RELIEF WELLS NEAR COMPLETION in the face of Methane/Oil SUPER ARMAGEDDON, page 1

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ATS Members have flagged this thread 120 times

Topic started on 2-7-2010 @ 04:31 PM by PuterMan

Relief wells near completion

I get a general feeling that people are thinking that nothing is happening at the well and that various attempts to stop the flow have failed.

Basically this is not true and people are not actually following the progress. Suggestions of nuking the well are basically just plain stupidity and would cause an even worse environmental disaster in my opinion. I don't know what the strata were composed of in the Soviet 'nuking' (video on other thread) but I believe this to be shale and this could introduce a major instability. In addition to that the Soviet one(s) was on land, and we know nothing of the gas pressures in this Soviet well. Was it as huge as the BP well.

Current relief well progress.

This is the current state of play. The first well seems to be paused waiting for the second to catch up.

Link to PDF of the above diagram

'Relief' wells are being drilled but these are not, contrary to popular opinion, to relieve the pressure. The purpose of these two wells is to intersect the main 'gusher' at a point just above where it leaves the oil bearing formation. 'Heavy' fluids will be pumped in at this point and then concrete to seal the main shaft. The second is a backup to the first. You need to bear in mind these are about 3.4 miles from the sea surface! Quite some undertaking.

Source page of PDF with details

It is getting close now. The second well is catching up and my guess is that by the end of the month or earlier they will be pumping heavy fluids.

They are also preparing to remove the broken pipe. (The riser)

The reason for the failure of 'top kill' is discussed here

All I can say is that I sincerely hope that the weight of the column of heavy fluid when introduced from the bottom of the well shaft is sufficient to stem the flow.

[edit on 2/7/2010 by PuterMan]

[edit on 2/7/2010 by PuterMan]

[edit on 2/7/2010 by PuterMan]

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:05 PM by Curio

Thanks for the info - let's hope it works, huh?!

Shame this thread only has 1 flag and is vanishing down the page....I guess because it doesn't contain any doomsday scenarios...

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:11 PM by ThreeNF

reply to post by Curio

I'll give it more stars when it works

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:22 PM by Funk bunyip

I haven't commented much in the oil related threads, it just saddens me too much.
I really hope this works.
I'm not even angry, just sad.
Sad at what humanity has become.
Will this wake people up?.. Make them look inside and see the festering greed and covetousness rife within the souls of man?
Nope.. they will just find a nice mid-level scapegoat patsy, drag him through the streets and string him up for all to see and all to hate.. and change nothing.

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:24 PM by Tgautier13

reply to post by Curio

That's exactly the reason. I have a similar thread I posted recently suffering the same fate.

@PuterMan: You should change the title to "Relief Wells Near Completion in the face of METHANE/OIL SUPER ARMAGEDDON"

Edit: Forgot to add caps, the trademark of every good thread on ATS!

[edit on 7/2/2010 by Tgautier13]

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:25 PM by PuterMan

reply to post by Curio

Yup, no doomsday is a real problem for ATS.

It is a bit like newspapers - good news is not news.

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:30 PM by 5MaveN5

Good information.
I have felt that the top kill, top hat, ect where mostly a farce. To show some activity while waiting on the relief wells to be in place.
Particularly after seeing the thread comparing current operations to those from the 1979 spill, how similar and equally fail.

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:31 PM by PuterMan

Originally posted by Tgautier13
reply to post by Curio

That's exactly the reason. I have a similar thread I posted recently suffering the same fate.

@PuterMan: You should change the title to "Relief Wells Near Completion in the face of Methane/Oil Super-Armageddon"

Suggestion taken up!! Not sure about that but let's see what effect it has!

People really should get clued up on this as it is probably the ONLY thing that will save further pollution of the Gulf.

If it fails, what then?

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:31 PM by boo1981

reply to post by PuterMan

Lol you changed the title then

that will get everyones attention now wont it, very good thread s&f

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:34 PM by queenannie38

Originally posted by PuterMan
All I can say is that I sincerely hope that the weight of the column of heavy fluid when introduced from the bottom of the well shaft is sufficient to stem the flow.

and i'm hoping that they don't plan on using just plain seawater this time!

surely not!!

yikes.

thanks for the information, it's good to know, i'm more hopeful today than i've been since the start.

