Plan to Stop Gulf Oil Gusher

HAve you ever seen a Bead Filer used in aquaculture ( fish farming).

They use a bead ( small balls) that have spikes and rough sides . Might a rougher surface lock up inside better than a smooth ball baring type?

Limestone locks itself as more and more vehicles drive over it , where loose pit gravel just keeps sliding around.

Wouldn't a rough , locking surface work better? I like this idea and I know nothing more than casual knowledge of a BOP or on the sea bed apparatuses.

Thanks, netmaker.

I think you are right that rougher would be better.

One thought I have is that the rough surface spheres might not be available to buy "off the shelf" like, presumably, ball bearing would be. Wouldn't it be nice to have some spheres with hooks.

The crucial factor is that the material not block the feed tube through which it is being introduced. The steel must be of a shape that allows it to go with the flow.

Maybe some strands of wire could be included? Or the kind of spirals that are produced when steel is drilled or milled?

Steel cubes??

I think fibrous materials would help... chopped up straw even, in bulk, would compact under pressure.

Is there any reason that the holes can't be welded shut, by having a robotic welder slowly build a weld bead on the edge of the holes, and slowly close the holes in the pipes? I think that while the jet of fluid would tend to displace the weld bead, that the cooling of the water would tend to allow some buildup just the same..

Chris

Boom!

Hello Chris,

"I think fibrous materials would help... chopped up straw even, in bulk, would compact under pressure."

IF ANY READER CAN CLARIFY THE PICTURE I AM ABOUT TO SKETCH, THAT WOULD BE A GREAT HELP.

As I understand the physical layout of the stuff on the seafloor (and below), there is a multi-thousand foot vertical well bore that is cased with "pipe"- for lack of knowing the correct terminology. Atop this is the blowout prevention valve; a massive and complicated piece of equipment. Coming off this is the riser pipe that normally carries crude to the surface.

I think the well bore casing is still intact. The blowout preventer obviously has failed. A length of the riser pipe is attached to the blowout preventer and is laying out across the seafloor with various ruptures.

There is (I think) an inlet on the blowout preventer that is where the mud for the "top kill" effort was introduced. It is at this point I suggest that the much denser steel bearing slurry be introduced so that it can sink down the bore hole and dampen off the upsurge. At this point, fiber is not needed unless it adds density.

The "junk shot of golf balls and old tires" is an effort, I think, to clog the holes in the riser pipe like your suggestion of fibrous material.

"Is there any reason that the holes can't be welded shut, by having a robotic welder slowly build a weld bead on the edge of the holes, and slowly close the holes in the pipes? I think that while the jet of fluid would tend to displace the weld bead, that the cooling of the water would tend to allow some buildup just the same.."

I believe that the main issue here is that there is concern for the integrity of the riser pipe. Seal off the holes and another, possibly larger rupture might occur.

It is because of this "fragile" riser that I have tried to devise a way of damping flow before it reaches that point.

How about taking one of the domes they built to capture the oil, filling it with thermite (powdered aluminum and iron oxide ignited by magnesium powder), setting it over the leaking pipe, and igniting it to cover the whole thing with molten iron.

How about pouring cement (concrete) to plug the mouth of that spill ? Cement is heavier than water so it will sink, and it hardens naturally under water. The Romans poured cement underwater to build Herod's port in Caesarea, Israel, some two thousand years ago, and it still holds firmly.

Posted this at wrong place.Re-posted here.

think today is day 41.

Top kill failed.

Has anyone given this any thought?

Pressure volume weight viscosity,all pushed against this ,out gushing.

Of course they pumped cement and more,HPHT,HighPressure HighTemp

Doesn't anyone realize that with this failure to kill,volume and out put from fracture, HAS TO HAVE INCREASED.??

Sorry for capital letters.It's basic physics.

I really don't think the riser should be cut.I feel we may be getting into an even bigger mess.

I hope I am wrong.

Peace

Joe in Texas

Install a saddle valve to divert and releive pressure then install a tee with valves.

Please elaborate on this idea. I don't understnd where or how the saddle valve would be installed.

So why doesn't the navy just drop a very large explosive device (not necessarily a nuke, but why not), on the spot of the oil leak and cause the ground to collapse and seal the leak? Maybe get some positive benefit out of those weapons.

The Ruskies used a nuke for the very same purpose. It still didn't stop after the 2nd nuke!

With 2 more bore hole being drilling the cap of the oil well is not weakened could a blast not break the top off the whole oil deposit letting it all out at once.

Mr. Chris Holt,

You wrote in Comment #9:

"So why doesn't the navy just drop a very large explosive device (not necessarily a nuke, but why not), on the spot of the oil leak and cause the ground to collapse and seal the leak? Maybe get some positive benefit out of those weapons."

I don't think that would work. With the bore hole 10,000 feet deep through the crust and the immense pressure below, that explosive induced collapse and fracture would probably result in a million little fissures each squirting it's own mini-gusher until the undersurface resevoir is depleted.

If after consideration, you want to suggest this to BP, the contact link is http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/inquiry/2931/

The pressure of the ocean at that depth is about 2200 psi. The pressure of the oil there is considerably more. 3000? 4000? 5000? I don't recall any numbers, so for illustration let's just pick 4000 psi wellhead pressure.

Somewhere the oil pipe was said to be 7-inch [?]. If so, its area is ~38.5 in². For the pressure differential we are assuming, 38.5 x 1800 = 69,300 lb. No way can this force be provided by pushing from topside (unfavorable column slenderness ratio). Something will need to be clamped to the either the BOP structure or the riser stub; then a new riser could be pulled into place.

The various schemes to insert balloons or plugs into the riser all face this same 69,300 lb requirement (or whatever the precise number is). However, some sort of clamshell device might be able to close off the end of the riser quickly after sawing it off.

