Methane Hydrate Plug Design

Just an additional thought, about the fluid dynamics of blocking a high pressure outflow. It seems to me that the jets used to shape the ice plug would have to have sufficient power to also contribute to penetration of that outflow. That is a lot of pressure to go up against.

Would the cone shape of the jet-flow contribute anything to the dynamics? Such as resulting in a higher pressure at the tip where jets combine? Or is that wishful thinking.

The latest news is that it is seeping out the sides and topping it is out of the question from now on. Very scary stuff..... I shudder..., Ky.

I heard that they are moving vessels to the area which can collect and carry away more of the oil. This has calmed the fears of investors, apparently, as the BP stock is rebounding. They seem to be saying that the present cap is good enough.

I am interested in seeing some kind of solution engineered and tested for future applications in deep water if not for this spill, since an even deeper drilling is planned off our shores at a depth around 2 km. The weather and wave conditions here are a constant issue, everyone knows that an event like this would be even harder to resolve. Needless to say, I am not satisfied that the present 'failsafes' are adequate. Something should be learned from the experience to prevent more events like this from going unresolved within days not weeks or months.

As for BP, if they are siphoning off a marketable product I doubt there is any motive at this point to do anything other than their present course of action. Very sad situation, especially with hurricanes on the way.

This is explained in a press conference, given 10 th of June. (movie) Find it at the BP international website. They give updates once in while. First, one of these days they will try to use the lines where they injected the mud through (reverse) to get another 4000 barrels a day to the the next rig that they equipped with a clean burner stove and chimney. They will burn oil plus gas with a lot of air, produced by 6 giant compressors.

They cleared the platform from the mud operation to the burn operation. Today they had also a dangerous fire issue on the Discoverer that was set on fire by a methane ball. Luckily only high on top of the mast.

Resulting in a shut down for more than half a day. If they happen to meet a big enough methane bubble that shoots up with little crude, I don't want to be on that ship.

Next step (end of June) is putting a new containing dome on the bop with multiple outlets. They will install 2 more floating risers, anchored to the sea bed and floating reservoirs on top, under the surface with supply hoses for tankers.

- and call this a response for hurricanes? 3 more ships are on the way - one like the discoverer and 2 different types. The parent system has problems and seems to build up a too high crude friction (pipe far too small) that lift the cap.

Tightening the cap will make the annulus leaks bigger and erosion can ruin the whole well concept. That is probably why they want to relieve the (dynamic flow) pressure on top of the BOP

Randall supplied this in another thread

this assessment

Maybe now some one will try other ways. Just shocking, Ky.

Thanks for this link Ky. The writer obviously knows what he's talking about, and it's obvious this disaster is far from over. I guess it's down to praying that the relief well is successful, otherwise...

This explains to me that the way to prevent another similar disaster is (a) to strictly enforce best practices which BP did not follow in constructing the well, or (b) to ban deep water drilling altogether.

This well is a monster. The pressure and flow rate is huge, and it's obvious they tapped the motherlode by drilling in deep water. Is this what's happening in the North Atlantic as well? I see no other reason to take on the technical difficulties of drilling at depths of 2 km, unless they hope to tap a monster source of oil. And it doesn't look like our oil capture technology is up to the task.

It is a universal principle. Governments Benefit From Catastrophe.

In this case, whether it be quake, oil leak, hurricane, depression, etc... it all takes away the focus of declawing the government, and continues to build the powerbase of the nwo. as per plan.

Chris

Clowns are scary !

Why cant they use a line stopping operation to shut this down ? Or a smart pig ?

We rely on energy to support our society and our way of life.

Lack of clean water is scary.

If I knew what a line stopping operation is I would give it a go. Never heard of it, what's it do and how? Excuse my ignorance, Ky.

KY line stopping is basically installing a valve in an energized pipeline. A fitting is welded to pipeline, shellcutters used to cut out a seat in the welded fitting, and a expandable stopper is inserted and expanded to shut off the line. Various sizes of fittings and pressure classes are available.

IMHO the process conditions are not there to form methane hydrates. You will need to create a form of pressure detention. Your idea, if your water feed will overcome the pipe pressure will only contribute to higher pressure. The methane hydrates, clathrates on the sea floor, have passed a detention AND water contact. Also with high volumes, the methane hydrates will have a brittle crust and no solid centre. But that is only my opinion.

Thanks, for a valid criticism of the design.

Also take a look at the link Ky posted above, which really assesses what has happened from the POV of someone with knowledge of how these things work. The worst case scenario, as in the Gulf right now, is not going to be fixed by any kind of cap or plug design; they're siphoning off as much pressure as possible now instead of trying to cap, probably because there's a break down below and the geological structure is compromised.

I must admit, I'm leaning towards the "ban deep water drilling" attitude at this point. I'm thinking that there is a big risk of tapping large reservoirs with high pressure under a thinner geological barrier in the deep ocean - that's what deep water drilling is all about, apparently.