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BP deploys second containment box
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[link to www.cnn.com]
BP built the smaller dome after a much larger, four-story containment vessel designed to cap the larger of two leaks in the well developed glitches Saturday. Ice-like hydrate crystals formed when gas combined with water and blocked the top of the dome, making it buoyant.
The new device would keep most of the water out at the beginning of the capping process and would allow engineers to pump in methanol to keep the hydrates from forming, said Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer for exploration and production. Methanol is a simple alcohol that can be used as an antifreeze.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said the success of this latest attempt to cap the well could be known in the next few days.
"On this Thursday, we should know whether or not this alternative top hat cofferdam is going to work," Salazar said on CNN's "The Situation Room." "And then the next key date is Saturday, because by Saturday they will have the diagnostics completed through X-rays and gamma rays and pressure ratings to be able to make decisions about what the next steps are ..."
If attempts to cap the well fail, BP may try to plug the leak by shooting debris -- shredded tires, golf balls and similar objects -- under extremely high pressure into the well's blowout preventer in an attempt to clog it and stop the leak. The blowout preventer has been partially successful in sealing the well, but did not fully close when the rig exploded and sank.
Added pic...;)
[link to www.godlikeproductions.com]
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