I think I have an explanation. I just saw the latest news. BP has removed the old cap, and is about to install LMRP #10, a marvelous feat of engineering, with new and thoroughly-tested rams. This will be bolted to the old BOP, so it should take the full pressure. They are not saying it will...
JR, I understand there are limits to how much can be properly processed. What I don't understand is why they can't just burn whatever cannot be processed. Surely that is better than releasing it at 5000 feet depth.
They are collecting supposedly 40% of the flow now, and the gas is going to one large flare. Surely, they could have three flares if that were necessary. Even if they had to just dump it on an old barge, and let the barge burn, surely that would be less costly than all the cleanup on the coast.
I just heard an explanation that I find hard to believe. According to Congressman Ed Markey, and oil-industry expert Bob Cavnar, speaking on the MSNBC Keith Olbermann show, BP is trying to avoid fines based on the amount of oil released, and bringing it all up would allow a precise measurement...
No problem. I know even less about oil drilling than you. What's interesting about this situation is that it doesn't take any more than general engineering knowledge to understand the basics and draw some simple conclusions. There is always the possibility that we non-experts might be missing...
Shawn, we are talking about the vents on the top of the LMRP cap, not the BOP valves. See Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) Top Hat Design at http://energy.gov/open/oilspilldata.htm. These valves are designed to be operated by an ROV, and they have been doing that every day to adjust the flow...
Yes, it would be an impressive display.
OK, here is my theory. There is no technical problem with closing the vents and stopping the leak at the bottom. There is some legal or political factor at work. Someone has made a calculation that the additional few weeks of oil dumped into the Gulf...
OK, forget about the special hardware, just let it burn coming out of the top of the riser. That can't be any worse than if the rig didn't sink, and was still burning.
I'm still mystified as to what special hardware is required to connect as many flares as are needed. Even if there is not a connector in stock somewhere, they could make one in a lot less time than the weeks we have been watching the oil gushing out.
It may not be secret what is going on, but...
I guess I should clarify my question, which depends on earlier discussion.
The reasons given so far for allowing the leak to continue are:
1) Can't shut off the vents on the cap, because that will allow hydrates to form and plug the riser.
2) Can't shut off the vents on the cap, because it will...
There was an interview this morning by John Roberts on CNN, talking to Owen Kratz, the CEO of Helix Energy Solutions, the company which has just provided a ship capable of processing 60,000 barrels per day. There are some problems with having the right hardware to make the connection, and that...
The simplest, lowest cost solution is to monitor the mud flow, and detect a kick at the earliest possible moment, when it can be easily controlled. What happened was not *caused* by bad design, but it could have been *avoided* by better design. It bother me that engineers are not more...
JR, good discussion. If the riser requires 2000 tonnes of tension to hold it up, how do they disconnect temporarily during a hurricane, as they are planning now with the rigs drilling the relief wells?
If we assume that the pontoons, columns, and deck box were all designed to modern standards...
All depends on how much conductivity there is in the water-filled layers above where you want to detect the signal. Let's assume we have 1000 feet of mud and rock saturated with seawater, and we need to get a 1 milliwatt RF signal through that layer. The optimum frequency will probably be what...
I would expect the bottom of the casing to act as a very good upside-down antenna. The problem might be in driving the top of the casing with enough power to get past the conductive layers, which will short the antenna to ground. Maybe it will take a megawatt transmitter at the top to get a...
JR, your knowledge and experience is greatly appreciated. If I understand correctly, a little extra steel between the pontoons won't help. That part of the structure is already strong enough. The problem is in the columns (which must be buoyant to keep the platform level), and the deck box...
JR, excellent answer. It raises another question, however. Why would either the deck box or columns not simply drain whatever water came in? Are the pontoons close enough to the water surface that they could be ruptured by an explosion?
I think your guess about the ballast valves not being a...
Another concern that just occurred to me, in thinking about multiple wellheads, is that letting the pressure at the wellhead drop to 2250 (the seawater pressure) even for a few minutes, may produce such extreme pressures at the bottom that the rock fractures and the flow increases beyond any...
Excellent discussion, DrillerNic. I wish other oil-industry experts would be as helpful.
There is a much more readable diagram of the well, with essentially the same information as on the DOE site, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offshore_oil_spill_prevention#Well_casings. You might want to...
