It's not (true, that is). When they started the mud flow, it was being fed in at the BOTTOM of the blowout preventer (BP). They intend to feed the mud in so fast that the mud will flow both out of the top of the BP and down the well bore (i.e. the BP itself will act as a "flow restrictor"). This will force the oil (and gas) back down the well bore, they hope far enough that the high density of the column of mud in the well bore will counterbalance the upward pressure of the oil.
Thanks. You know what you are talking about. What chance to you give the procedure. If it fails, would a small nuke work?
A question - Once they can start pumping, how fast does the cement cure? How long before fully cured?
Watched the status report from the BP exec and Admiral Landry of the CG. Currentky, the operation is going as planned and they said that we could expect to see fluctuations in the color and flow rate coming from the leak. They will know within the next 24 hours if the operation has been successful. They gave a good update, including the data analysis that had to be completed before the decision to begin pumping. They established criteria that had to be met before beginning. Analysis took a long time which is a source of frustration but cannot be down with gathering samples for analysis, they have to rely on instruments at the source. I believe they have the best resources being applied, this is a herculean engineering and scientific task going on. They have contingency plans ready to move with a smaller type of cap in place, the equipment is already positioned on the sea floor and ready to move to the next option should the topkill be unsuccessful. I’ve been involved in failure analyses, cause and corrective action development in an unrelated industry. They are doing all that they can, I saw nothing in the report that didn’t give me confidence in their approach, we have to keep hoping that the odds for success of the topkill fix go in their favor. worst case scenario is that no alternative works except the drilling of the relief wells already in process. And that would mean another 60 days or more of oil flow until they are completed and functioning. I wish them all well. Ready and willing to do whatever it takes when it the public is called upon for help in cleanup or other relief efforts. My prayers for all working on this night and day.