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:36 PM by Tgautier13

reply to post by PuterMan

Perhaps with this little social experiment we have realized the secret to getting popular threads on this website. Personally I am expecting new posts now to flood in faster then I can smash my F5 button.

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:36 PM by justadood

a SUPER ARMAGEDDON!!??

is that where the best armageddon's int he world compete for a big trophy?

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:38 PM by PuterMan

reply to post by queenannie38

Plain sea water? Are you seriously saying that they only used sea water in top kill? There is no way that could have an effect.

They were talking about golf balls, old bedsteads and bicycles.

Just noticed your line about hope.

If nothing else the thread was worth it if it has given someone hope. I am very happy about that.

[edit on 2/7/2010 by PuterMan]

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:42 PM by PuterMan

Originally posted by justadood
a SUPER ARMAGEDDON!!??

is that where the best armageddon's int he world compete for a big trophy?

No contest, this is potentially the biggest bestest Armageddon. Other Armageddons have nothing on this.

Seriously however the trophy in this case would have to be the end of the gusher and the eventual return of the Gulf to normality - however long that may take.

[edit on 2/7/2010 by PuterMan]

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:50 PM by Wayne60

reply to post by PuterMan

S&F for the thread and thanks for the info.

Nice to see the relief wells making some progress. I thought the original projections were for sometime in August. Hopefully they will beat that.

And yeah the change in title should help. After all, most people want the most gloom and doom for their buck.

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:51 PM by Shadowfoot

Well prepared thread. It's refreshing to see a straight forward informed post that portends a possible positive resolution to this tragic event.

I suspect this is the only logical response at this stage of the game and at least initially the physics of the procedure make sense to me. I truelly hope this works.

I wonder however about the drills in this situation...for instance in carpentry when you are drilling fragile surfaces, those prone to cracking and fissuring , it's necessary to have variable speed in order to slow and accelerate the bit where appropriate. Is there such a capacity with drills of this size to vary speed? Im just thinking with the geology I have been reading of the gulf floor...we are dealing with a highly brittle "shale" sea bed. Perhaps boring machinery like this all run on a low RPM alleviating the concern. I know that there are like 3500 wells in the area, but what if the sea floor is already compromised to a great extent, perhaps leading to some kind of floor collapse.

Am I deluded, and over reaching here?

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:52 PM by Tgautier13

reply to post by PuterMan

I echo these sentiments; the sooner the leak is quelled the sooner life can begin to return to normal for all Gulf inhabitants. I have many friends in the New Orleans area.

Heh, and I see that this thread is now on the front page of ATS. Boy talk about quick bang for your buck. I would consider this experiment a success then!

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 05:56 PM by Hypntick

Super Armageddon? Oh....false alarm.

Nice tactic though. I do hope this works, although like everything else BP has done with this travesty i'm not holding my breath.

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 06:02 PM by SassyCat

With "SUPER ARMAGEDDON" addition to the title thread made it to the front page.

Weird.... but sassy as well.

As for the spill, if prize for plugging the well and cleaning the gulf would be most powerful weapon technology in the galaxy, it would be done within days. They'd study the soil, and then nuke it. There's always gotta be that first time for nuking anything right? And with such prize, its worth a shot!

reply posted on 2-7-2010 @ 06:04 PM by PuterMan

Originally posted by Hypntick
Super Armageddon? Oh....false alarm.

Nice tactic though. I do hope this works, although like everything else BP has done with this travesty i'm not holding my breath.

Yes sorry about that!

I am trying to get a better idea of the function of the lower marine riser package.

It looks as if this is in addition to the relief wells, but I am not quite sure why that would be.

Neither the new capture system nor the LMRP containment cap system has ever before been deployed at these depths and conditions, and their efficiency and ability to contain the oil and gas cannot be assured.

Source

It seems to be supplementary to the purpose of the relief wells.

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