Gulf coast oil spill

[GunMaster357]

Cofferdams and pumps ? May be

But how long will they be pumping ?
Will they continue theirs attemps at closing that damned thing ?

[Flickster]

Originally Posted by GunMaster357

Cofferdams and pumps ? May be

But how long will they be pumping ?
Will they continue theirs attemps at closing that damned thing ?

My assumption is that these are temporary solutions to be in place until they can drill an intercepting well, seal off the one leaking which will then cut off the oil flow to the leaking riser. At that point the cofferdams would no longer be needed.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Flickster

My assumption is that these are temporary solutions

... which means three months and not during periods of extreme weather. Let's see. When does hurricane season start?

Well, BP who originally put the spill at 1000 gallons per day now estimates the number may be ten times higher than their latest numbers - 200,000 gallons per day.

Oh. And Haliburton refuses to testify before Congress. Blackwater was a division of Haliburton.

[Flickster]

Originally Posted by tw

... which means three months and not during periods of extreme weather. Let's see. When does hurricane season start?

Well, BP who originally put the spill at 1000 gallons per day now estimates the number may be ten times higher than their latest numbers - 200,000 gallons per day.

Oh. And Haliburton refuses to testify before Congress. Blackwater was a division of Haliburton.

To my knowledge there has not been a Congressional investigation regarding this spill. At this point I think there are still far too many questions as to what happened.

An investigation of what happened after the explosion could advance, but Haliburton was not included in those activities.

As for hurricane season....your point is? Not sure how surface conditions affect conditions 5,000 feet below. As for any surface activity, rigs ride out storms all the time. They do evacuate during severe storms, but the rig remains in place.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Flickster

To my knowledge there has not been a Congressional investigation regarding this spill.

I should have said Federal investigation - not Congressional.

Cementing is a process where the cement must be carefully measured, mixed, and inserted. If cement remains, then a serious and dangerous problem exists. Not known is what Haliburton is supposed to do next.

Apparently the explosion happened two hours after Haliburton applied their cement. Since Haliburton is not talking, almost nothing about the cement process is known.

Alarms should sound if a blowout is detected. None did. Question as to whether those alarms were disabled or if Haliburton did something to subvert alarms and the Blow Out Protector are unknown.

Rig only does something if connected to a ship. No ship means oils flows uncollected. Storms such as last week means a ship may not be able to remain connected.

[Flickster]

Originally Posted by tw

I should have said Federal investigation - not Congressional.

Cementing is a process where the cement must be carefully measured, mixed, and inserted. If cement remains, then a serious and dangerous problem exists. Not known is what Haliburton is supposed to do next.

Apparently the explosion happened two hours after Haliburton applied their cement. Since Haliburton is not talking, almost nothing about the cement process is known.

Alarms should sound if a blowout is detected. None did. Question as to whether those alarms were disabled or if Haliburton did something to subvert alarms and the Blow Out Protector are unknown.

Rig only does something if connected to a ship. No ship means oils flows uncollected. Storms such as last week means a ship may not be able to remain connected.

There are many different types of rigs and surface processing vessels. From what I'm reading on the spill containment/capture, this will go directly to a surface processing vessel, where the oil & water will be separated. My guess would be an FPSO or the like.

Latest report I'm seeing from the AP, the blame is being placed on a bubble of methane, which could also point to some issues with the cementing process.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Flickster

Latest report I'm seeing from the AP, the blame is being placed on a bubble of methane, which could also point to some issues with the cementing process.

This problem occurred (apparently) due to heating of that cement - the curing process.

Ironically, nine BP executives were on the rig when the explosion ripped into the party room. They were celebrating the rig's extraordinary safety record.

Too many things failed simultaneously. The process should have been monitored by those doing the cementing. Alarms should have gone off. They didn't. Chains of safety systems - altogether called a blow out preventer - did not work. Robots could not turn off valves manually. And BP quietly admitted that the leak may be 10 times larger than 5000 barrels per day. That means nothing even partially cut off the flow.

Well, the dome has failed. Hydrates are freezing - clogging the pipe. At that depth, even methane is at near freezing points. A complicated thermodynamic problem.