..icymint..

[X]

need a geographer brain or marine biologist just a smart person to clear up a debate here.
Me say that if the OIL SLICK should hit Louissanna (and other states) what they would need is a moderate hurricane to undo the potentially catasthropic damage it would do to the environment. (and by extentions the economic impact)
and ironic twist..
Nature correcting Man's mistake kinda thing..

btw, shouldnt western floridians be concerned..

[Xavier]

Re: ..icymint..

Yes...they are very concerned in West Florida. This thing is going to have a major impact in the surrounding states near the leak.

[Leddih]

Jamaica Sized

Oil spill: Gulf of Mexico burn is last-ditch effort to stop landfall

The Christian Science Monitor

By Patrik Jonsson Patrik Jonsson – Wed Apr 28, 1:56 pm ET

The decision by the Coast Guard to set fire to parts of the Jamaica-sized Gulf of Mexico oil spill spreading toward the Gulf Coast is a sign of mounting desperation in efforts to prevent oil from... Oil Spill Burn

[Leddih]

Rate of Spillage


The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is going from bad to worse. It seems only a week ago that we were told the mess wasn't all that bad, but now that oil is leaking out at a rate about five time faster than expected – up to... 5,000 Barrels a Day

[Pepper]

Re: Jamaica Sized

Reports this morning are that it has reached the coast...but that is from our local sensationalist station.

I am waiting to see how our president responds.

[Yuriatin]

Re: Jamaica Sized

Dem start battah battah im up ahreddi - Seh im wait too lang fi sen eeen federal help.



<span style="font-style: italic">NBC Today Show</span> dis mawnin dida draw parallel wid Bush-Katrina.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Pepper</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I am waiting to see how our president responds. </div></div>

[X]

Re: Jamaica Sized

aie sah, just what the economy needed..

[Leddih]

Oil Spill Containment


Containment Dome Lowered

Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- A massive dome began its descent into the Gulf of Mexico to cap a gushing oil leak about 5,000 feet below the surface, a BP official said Friday.

The arduous process of lowering the four-story containment dome and getting it in place is expected to continue into the weekend. The technique has never been attempted at the depth of the leak spewing from the sunken oil rig, officials said.

[X]

Re: Oil Spill Containment

any bookies taking bets on wheter or not this will work?
wonder whats the odds like

[X]

Re: Oil Spill Containment

found a website that taking bets..
chek http://www.bookmaker.com/

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Bookmaker is giving 100:1 odds the containment chamber will reduce the flow by 80 per cent and 1000:1 that it will succeed in stopping the leak altogether. On the other hand, the odds are 500:1 it will make the situation worse. The most likely scenario is that it reduces the flow less than 80 per cent.

</div></div>

[Leddih]

Oil Plug Iced

Deep-sea ice crystals stymie Gulf oil leak fix

By NOAKI SCHWARTZ and HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Writers Noaki Schwartz And Harry R. Weber, Associated Press Writers – 2 hrs 1 min ago

ON THE GULF OF MEXICO – Icelike crystals encrusting a 100-ton steel-and-concrete box meant to contain oil gushing from a broken well deep in the Gulf of Mexico forced crews Saturday to back off a long-shot plan to contain the leak.

The buildup on the specially constructed containment box made it too buoyant and clogged it up, BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said. Workers who had carefully lowered the massive box over the leak nearly a mile below the surface had to lift it and move it to the side. Now they're trying to unplug it while they look at other solutions.

More than 200,000 gallons of crude have spewed into the Gulf since a rig exploded April 20, killing 11. The containment box, a method never before attempted at such depths, had been considered the best hope of stanching the flow in the short term.

&quot;I wouldn't say it's failed yet,&quot; Suttles said. &quot;What I would say is what we attempted to do last night didn't work.&quot;

The blowout was triggered by a bubble of methane gas that escaped from the well and shot up the drill column, expanding quickly as it burst through several seals and barriers before exploding, according to interviews with rig workers conducted during BP's internal investigation.

While the precise cause is still under investigation, the sequence of events described in the interviews provides the most detailed account of the April 20 blast that killed 11 workers and touched off the underwater gusher that has poured more than 3 million gallons of crude into the Gulf.

[halfwaytree]

Re: Oil Plug Iced

Well if that don't work it will be another three months or so before the can stop the leak.

[Dr.Dudd]

Re: Oil Plug Iced

Wrong again! !!
That is not the limit to possible solutions.

They thieves needed This make it with a relief door, That allow the crystals to escape and relieve the boyancy.

Once in place they simply close it.
That is the simplest of problems They could have.
I though that was a part if the original design, but as usual They are short sighted. <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Curmudgeon_Milo</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well if that don't work it will be another three months or so before the can stop the leak.

</div></div>

[halfwaytree]

Re: Oil Plug Iced

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Dr.Dudd</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-weight: bold">Wrong again!
!!...</span></div></div>
<span style="font-weight: bold">
<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">LOL!!!</span></span>

Gee Doctor Dud,I didn't realize that you think so much of me and that I'm in your thoughts so much that you feel the need to monitor my posts and keep track of my past errors.

Sorry to let you down Doc but I'm not interested in men.

[Wahalla]

Re: Oil Plug Iced

Gas hydrates form from methane other HC gasses , water under high pressure and low temp....At 5000 ft where the well head is .there is a couple solution to land the funnel out, fill it with methanol, MEG blow the bottom out and land it put. This is a constant problem with oil production and while drilling. Uou cure it by placing kinetic of thermodynamic hydrate supperessors depending on the circumstances...

the problem is that the oil produced will contain water and gas .. But as the oil is produced the funnel will cool to sea bed temp and form the solid hudrate, if there are any dead spots that the flow pattern does not flush they will form in their readily. Hydrates are metastable and explode liberating gas so if they form and tehre is a small bang on the side of the funnel the hydrates will liberte its stored gas and as there is no way of controling the liberation therre would be an explosion... They are extremely energy dense i molecule hydrate will hold seven or molecules of gas. I would estumate it would take 4 hours for the funnel to to cool to seabed temp...

Pull the thing plumb in a couple heating element connect some heating elements to it probably.. There is a serious problem in that the plumbing will take a few days to install... the pipes would have to be welded to an extreme standard or it would not meet regulation... It is acheivable but there are engineering problems.. The basic design is that it is box haped had it been funnel shaped it may not have happened. flow mechanics in the design could not help as tehre are too many variables...

They were drilling with Oil based emulsion fluid then they changed it out to sea water... If this change out happened an there was gas in the BOPs, Hydrates could have formed and prevented the functioning of the BOPs.. But this is mere speculation on my part. and there are too many theories out there...

No information is availabel as to what happened.. no information is coming out of indirect sources and all other operators are getting nervous as there are lessons that could be learnt and applied very quickly if it was a systemic failure...

There is a couple things I realised that tied in with this...
An interesting comment I heard today..
BP president made an extermely strong statement about Transocean the rig owner and contractor.. It was a very dangerous statement in terms of litigation. If he cannot back it up BP would be sued to bejesas.. Hayward is not a fool... There is alot of information not availabele..

by the way this is a hell of a feild.. coherent hard sand stone with high porosity.. this thing should have sanded itseld shut by now...