Posted on 06/18/2010 5:41:00 AM PDT by numberonepal
It is an overlooked danger in oil spill crisis: The crude gushing from the well contains vast amounts of natural gas that could pose a serious threat to the Gulf of Mexico's fragile ecosystem.
The oil emanating from the seafloor contains about 40 percent methane, compared with about 5 percent found in typical oil deposits...
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
Nope. Zero chance of an explosion.
The pressure could somehow fracture/rupture the seabed allowing a sudden release of huge volumes of gas. THAT however, COULD happen, and has been postulated (not by tin foil types) to have caused sudden ship sinkings, as the huge bubble cloud of gas reaches the surface of the ocean, suddenly reducing the density of the sea, swallowing ships in seconds. While never detected, that has been written up and accepted as plausible. It’s even a theory of how the Bermuda Triangle swallows ships.
But seriously, put your worry stone away on this one.
Thanks for the reassurance. ;-)
Seeming like many are going about 150 miles to the right of Ron Paul.
Maybe forums are supposed to be by people who haven’t a clue about what they post. Along the lines of everyone with a video cam and U-tube.
autumn —
Turn the gush down just a bit ;-)
Hydrogen Sulfide, H2S is pretty much a biocide for all organismic that breathe oxygen. In other words, Hydrogen Sulfide *IS* a powerful poison to dinosaurs and humans. It is likely *one* of the causes of the VERY sudden death of the people in Pompeii, along with heat and suffocation.
The other poster wrote about “low levels” of H2S. H2S is a bad gas and is toxic/harmful in fairly low concentrations, much like Cyanide gas.
But fear not, just cuz you can smell it doesn’t mean you will die.
LOTS of land-based wells in Texas and Louisiana are posted with poison gas signs because the wells produce H2S along with methane and crude.
Don’t fear this stuff in this situation.
Well put!!
LOL organismic (sic) should be organisms.
we regret the error.
OK, just let a nuclear sub troll the depths trailing the sled. I like it!
Clever thinking. We’d need an electrical engineer and an oceanographer to work it out, but it might work.
There’s been criticism about restrictions on news media and other determined observers who aren’t allowed over or near the spill.
Do you think it’s because of the gasses?
Another dumb question. Patience, please. I’m just trying to understand. (Nice to find someone here with actual knowledge, not just opininon.)
I believe that “they” are restricting access to good information, ‘cuz good information is certainly ABSENT in the general media.
Now, since we have already had the spectacle of a reporter swimming in the crude (freaking idiot) I can understand why they don’t want IDIOT reporters overflying the spill area trying to get a story that’ll win a Pullitzer.
I *DO* wish “they” would publish better REAL data and information so we can bypass the ignorant MSM.
Also, as a private pilot, I can understand why they want to restrict the airspace to avoid accidents and mid airs and rescues.
What is a layer of hydrogen sulfides? Hydrogen sulfide is a gas.
And I seriously doubt that the hydrogen sulfide amount in the gas venting from that well represents any threat to us.
We also need to nuke all the active volcanoes so they won't delay air travel, and nuke all the fault lines so we won't have any more earthquakes.
: )
Same people claim they were at Woodstock, too.
It’s related to the discussions of the Iridium layer — what killed the dinos: a meteor (which uniformly scattered Iridium around the earth’s crust) or a huge volcanic eruption which showered the earth in ash, darkened the skies, polluted the air and rain (with hydrogen-sulfides of various kinds) and resulted in a uniform layer of sulfide deposits around the earth.
In this field it’s always by mass fraction. No engineer does cuts by volume with the exception of chemical engineers at the plant who like SCF because that converts directly to mole fraction. Moreover, 40% NtGas implies plenty of higher hydrocarbons. A typical cut of that 40% would be 75% methane.
So, all we need to do is dig a tunnel a couple of miles under the seabed, big enough to put a nuke in and get it properly positioned. How long will it take to drill the tunnel? Who is going to handle and place the nuke, oil-workers ?
How long will it take the government to modify a nuke that they can put under the water at such high pressures? How long will it take the administration to authorize such a procedure?
H2S makes gas "sour", right? And "sour" wells are common in the salt domes structures along the Texas/Louisiana coast. Also in the California oil fields, around Bakersfield and even inside L.A. (Signal Hill).
There's even a town in Texas named Sour Lake -- so called because H2S bubbles up thru the lake and the whole area smells like rotten eggs.
It's a poison, to be sure. But, if the concentration is high enough to smell, it's still far from deadly. If it's high enough to knock you out, that's another matter.
The ocean floor has been releasing methane for billions of years, and it hasn't happened yet.
Thanks. THAT makes sense. Not that an AP reporter would know the difference between moles and mass.
Since this is a leak/release instead of a controlled extraction, could that be why the mass fraction of methane is so high?
I meant to include the following which is a Louisiana site that covers a lot of issues for the state. It has a lot items on the spill.
The Hayride
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