Posted on 05/26/2010 1:49:19 PM PDT by Positive
I have been monitoring the live feed of the "Top Kill" apparatus from BP.com and after about three hours there is a definite change of events down there.
For the first couple of hours we could see several views of a very complex device rocking around in clear water.
Now there is gushing of what I presume is the "mud" plumeing.
We may get some incite as to progress soon.
The cement doesnt have to withstand pressure per say. They fill the hole with “mud” and it’s weight exceeds the upward pressure so nothing comes up. Then they follow up with cement which weighs similar to the “mud”, which isn’t mud at all. It’s over twice the density of water, barium something or other. Note, that if the upper part of the casing to rock seal is compromised, of if the the upper part of the casing fails in some way, then intercepting and killing might be the only solution. But the flow hasn’t been to high so erosion hopefully won’t be to big a deal.
fyi... the “mud” is mostly bentonite, or so I understand.
wading with baded breadth
Can anyone answer whether the rig that blew up ever produced any oil? Or did it just blow up when they got to the oil? If it did produce oil for how long and how much? I know you might not know the answer but I thought I would throw it out there. Thanks
Why did the head of the EPA say that we have no idea what the long term effects of the volume of this disbursement material used will be? She also stated that the EPA would no longer endorse the useage of this disbursement.
say it aint so...
My understanding is that a lot of drilling “muds” are Bentonite, basically a clay to seal cracks and lubricate the bits and ease extraction of the cuttings. BP is using “heavy” drilling mud. It is designed to deal with higher pressure situations, it is much heavier (specific gravity). Google both if you care to.
Interestingly, Matt Simmons was saying today (with agreement from others) that there’s no way this hole in this pipe created the surface slick that is now about as big as Maryland and Delaware. There was another plume, several miles away, and he believes that the bulk of the oil is flowing from another broken pipe along the floor of the ocean.
The rig that blew, was exploratory. They were preparing for “transfer” to a production rig when the explosion occurred. So.. To answer your question, production oil had not been retrieved.
That is an outstanding presentation....thanks for posting the link....need to have it on more threads....
As you said, you are no expert and but would like to tell us where this has worked before at a depth of 5000+ feet under the sea?
I would bet the farm you don’t live on the coast but since you choose to hide which state you live in, I guess we can’t know for sure.
Do you have any clue as to how much extremely toxic dispersant has been pumped into the water to hide their messy oil spill? Are you aware that most of the oil spill is under the water and that some deep water reefs are now void of fish and other sea life?
Are you aware that shrimpers south of Key West pulled up nets with oil on them an shrimp covered with oil? Do you know how far that is from the spill? I’m NOT anti-offshore drilling. However, they should be completely prepared for every worse case scenario and ready to go on day one. They weren’t.
It is a big leak, you just don’t see it. It’s all in little droplets from the surface to the bottom for hundreds of miles and NOBODY knows what the long term effects of this will be. It may not be a big deal to you, it is a big deal to most. Do you work for BP by any chance?
How else would you kill it? The new bore holes will be filled with heavy drilling mud and I’m quiye certain they will properly grout the linings to the bed rock this time. It shouldn’t be a problem.
East, thanks for the clarification. It’s amazing that in one hole they can drill the bit, then surround it in a cement casing that allows drilling mud to flow upwards to the surface.
No I don’t work for BP and I live in Virgina within an hours drive on tidal water. It’s never been tried in 5000’ feet of water, but the mechanisms in place can accomidate the procedure, same mechanisms that are used in 200’ of water. The necessity of robotics is a pain, but they are clearly capable of performing the functions. The dispersent used is basically a strong detergent. I wouldn’t drink a glass of it but where did you come up with “extremey toxic”? The EPA’s whining because they have no data on the effect of 1 part per billion on the reproduction of coral and shrimp? Come on, get a grip, or stop using detergent yourself, you may be destroying a gulf. The long term effects won’t exist, bacteria will see to that.
Here is a picture to help out. Directly under the drillship is the end of the riser where the majority of the leak was occurring. This is where they had the insertion tube plugged in. (This has been removed for now while they work on the top kill.) The leaks we are watching right now are at the top of the BOP stack. These are two different locations on the same pipe.
as foghorn leghorn would say, 'that boys gonna need a sliderule to figgure this out'...8^}
The casing is steel, they then grout it to the bed rock, all while have the drill hole filled with mud and the bit in place. It’s a pretty wild scenerio, but clearly BP f’d up the job. Sounds like a series of bad calls to cut corners. Maybe if the MMS peeps had actually carried out their inspections instead of taking “favors” and surfing porn, BP would have been shutdown.
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