I agree, more specific, with the slenderness issue. However when suspended from above they can play it in the existing pipe. (while it moves) When they make 2 Y's on each side with a shutoff system, the flow can be diverted sideways and a suction can be applied in the central (up) part.

In this scenario the pressure will be considerable less, since the open pipe only has its circumference wall thickness to take into account. While very unpractical: if 2 pumps on the seabed can pump more than the well produces (same double, triple or quadruple Y), the pipe will slide down pretty easy. And once in the hole, the transport can start in the center pipe. If well engineered a sliding bushing can also close the side outlets.

This is the open pipe deal. Maybe through the BOP also, if possible. When cutting the bend out, they better be good, I expect many more problems. The heavy elements coming down on the work space and limiting the visibility, to name one of many more.

That being said..How do they get the drillers mud in the pipe under that much pressure?

Here are some interesting graphics that I just found.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/25/us/20100525-topkill-diagram.html

That site certainly helped me to better understand the layout of the problem.

Before the riser is cut, given the arrangement of the way the pipes appear to be laying, if there is a section of pipe the is not leaking as it leaves the riser it may provide a means to close off the flow.

The Idea is to crimp the pipe closed with a large hydraulic cylinder attached to a large "C" shaped structure containing a movable crimper arm that when actuated into the side wall of the pipe it collapses or flattens the pipe together thereby stopping the flow except for a small leak, which then could be stopped by the mud, where the mud could be forced down the well while the hydraulic cylinder held the crimp of the pipe closed.

i think that is a good idea and could be even more efficient if your cylinder had means to heat the pipe to near melting so that when it crushed the pipe, the pipe would not split but rather be welded at the end where it was crushed together.

Your suggestion would make the pipe easier to bend and it would require less hydraulic pressure as well. I do not know the Rockwell hardness of the pipe material, but you would think it would be pretty bendable judging by the TV pictures that show the pipe being distorted and the leak holes appear to be more like holes as opposed to cracks, which would be the case if the steel was hard. The crimping fixture could be fabricated in a short time, even with a heating means attached.

Roy H.

Run a Drill head straight down thru the blowout preventer and about 3/4 of the way down the well start pump cement thru the drill head instead of the heavy drilling mud.

Leave the drill head in place don't remove it pump cement until it blocks the well competely , if you have to make the mudport in the drill head larger do it to allow the cement to pass !

My fix is simple in idea and difficult to implement. A large, heavy upside-down funnel placed on the floor with a large pipe rising to the surface and supported by anchored barges. It would be around 50' diameter by 100' tall with a 12"+ diameter pipe. Weight would be in the 50 to 100 thousand ton range. It would be made of reinforced concrete. Problem is; the time it would take to build it; a month or more. There would be a valve on the pipe, but it could also be open to allow the oil to be collected with tankers. Additionally, more concrete would be placed around the funnel at the seabed to increase the mass to keep the funnel in place. You would have had to start last month.

Try this. After cutting riser. Use a cone shape stinger with channels along the cone surface connected internally to a single orifice at the top. Insert in pipe, letting it flow through until attachment is made. Then shut off valve at top. This would alleviate problem with tophats. The smaller tophat will probably wobble all over the place on approach and act like a "bluff body".

If you can cut the pipe clean, can't you weld an open valve to the pipe and close it when it is secure? How about a bladder and inflate it. What about DC/Hydraulic motor tightening a rubber plug with a bolt through it and round plates on both ends compressing it to expand in the pipe like a bilge plug. Maybe a series of tires a little smaller than the tube on rims welded together 4-6 of them, insert them and inflate them while you weld the collar/valve. Stick a cork in it for Heavens sake!

Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions.

Please send them (and others) to the BP Technology team. They have an internet submission form.

The website is http://www.horizonedocs.com/index.html

The telephone contact number is (281) 366-5511

For those sidewalk superintendents (like me) who haven't looked, here is a link to a live stream looking at the top of the BOP and the gizmo that has been placed upon it:

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/incident_response/STAGING/local_assets/html/Enterprise_ROV_2.html

Produding from the plume you can see white fins that are the legs that were used to support the device during transport.

Although the signal is a bit jerky, it seems that the gizmo is in motion - it is being buffeted up off the well head. This thing is trying to seal against the flange of a weld neck flange which has been sheared of the discharge pipe. The seal is in the form of a rubber gasket. I think that it is trying to seal against the bolt heads of the flange.

When the gizmo was first placed, more of the flow seemed to be flowing through the gizmo (you could see the exit plume through the device.) At a guess about 15% of the flow was going through the gizmo. The rest was streaming out from the bottom past the rubber seal.

There is an obvious approach here that is so obvious that it must have been considered and rejected.

That approach would be to have the present gizmo fitted with a slightly tapered spigot that would fit into the top of the BOP instead of relying on a rubber washer bearing against the flange bolts. The fit would have to be relatively loose and the spigot relatively thin-walled.

Because the weld neck flange is now distorted by the shearing operation, the flange would have to be removed. This assumes that the nuts are captured and that the ROV could remove the bolts.

Why not balloon angioplasty? It could be snaked down to below the down hole problems and inflated. Surely some reason why this wouldn't work but it seems plausible.

The down hole breach may be large and oil pressure may have formed a sizeable cavity. If so, it would be difficult to keep anything from being blown off to the side. Have you seen this: http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6593/648967 Reports are coming now that the BOP is starting to tilt. It is possible that the well casing soon will no longer be the path of oil as it could begin to flow straight out of the sea floor. Worst case scenario for sure, but is possible.

Good point. Yes I did see it. Had to quit reading about 3/4 way through. I was becoming physically nauseated.

Yeah. Me too. It's a nightmare scenario incarnate