some familiarity with this. If I got bored I'd go watch the "mud engineer" formulate the heavy fluids that gas and oil drilling operations use to keep the oil contained while drilling. They call it "mud" but it's really an engineered formulation of heavy fluids, I think they use barium sulfate to add weight or make the fluid "heavy", and lubricate the drill head.

drill mud is some "different stuff"
there is very little in the way of products whose ingredients are as closely guarded as it is. schlumberger and halliburton won't tell you whats in it in any detail
even in an MSDS

dr

reply to post by dr dodge


bentonite is most commonly used base in drilling mud... affectionately known as snot... while its circulating its a free flowing liquid but once then stops it turns to gel...
they also ad a few other things surfactants... normally the bentonite is mixed with diesel but I've been told they don't use that out to sea because of the fumes...

Controlled Burn Approved for May 5

ROBERT, La. - Favorable weather conditions have allowed responders to prepare to conduct a controlled burn today, May 5th.

As part of a coordinated response that combines tactics deployed above water, below water, offshore, and close to coastal areas, controlled burns remove oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.

No populated areas are expected to be affected by the controlled burn operations and there are no anticipated impacts to marine mammals and sea turtles. In order to ensure safety, the Environmental Protection Agency will continuously monitor air quality and burning will be halted if safety standards cannot be maintained.

A successful controlled burn, lasting 28 minutes and removing thousands of gallons of oil, was conducted on April 28th.