Has Oilrig Safety Technology Kept Pace?

There are too many blogs and posts going on now to keep track. I'm no driller, but from what I have pieced together I will venture some (possibly wild) speculation, and a technological idea.

The drill head has to be larger O.D. than the drill string that pushes it down, lest the whole thing bind. If/when the drill head breaks through, oil could be expected to flow around its flutes and then on upward through the annular space between the drill string and the surrounding pipe.

I would guess that normal procedure at breakthrough would be to withdraw the drill string, and then as the drill head rises above the BOP, to close the BOP. Then finish pulling out the drill string; attach the upper end piping; reopen the BOP; and finally divert the oil to tankers.

If the BOP were for any reason to close prematurely, with the drill string still extending through it, the drill string would interfere with the closure. In this case, the sinking of the surface rig has bent the riser, compounding the difficulties. If one tried to crush the riser from opposite sides, it would form an oval around the still remaining drill string, leaving open spaces on the transverse sides. Some sort of radial crushing ("swaging") might work, but not so easy to arrange.

My technological "pipe dream" would be to devise a BOP that closes in an iris-like manner, so that it could function effectively even with a drill string still passing through it.

I haven't sorted out the topside tricks that would need to follow. There are some pipeline hot-tapping techniques that might be adaptable to this.

pipe-rams are standard in the bop stack. (these are pipe ram blocks. not pipe space in centre.) the blocks also lock together when closed, and have rubber seals, and are designed to withstand the wellbore pressure.

and I think something like what you describe exists for variable pipe sizes

Whenever a branch of engineering takes a technology beyond it's proven boundary, it takes the risk that completely new problems will surface.

No, safety technology has not kept pace, and as long as we keep trying more and more difficult things, it never will.

I do not wish to exonerate BP/Haliburton/Transocean from guilt in the Gulf disaster. They appear to have failed to apply the best available technology for known risks in order to save a buck.

valve technology is and always has been there. the use of that technology is and has been from one fight to the other. it is now in the fight again, one there is no way to stop a blowout its what happens after that can be stop. there are valves out there that work it just needs to have some one there to turn it off and that is were we fail. what is needed is a valve that closes as soon as it happens then sends the info. to the one on call that it closed come fix it. all the valves do work if you are there to close it and that does not have to happen. its sad that we see only what is seen on tv after it happens. all over this country the flow lines for water,gas,oil it cost millions to fix life is also lost but again the same people do nothing new that works. i have a valve that does work i test it any time some one ask to see it. now if there is some thing better out there i have never seen are heard about it. march 30 1972 we were ask and they would approve the use of the valve on certain wells on federal leases in the off shore well in gulf of mexico. we were ready then and we are still ready today.e its getting an oil co to let us use there well so it can be tested under the approval and secure office of the UNITED STATE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR at that time Mr. Robert F. Evans was oil and gas supervisor gulf coast region. we never got any one who would let us test it. we are still trying. can be seen at any time and test it for your self it wont be a wasted trip i give you my word. Gerald W. Schoeffler Sr. 10923 s. hwy. 183 watson texas 76550 ph. 512-525-6669 thank you for reading this.