So they plugged it with a shaft full of liquid glop. What keeps the glop and the oil exactly balanced, so that the glop doesn’t fall down into the underground pool of oil, or else get pushed out by the oil? I would have expected a plug made of something solid that clings to the sides of the shaft and cannot move.
Glop? Let’s all hope that glop was gov’t bureaucrats. ;o)
Density and weight. Create equalized pressure. Oil can not penetrate the mud and it is heavier than oil.Now all they have to do is put the cement doen with an extruder and it is plugged fro good...Yay!
The following is a technical update video from BP, dated 07/21/10, that shows the process. It's about 11 1/2 minutes long. I hope you have sufficient band width to access it, if not you'll just have to trust me.
http://bp.concerts.com/gom/kentwellstechupdate_072110a.htm
Various audio only updates plus transcripts in .pdf format subsequent to 7/21/10 are available here.
http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9034442&contentId=7063846
Step one, balance oil pressure with glop weight.
Step two, pile in the cement.
The discussion at the moment is whether to cement it here and/or from the relief well.
The weight of the mud and its viscosity. When the weight of the mud exceeds the 6000-7000 psi of the oil pressure, the oil is forced back down the shaft and into the reservoir. Then they will start pumping cement to plug the shaft forever.............
Balance and gravity.
If this was shot down the top of the well, then why wasn’t this done in the beginning?
The glop you speak of is not “mud” but a mixture of fluids and cement, which will seal it off.
And I dont believe the stories about all the oil that just disappeared