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Retarded/simple solution thread: Oil Spill
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:13 pm
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:13 pm
So we can't get the oil well shut off.
What if we got a big metal pipe and put it around the oil leak, running all the way up to the surface of the water, then pumped the oil into a tanker?
It seems really simple and it's not a permanent solution, but wouldn't this do a lot to reduce the spillage? Does anyone know why this won't work/isn't happening?
I know it's a mile deep, but they were drilling through casing pipe that deep, so they can obviously get it.
Feel free to share any other theories or ideas.
ETA: meant to post this on the O/T
What if we got a big metal pipe and put it around the oil leak, running all the way up to the surface of the water, then pumped the oil into a tanker?
It seems really simple and it's not a permanent solution, but wouldn't this do a lot to reduce the spillage? Does anyone know why this won't work/isn't happening?
I know it's a mile deep, but they were drilling through casing pipe that deep, so they can obviously get it.
Feel free to share any other theories or ideas.
ETA: meant to post this on the O/T
This post was edited on 5/2/10 at 3:15 pm
7
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:17 pm to TheHiddenFlask
I know nothing about any of this stuff. But assuming we do finally get the well cut off, could we not just light all of the surface oil on fire? Or are we actually trying to recapture some of this leaked oil for future use?
Sorry if this post insults everyone intelligence.
Sorry if this post insults everyone intelligence.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:18 pm to TheHiddenFlask
quote:Do you have any mile-long "big metal pipes" lying around somewhere?
What if we got a big metal pipe and put it around the oil leak
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:24 pm to LSURussian
quote:
Do you have any mile-long "big metal pipes" lying around somewhere?
No, but I assume the Oil industry does.
And if they don't, I'm pretty sure it would be cheaper to pay whatever crazy premium it would take to cut to the front of the line at every pipe fabricator shop to build them.
5 shops at 1200 feet of pipe a day will get it done in a day.
Once again, this is a completely half cocked idea, so I'm not being cocky about it.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:25 pm to RedStickBR
quote:
I know nothing about any of this stuff. But assuming we do finally get the well cut off, could we not just light all of the surface oil on fire?
I think they have already done that, but it can't be done in choppy seas.
quote:
Or are we actually trying to recapture some of this leaked oil for future use?
They are doing that too.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:27 pm to RedStickBR
quote:
could we not just light all of the surface oil on fire?
This has been my biggest question.
quote:
Or are we actually trying to recapture some of this leaked oil for future use?
This seems like too much trouble.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:30 pm to lynxcat
quote:
This seems like too much trouble.
Oil often comes out of the ground with salt water in it, so it's really nothing out of the ordinary to separate the two. They are sucking it up to get it out of the ocean and they have to do something with it any way.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:31 pm to TheHiddenFlask
quote:You're not really serious, are you? Maybe, just maybe, they could put together some hoses, but not mile long pipes. What kind of boat could stay afloat just holding on to that much weight? That would even capsize Guam.....
I assume the Oil industry does.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:34 pm to TheHiddenFlask
I think something like this has been proposed and will be implemented. I think they're going to sink some kind of dome over the leak, which will collect the oil, which can then be pumped to the surface and in to ships.
ETA: a buddy of mine used to work for a marine engineering firm. He talked to some of his former colleagues who have said they have come up with a solution and will be implementing it shortly. I don't know if it's the above solution or not.
ETA: a buddy of mine used to work for a marine engineering firm. He talked to some of his former colleagues who have said they have come up with a solution and will be implementing it shortly. I don't know if it's the above solution or not.
This post was edited on 5/2/10 at 3:36 pm
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:36 pm to LSURussian
quote:
You're not really serious, are you?
The oil industry uses a lot of pipe. Hell they could just take the legs off of a few jack up rigs and weld them together.
quote:
What kind of boat could stay afloat just holding on to that much weight?
I was thinking it could go out on multiple boats, in sections and be welded together and placed with boat based cranes.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:47 pm to TheHiddenFlask
Going to happen.
quote:
McKay also said that BP engineers were finalizing work on a containment dome, which could prove to be a crucial solution in mitigating the disaster.
quote:
The containment dome "has been fabricated. The engineering is being finalized to get that mobilized and deployed. That will probably be in six to eight days we’ll have that deployed," McKay said.
quote:
The dome would capture or gather the oil and allow it to be pumped out," he said.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:49 pm to TheHiddenFlask
I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, but the forces involved with the oil spillage would seem to make building a pipeline while the oil is flowing life threatening if not impossible.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:50 pm to Smalls
I knew if we kept screwing with mother earth, we'd have to come up with a big-arse condom,one day.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 3:57 pm to Smalls
quote:
containment dome
part of the problem with getting this in place may be the wreckage on the sea floor. I recall they were going to do something like this for the wild well in the Mexico portion of the gulf, but couldn't get it settled on the bottom because of all the debris.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 4:03 pm to Alabama Slim
quote:
but the forces involved with the oil spillage would seem to make building a pipeline while the oil is flowing life threatening if not impossible.
I'm not really talking about a pipeline.
Think of a taking a straw and covering the spigot of a water fountain with it.
Once you do that, hook a pump up to the inside of the straw and pump out the water (oil) into a cup (tanker)
Posted on 5/2/10 at 4:12 pm to TheHiddenFlask
now think of the water coming out of the water fountain at about 10,000 psi and try to get that straw over the spigot.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 4:22 pm to Alabama Slim
quote:
now think of the water coming out of the water fountain at about 10,000 psi and try to get that straw over the spigot.
It's flowing out at 5,000 barrels a day. That's 210,000 gallons a day, which is just under 150 gallons per minute. There are plenty of pumps that can pump it out that fast.
You are thinking of a natural gas well, which is highly pressurized.
However, if there is also some natural gas coming out of the well, this might be the reason that it wouldn't work, as concentrating the stream up a small pipe could lead to problems.
I think a 45 degree angle pipe near the top of the pipe could eliminate this difficulty, but I did drop out of engineering.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 4:24 pm to coolpapaboze
quote:
I think something like this has been proposed and will be implemented. I think they're going to sink some kind of dome over the leak, which will collect the oil, which can then be pumped to the surface and in to ships. E
Correct. Work on a dome to place over the leak has been underway for more than a week. The DDIII will attach a drilling riser to the dome and will bring the fluids up to the surface to be processed.
Another drilling rig will be brought on location to drill the relief well.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 4:28 pm to TheHiddenFlask
quote:
What if we got a big metal pipe and put it around the oil leak, running all the way up to the surface of the water, then pumped the oil into a tanker?
This is similar to exactly what they are planning on doing. It takes a bit of time to put it together. Nothing like this has ever been done this deep before, so it is a first.
They are collecting the oil with skimmers. Also they have tried controlled burns, but the wind directions make that not very helpful.
Basically everything stated in this thread worthwhile has been done already.
Doing things quickly is not the right thought. Doing things right the first time is what will get things done quickest.
Posted on 5/2/10 at 4:30 pm to TheHiddenFlask
quote:
What if we got a big metal pipe and put it around the oil leak, running all the way up to the surface of the water, then pumped the oil into a tanker?
That is essentially what they are attempting now. A custom built box/tank with piping to send the oil to a boat while a more permanent solution can be done by relief drilling.
BP ordered 3, the first of which was finished a couple of days ago and the have been prepping the site in the meantime.
Also relief drilling to control it for good should have started by now.
The only problem is that no one has ever done pollution containment by this method this deep
This post was edited on 5/2/10 at 4:35 pm
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