I am not suggesting this be used on the Transocean spill unless out of options. I am asking the question whether the oil could be burned underwater before it has a chance to dissipate.
Could an oxygen source be piped down above a leaking plume and the oil/oxygen source ignited at depth? Depending on the percentage of oxygen used, how complete could the combustion be? How much of a problem would self ignition pose if attempting to mix the oil/seawater/oxygen before ignition? Please consider other alternatives to gaseous or liquefied oxygen.
How could the oil/oxygen source best be mixed? Could you use a much larger version of an epoxy mixing tube and allow the oil/seawater to float through it? I can see hydrates as an issue.
If undersea combustion would work, surface vessels would need to be far clear for risk of sinking due to loss of bouyancy not to mention the heat & combustion products.
To pick up on an earlier discussion whether a ship mounted 50kW fiber laser could be run via an umbilical to the sea floor:
If it were possible to do this, could you direct the laser in a line across a leaking oil plume and carbonize the oil Vs burning it?
Understanding High-Power Fiber-Optic laser Beam Delivery
http://www.ne.anl.gov/facilities/lal/Publications/BeamDelivery/JLABeamDeliveryManuscrip.pdf
Selecting a High-Power Fiber-Optic Laser Beam Delivery
System
http://www.osti.gov/bridge/purl.cover.jsp;jsessionid=90360AFB2383A970CDA71F5896E44C93?purl=/390413-JeoYHz/webviewable/
Fiber Optic Transmission System for High Power Laser
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6208781.html
IPG Photonics – Modular fiber lasers from 500W to 50kW
http://www.ipgphotonics.com/Collateral/Documents/English-US/HP_Brochure.pdf
Photonic Frontiers:
Fiber Lasers: Fiber Lasers Ramp
Up the Power
http://www.optoiq.com/index/photonics-technologies-applications/lfw-display/lfw-article-display/371319/articles/laser-focus-world/volume-45/issue-12/features/photonic-frontiers-fiber-lasers-fiber-lasers-ramp-up-the-power.html
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