idea to stop the oil spill

Ok, so this might be a stupid idea, but could it work?

I know they are working on drilling another hole,so they can plug up the first one. But why can't they just place a giant "man hole cover" (i.e. a HUGE steel plate) across the top of the hole, to just stop the oil from coming out, while they are drilling the other wells?


Is the pressure so strong that it would blow off a steel plate, that was, oh, say... 2-3 feet thick, and a few hundred feet in diameter?

Would that work?

Could it at least STOP the oil from flowing for the next 90 days, while they drilled the other holes?

It seems to me that BP is more concerned with capturing the oil, than actually stopping the flow....or am I wrong?


[edit on 8-5-2010 by nikiano]

[edit on 8-5-2010 by nikiano]

reply to post by nikiano


That's a possible idea that they should try. As far as the oil slick is concerned I think they should drop pink dye on it.

When people see the pink stuff washing ashore they will not feel threatened by it. After all, it's pink.

reply to post by nikiano


I don't think you're necessarily wrong Nikiano. I applaud you even thinking about this issue and striving for a unique solution. I have no desire to try to come up with reasons why your solution wouldn't work.

I've been a first-responder to a much smaller oil spill, but that was ages ago, and truthfully, I have nary a clue as to how technology has changed since then -- your solution could work for all I KNOW.

Keep firing those synapses. You seem like a 'can-do' person rather than a 'can't-do' one...... Could be that the winning solution comes from you.

Thanks.

I doubt anybody "in charge" would listen to me if I e-mailed the my idea....but, I will try!

Does anyone here on ATS know anyone up high in the chain of command who you could funnel this idea to?

If so, please feel free to pass my idea along....




[edit on 8-5-2010 by nikiano]

reply to post by nikiano


Sure, no problem (just kidding). Do these people listen to anyone? They are sinful in their willfulness.

Take care-----------------------PC.

IMHO capping it at the sea floor wont work. The crud will just take the path of lest resistance and that will be through the sediments on the sea floor. Creating a wider dispersal area. It will slow it down but not stop it.

I wished it was that simple

If this thing is going to be capped it going to be below the sea floor.
This Dome that they constructed was doomed from the start, but at least they know one way it wont work so they will keep trying till they get it.

Its going to take a lot minds to figure this out

The containment dome, which is sort of like your idea, failed because of gas hydrates that caused it to float and stopped up the opening at the top. They wanted to take the oil out the top. I think that is their main priority--not stopping the massive oil damage--so they set the cap idea aside for now. The flat cap you suggest probably would work if it was heavy enough, but it would not capture the oil for the corporation.


"Officials discovered that gas hydrates, ice-like crystals lighter than water, had built up inside the 100-ton metal container. The hydrates threatened to make the dome buoyant, and they also plugged up the top of the dome, preventing it from being effective."- NYT

"effective" as in profitable imo.

Originally posted by hillbilly4rent
IMHO capping it at the sea floor wont work. The crud will just take the path of lest resistance and that will be through the sediments on the sea floor. Creating a wider dispersal area. It will slow it down but not stop it.

Well, I know it's not a long term solution, but if it could slow it down while they were drilling the relief well, it could at least minimize the amount of oil leaking into the ocean. Then, when the relief well was finally drilled, then they could stop it, and remove the giant man-hole cover.

EDIT TO ADD:

Well, I tried to call BP to pass along my idea...and I found the volunteer line. So, I called it. Guess where it got rerouted to? To someone in another country, who could barely speak English, who wanted to take my name and number.

Anyway, I tried talking to her for a few minutes, but it was clear that there was a language barrier, so I just gave up and hung up.

Nice to know that BP finds our ideas and offers for help so important that they route our phone calls along to non-english speaking people in other countries. Nice.




[edit on 8-5-2010 by nikiano]

reply to post by nikiano


I see your point and Im glad Im not the only one thinking how to stop this monster from running ramped

and don't you just love help desks

[edit on 8-5-2010 by hillbilly4rent]

and don't you just love help desks

Yeah. They should change the name to "frustration desks" or "hit your head against the wall desks."

Actually, I think that that well is currently pressurized with salt water, as in, they pumped it in, so that they could draw oil off. The thing they need to be doing is sucking the pressure off inside the field. So far, the only way to do that is by pumping it, hence, the second well. But here's the problem, even if they stick another hole in the field it will be disastrous. The open well is currently drawing water back in, displacing the oil to the top. A rig on the other end of that is going to have a lot of pressure to deal with, not something it was designed for.

OK
1st they come up with an idea of a oil well in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico
2nd they get all their engineers and design an oil platform
3rd drill the well and place the platform
4th start making money
5th still making money
6th BOOM a bad day and people die
7th the idiots don't have a contingency plan for just such a bad day

Shows you how much this outfit thinks ahead.

That would be one hell of a heavy metal plate to lift. The price of steel would be enormous.

reply to post by nikiano


WHY CANT THE OIL BE PUMP OUT OF THE GULF BEFORE IT GETS TO THE SHORES IT SOUNDS LIKE IT THICK ENOUGH TO GET ALOT OF IT OUT

I was going to start a thread on the very same topic.

I pitched my Idea to BP about 3 weeks ago but they told me to let the "experts" handle it.

Well their "experts" have failed at every attempt.

MY idea is quite simple, cheep and will be effective.

First attach a sling to the riser pipe where it kinks above the BOP.

Cut the riser off and move it away from the BOP and subsea worksite. While over the short term this will increase the leakage rate it will be mitigated in the long run.

Un-bolt the riser from the BOP

Install a hydrolic Gate valve over the BOP where the Riser attaches.

Close the gate valve.

Continue to drill the releif wells and finish off with a bottom kill.

When that is complete remove the failed BOP and investigate the root cause.

Implement new proceedures to mitigate a simular failure.

I'm pretty sure someone already had this idea, but I like it as I believe it is the best option.

Cotton expands to 10x it's size.

How about top kill + bottom kill using cotton?

Heck anyone here ever seen those toys that start off small but after soaked in water are like 10x the size and hard like concrete. Why don't we put a bunch of that stuff in the mix.

Which brings another idea, why not take that stuff weigh it to the leak so it doesn't blow away and wait for it to expand enough to clog the leak enough to cap it?

There's 3 ideas that they haven't tried.

[edit on 1-6-2010 by DaMod]