BP cautions against bid to stop oil leak

BP cautions against bid to stop oil leak

aljazeera.com

British Petroleum (BP) has cautioned that a containment dome designed to suck in the oil gushing out of its Gulf of Mexico well may not work as planned.

As the wrecked wellhead at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico continued to spew oil into the water for the 16th day, BP moved forward with a plan to cap the leak using the dome with hopes of containing the ecological disaster.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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Dropping a 100 ton dome to hit a target 5,000 feet below the surface, through strong currents is hard enough, yet it might not even work due to the immense pressure at those depths. I wonder, will it cause an even bigger problem in plugging this hole if the structure fails? What is next if this dome doesn't work?

We can only hope that this dome even works, and if does, then the actual real work can begin. Far too many people seem to think that once this hole is plugged, then our problem is over but that is not accurate at all. Those people are forgetting about the millions of gallons that have already poured into the gulf.

So far, I think we have done a wonderful job in containment, relatively speaking of course but most of that good work was actually done by Mother Nature and her blessings with the currents. We can only hope that we should stay so lucky, so that we can contain this disaster with as little damage as possible. Unfortunately, I have little faith in this "solution" and apparently, so does BP.

--airspoon

aljazeera.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

As I understand it, the idea of the dome is to capture the leaking oil and pump it to the surface. If it works, the majority of the problem going forward will be mitigated. In the meantime, it will give them the time they need to drill a second hole and allow them to pour cement into it to stop the leak. It's a long shot but there doesn't appear to be any better options at the moment.

Pressure? What Pressure? The pressure inside is the same as the pressure outside, that means zero pressure. By that reasoning we should all be squashed flat by atmospheric pressure. I would not trust any of those news sources BP is a UK company, lets see some reports from UK media.

[edit on 6-5-2010 by rothmans]

reply to post by airspoon


This helps BP create a lot of uncertainty in the markets. Obama is doing the same. If speculators don't know when or if the oil spill will be fixed they're free to speculate on that.

reply to post by rothmans


The pressure 5,000 feet below the ocean surface is much greater than what we experience on the surface. The pressure of water, acting on a body is one atmosphere or about 14.7 psi for every increase of 33 feet of depth. So, doing the math: (d/i) x p = 2227.272psi

5,000ft. = "d", 33ft. = "i", 14.7psi = "p"
d/i = 151.515 or "r"
r x p = 2227.272
(d/i) x p = 2227.272psi

2227.272psi is an immense amount of pressure.

Edited for structure.

Edited to add: A Western media source is not much more credible, IMO. So what if BP is a UK company, does that somehow make UK media sources more reliable and/or credible on stories relating to this incident? If anything, I think that they would lose credibility. Everyone knows that this "solution" is "iffy" at best. However, I do hope it works, obviously. My original point being that even if this does work, we still have tons of work to do and this incident is not even close to being over.

--airspoon


[edit on 6-5-2010 by airspoon]

[edit on 6-5-2010 by airspoon]

[edit on 6-5-2010 by airspoon]

[edit on 6-5-2010 by airspoon]

[edit on 6-5-2010 by airspoon]

[edit on 6-5-2010 by airspoon]

[edit on 6-5-2010 by airspoon]

While everyone is hoping this works, they are clearly saying that it might not.

At this point, it can't hurt to try it, but the sad things is, we all know this is going to cost us all, outside of this spill.

It makes me wonder what the price tag is of this experimental puppy!

reply to post by airspoon


Yes, but the point that was being made is that this thing is not closed. It is an open bell. So, there will be no pressure on it --- other than on the material from which it's made itself. And that is a non-factor.

If you put a rock in a paper cup it could sink to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and the cup would not be crushed.

Originally posted by jtma508
reply to post by airspoon

 

Yes, but the point that was being made is that this thing is not closed. It is an open bell. So, there will be no pressure on it --- other than on the material from which it's made itself. And that is a non-factor.

That is correct, any pressure or vacuum for that matter would have no affect on it, weather its under the ocean or in outer space or on Jupiter.

Originally posted by belial259
reply to post by airspoon

 

This helps BP create a lot of uncertainty in the markets. Obama is doing the same. If speculators don't know when or if the oil spill will be fixed they're free to speculate on that.

Excellent point. If BP are able to 'play' the event they are then able to retain some control over how it impacts markets and therefore how much money they are able to make/re-coup through the disaster.

Another point maybe to think about is how much the clear up will cost 10 billion ? and that's a lot of money to be 'giving away'. It's gonna be handy having control of who gets that too.

reply to post by rothmans


Okay, they are not trying to plug the hole, but rather they are just trying to "funnel" one of the leaks up to a surface vessel. I was under the impression that they were going to use this dome to plug the hole, by them falsely labeling this as a "solution". While I was wrong about the purpose of the dome, the pressures still present problems for the rising oil, gas and water mixture that will be coming up, especially if the cold temperature causes the mixture to freeze and clog the pipe. So, while I may have been wrong about the purpose of the dome, the high pressures at that depth still present many problems for the operation.

Regardless, the pressures acting upon the dome was not the point of this thread or my post. The point was that this is going to be difficult, might fail for several reasons and it is only a containment measure for oil that has not yet leaked from one of the three leaks. It's not even a solution to the one leak, such as to plug. The point was also to suggest the immense amount of work that is still left to do, once the leaks are taken care of.

The article was also accurate in its message that BP and other officials are worried about the success of this operation.

Asked to handicap the odds of success, Bob Fryar, a senior executive vice president for BP's Deep Water Angola, offered up this assessment: "This has never been done before. Typically you would put odds on something that has been done before."

Source: AP

Rear Admiral Mary Landry, of the US coastguard, said: "I know we are all hoping that this containment system will work, but I want to remind everybody that this is a first of its kind deployed in 5,000 feet of water."

Source: Guardian

Also...

Crews will use a crane during the next few days to lower the dome over the leak. BP hopes it can then funnel the oil to the surface, although officials admit that they're not sure if it will work.

Source: ABC News

While I was wrong about one detail based upon a false presumption or misunderstanding of the purpose of the dome, the premise of my post is still valid.

--airspoon


[edit on 6-5-2010 by airspoon]

My question is, BP knew they were doing a risky drill, in uncharted areas. Why in the heck didn't they have a backup plan to begin with?

Originally posted by rothmans
If you put a rock in a paper cup it could sink to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and the cup would not be crushed.

The petroleum is pressurized. When it is coming out of the wellbore without assistance, it is because there is more pressure in the resevoir than in the "atmosphere" outside of it.

reply to post by nixie_nox

Well, I dont think they dreamed up this funnel plan over night. I think they should have ran tests on the idea and had one ready to go not too far away in case of emergency.

reply to post by Aeons

Once the oil is out of the well it is soon at the same pressure as the surrounding ocean.

Apparently you've never seen a gusher.

reply to post by Aeons

Apparently youve never been very deep under seawater.

Originally posted by rothmans
reply to post by Aeons

 

Apparently youve never been very deep under seawater.

No I haven't.

The fact that it is under that sort of external pressure and the petroleum is coming out like that should give you an indication of how much pressure the resevoir is under.

It doesn't equalize immediately after coming out of the borehole. It will equalize - eventually.

Maybe in 5 years. Maybe in a hundred.

[edit on 2010/5/6 by Aeons]

reply to post by Aeons

Oh yes, you make a valid argument.
Time for me to see what the ignore button does.