Flow Rate In a Pipe At 170 Bar

It's not like a 100 kg / sec. flow rate is a subtle or imperceptible event which could get lost in nano voltage noise.

It would take over 38 watts to accelerate it in a perpendicular direction with some active sensor like a Corioli wheel with a tip speed of just 1 m/sec.

And it's not like the flow meter needs to sample the entire flow stream and perform for years and years.

Just get a turbine or propeller flow meter to work in the stream for a few seconds.

No matter how their lawyers try to rationalize it BP executives are criminally negligent.

Either they knew or they should have known the flow rate.

Bret Cahill

A pipe gushing oil into water appears clearly on video. BP claims it was able to insert a tube into the pipe to try to draw off some of the oil. Later they were apparently able to dump a few hundred thousand tons of drilling mud into or at least near what they claimed was the pipe.

If they can insert tubes into the pipe they can insert in-stream probe flow meters -- a simple paddle wheel meter at the exit would be good enough -- get a velocity, estimate the Reynolds number / flow regime and a flow rate.

Once BP documented their work they would then be free to bury it under an avalanche of footnotes, i.e., "it was impossible to find anyone who could computer model flow in a twisted conduit," or "surface roughness is highly leveraged in turbulent flow," etc.

But without any attempt whatsoever to get a pressure drop or velocity, it just looks like the Coasties completely dropped the ball and let BP execs off the hook.

The reality is that it was never a matter of BP not being able to get a fairly good estimate of the flow rate, +/- 10%.

They just didn't _want_ to know. They didn't want _anyone_ to know.

As the lawyers always say in court, "they either knew or *should have known*."

Bret Cahill

Hi Bret, was just curious where your "170 Bar" came from (much higher numbers are being bandied about on other blogs)?

Thanks

GE has an ultra sonic flow speed meter, XMT 868 i.

It's good to 200 bar [3000 psi] (6100 feet below sea level).

The non invasive clamp on model would be perfect for mini subs to hold against the pipe for a reading.

The resolution is < 10% of the BP pipe flow speed.

There are at least a half dozen different cheaper approaches that would yield less than a 10% error, i.e., hot wire, turbine, paddle wheel, coriolis . . .

Heck, just go to dollar store and buy a pin wheel. There is no reason whatsoever it couldn't take 160 bar pressure and the rpm counted by the subs' cameras.

The estimates by sat. photo and sampling hundreds of cubic miles of sea are just plain nuts.

Bret Cahill

Didn't realize it was so easy to measure flow through a bent, kinked pipe with splits and otehr restrictions in it. Guess the Coast Guard has nothing but fools? Come on - very difficult to estimate and doesn't make much difference anyway - a lot is a lot!

İ read one comment on another blog where the guy was laughing about the suggestions from the peanut gallery - he was 100% right. The best estimate we will ever have will still be a SWAG (at best)!

Former senator/governor of Florida Bob Graham has just been appointed to an investigative committee which will have subpoena powers.

The first question should be, "can you name one single engineering department at any university on the planet who thinks it would be difficult to get a flow rate?"

If they don't have an answer they need to be held in contempt.

Bret Cahill

Held in contempt by those that have no idea what they are talking about in the mile depth location plus multiple outlets (round, bent, cracked) in a solution where the SG can only be estimated and in a mixed stream of gas, water, oil, solids and whatever else. A WAG can be made but not much else. İf a professor comes up with a flow other than a wide range he would be a good one to drop - he has no idea of the real world.

Steve Wereley at Purdue says the flow rate is actually between 800,000 - 1.8 million gal / day.

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100609/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill

Give him a mini sub and he could get it down to +/- 10%.

Bret Cahill

The good professor is probably as accurate as you can get - if he isn't just a bit optomistic.

California has a lot of valleys. They're trying to turn my valley into Energy Valley with solar thermal and geo thermal.

I keep telling the local community college they need to get some text books and hand books on the happenin' field of heat, mass and momentum transport but they aren't listening.

I may have to break out the ol' blow torch and heat up some fanny if they don't get some up-to-date books in the liberry.

Someone's gotta be the heavy.

Bret Cahill

You can normally order books from other libraries through your own library. Some of the university libraries certainlt have what you are looking for. The resource is there - you just have to go after it rather than have them bring it to you.