Kinks in the piping created as the rig sank to the seafloor may be all that is preventing the Deepwater Horizon well from releasing its maximum flow.

[link to blog.al.com]

Sounds Kinky.

All they have to do is drop the Air Craft Carrier idea I had and crush the entire area under its weight and problem will be solved.

...If the wellhead is lost, oil could leave the well at a much greater rate, perhaps up to 150,000 barrels -- or more than 6 million gallons per day -- based on government data showing daily production at another deepwater Gulf well.

By comparison, the Exxon Valdez spill was 11 million gallons total. The Gulf spill could end up dumping the equivalent of 4 Exxon Valdez spills per week.

...

Minerals Management Service data indicates that the deepwater Thunderhorse production platform, also owned by BP, has produced up to 150,000 barrels per day.


Thursday, federal officials said they were preparing for the worst-case scenario but didn't elaborate.

Kinks in the piping created as the rig sank to the seafloor may be all that is preventing the Deepwater Horizon well from releasing its maximum flow. BP is now drilling a relief well as the ultimate fix. The company said Thursday that process would take up to 3 months.

"I'm not sure what's happening down there right now. I have heard there is a kink in what's called the riser. The riser is a long pipe that connects the wellhead to the rig. I really don't know if that kink is a big restriction. Is that really a big restriction? There could be another restriction further down," said LSU's Sears.

"An analogy would be if you have a kink in a garden hose. You suspect that kink is restricting the flow, but there could be another restriction or kink somewhere else closer to the faucet."

BP executive Doug Suttles: said Thursday the company was worried about "erosion" of the pipe at the Deepwater Horizon wellhead. A new leak in that piping was discovered Wednesday, suggesting the erosion is worsening.BP Plc executive Doug Suttles said Thursday the company was worried about "erosion" of the pipe at the wellhead. A new leak in that piping was discovered Wednesday, suggesting the erosion is worsening.

Sand is an integral part of the formations that hold oil under the Gulf. That sand, carried in the oil as it shoots through the piping, is blamed for the ongoing erosion described by BP.

"The pipe could disintegrate. You've got sand getting into the pipe, its eroding the pipe all the time, like a sandblaster," said Ron Gouguet, a former oil spill response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"When the oil is removed normally, it comes out at a controlled rate. You can still have abrasive particles in that. Well, now, at this well, its coming out at fairly high velocity," Gouguet continued. "Any erosive grains are abrading the inside of the pipe and all the steel that comes in contact with the liquid. It's essentially sanding away the pipe."

The formation that was being drilled by the Deepwater Horizon when it exploded and sank last week is reported to have tens of millions of barrels of oil. A barrel contains 42 gallons.

"The loss of a wellhead, this is totally unprecedented," said Gouguet. "How bad it could get from that, you will have a tremendous volume of oil that is going to be offgassing on the coast. Depending on how much wind is there, and how those gases build up, that's a significant health concern."



FT .02

Folks, this is not just an environmental disaster. This is a civilization disaster.

Lets all join hands and pray that the gulf becomes a gigantic tar pit!

BP is now drilling a relief well as the ultimate fix. The company said Thursday that process would take up to 3 months.

I don't do this often, but there have been a few pinned threads on the oil leak.

Please pin this.

Brother, if this thing starts flowing unchecked, in 3 months there will be no reason to complete this relief well.

Some say unchecked, it might produce 6 million gallons a day. In 90 days, that is 540 million gallons. Valdez was 11 million.

Then you need to factor in the fact that hurricane season is coming. How will they drill a new hole if there are hurricanes forming in the gulf? Wouldn't that halt operations? Of course it would also open up another can of beans as well!

I really do think they'll resort to the 'drop heavy things on it' option..

Fuck the Gulf of Mexico and fuck anyone that gives a shit about it.

You must live a sad and pathetic like caring about wild life all the time. Shit dies and always fucking will, nothing you can do. Eventually the entire earth will be gone because God will be taking it away. What the fuck you going to do then with no earth? Guess you are going to cry about the fucking wild life. Who gives a shit.

Kill animals to eat. Kill animals to make room for your house. Kill animals to get business done.

It is that simple you fucking retards.

Animals kill eachother all the fucking time anyhow, what you going to sit there and cry all day everyday thinking about that shit?

How about all the hunters? You going to cry about that shit too?

oh boo hoo little hippie fags. Animals are dying. Guess you should stop going to McDonalds then huh? Oh better not cut down that tree on your lawn! A squirrel might die!

THE HORROR!

Well there must be a lot of rock between the seabed & where the gas/oil is.... And of course you can't build 1+ mile long pipe over night....

and if i'm not mistaken any fluctuation in the pressure ratio could actually lead to these vents getting bigger or potentially even producing new ones. so you would not only have even more oil spilling into the gulf but it would also become more likely that the giant methane reservoir gets involved too in one way or another. it's a domino effect that they simply can't control and all they're doing right now seems more like desperate diversion measures rather than 'real' efforts to put an end to this catastrophe...



Last Edited by i lol'd on 05/10/2010 09:34 PM

all those laughing at the situation should wake up and realize this ain't funny anymore. it's getting real serious, real quick.

Anyone know what the estimated amount of oil that this rig tapped into?

lol, you don't even know shit and you are trying to lecture!?

The Tiber oil field, over 4 billion barrels hippie! Ten times as much natural gas!

Fuck the Gulf of Mexico!

not lecturing...and you need to stfu.

hippie-dippy-du

Do you work for British Petrollium?

point of reference: 540 million gallons of oil would be

2 inches thick
100 feet wide
nearly 850 miles long

This in 90 days.

In a year, it would be intercontinental.

Last Edited by Bullfrog on 05/10/2010 10:03 PM

that is in 90 days. in a year, unchecked, the casing, cement, and encasement holding the BOP will be eroded from 38000 psi sandblasting. It will completely vent. There will be no stopping it until the pressure is balanced. maybe for years.

It all depends on whether or not they can find a way to seal the BOP. It is the only way.

I should do a sketch of how these wells look in section and post it as a smilie...You could see how critical this circumstance could become.

Sounds awesome. Keep us posted. I will be hoping for the the Gulfs death.

Noted. I will pass your sentiments along.

Congrats on the pin!

Thank you for the pin Mods.

DEAR TROLL 255

This is the same carp almost word for word that you posted yesterday on an oil thread -- GET A LIFE !!!

YCM

.

*225

38000 psi.

A stream of water with the same diameter as a water hose at that pressure would simultaneously cut you in half, liquify your flesh, and push you into mush. A stream of water the size of a toothpick at this pressure would cut through tool steel.



These are not pressures you can have a good intuitive understanding of. These are pressures from deep within the earth.

Is there a way to use this force against itself? Achieve equilibrium

OMFG

This is a nightmare!

lol...just let him be please. He's welcome to free speech here.

I can't see a way out of this, unless they can get the BOP closed, its an open well at some point. The BOP is huge. It is structurally connected to the encasement at the top of the well casing, which is placed after the well casing is cemented into the bore hole. The encasement covers the borehole, cement, and casing and provides a mass sufficient to withstand the pressures expected.

This event unfolding has been feared for years.