Posted on 05/11/2010 2:22:32 PM PDT by Ready4Freddy
Powerful puffs of natural gas, called kicks, are a normal occurrence in many deep-ocean drilling operations.
But one intense kick of natural gas caused the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig to be shut down because of the fear of an explosion just weeks before a similar release succeeded in destroying and sinking the platform and sent millions of gallons of oil on a collision course with Louisiana and the rest of the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Shortly before the accident, engineers argued about whether to remove heavy drilling mud that acted as a last defense against such catastrophic kicks, and the decision to replace the mud with much lighter seawater won out.
Those are some of the new details gathered by Robert Bea, a University of California at Berkeley engineering professor better known in New Orleans as co-leader of an independent team of scientists that conducted a forensic investigation of the causes for the failure of levees and floodwalls during Hurricane Katrina.
In an effort to piece together the cause of the region's most recent calamity, Bea has been gathering statements, transcripts and other communications from about 50 people since the accident, including workers on the rig, engineers who worked with the rig from onshore locations, and engineers and oilfield workers who have been active in drilling for decades.
"As the job unfolded, ... the workers did have intermittent trouble with pockets of natural gas," said one statement sent to Bea. "Highly flammable, the gas was forcing its way up the drill pipes. This was something BP had not foreseen as a serious problem, declaring a year earlier that gas was likely to pose only a 'negligible' risk. The government warned the company that gas buildup was a real concern and that BP should 'exercise caution'".
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
It sounds like there was some disagreement on what to do next, and when. Maybe that new mud Hallibuton used wasn’t such a good ida?
The problem is the depth of the well. This well was being drilled right at the edge of current technology. As such, there’s going to be a lot of firsts, stuff that has been tested and looks good on the test bench, but, sometimes, stuff that tests well fails in the real world.
One thing that isn’t good in this article is the conflation of risk assessment and normal engineering compromises one always makes when building a structure. It is virtually impossible to design and build a foolproof piece of machinery as complex as a drilling platform. One always builds in a safety factor, but, at some point, probably due to human error and exceeding design limits, something like this happens.
I wonder if the guy who decided to pull the mud out still has a job?
If he did I’m sure Team Obongo has already hired him so he can assist in engineering the destruction and sinking of America as well.
If he did such a great job with BP why not promote him to bigger and better job with even better bennies?!?!?!/s
The platform isn't the structure under question here.
That would be the wellbore, and the maintenance thereof.
Nevermind then.
If you want to nit pick about my exact wording, then, I wasted my time pointing out that stuff happens when pushing the limits of engineering.
I tried to write what I thought was a thoughtful observation about the kind of work that was being done.
Obviously, you’re not into thoughtful discussion.
No offense intended, stylin. I took your words at face value.
I hope everyone takes the time to go read the entire article. This is the first eyewitness accounts of what happened that I have seen yet.
My God, they had “slushy ice” (frozen hydrates) on the drill deck, and could see the stuff flashing off to gas. The volume of gas liberated in the first few seconds of the blowout reaching the surface must have been incredible.
Am I the only one to notice the “scientist” in charge of “investigating” sees animals as equal to humans?
Truly, he is a Berserkly professor. Little wonder he was selected to lead the “investigation”.
This prof has a deeply seated anti-corporate bias which can be seen in the article’s quotations of the ‘scientist’.
Right, the government can't competently run a post office but they are experts at deep sea oil drilling. Does this claim have something to do with Barky-O being responsible now instead of Bush?
Lots of good detail...bad mistakes,....tragic decisions in the final few hours...to remove the mud...
The article at least appears balanced for the most part is what happened as well as to why it happened.
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