Cause of Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer failure released

[quote]The blowout preventer (BOP) that was intended to shut off the flow of high-pressure oil and gas from the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico during the disaster on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on April 20, 2010, failed to seal the well because drill pipe buckled for reasons the offshore drilling industry remains largely unaware of, according to a new two-volume draft investigation report released last week by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB). - See more at: LINK ]

quote:

---

because drill pipe buckled for reasons the offshore drilling industry remains largely unaware of

---

Whew, I'm glad that's finally cleared up.

Well we all knew it was because of pipe buckling but the details were a little fuzzy.


[quote]The identification of the new buckling mechanism for the drill pipe ­– called “effective compression” – was a central technical finding of the draft report. The report concludes that under certain conditions, the “effective compression” phenomenon could compromise the proper functioning of other blowout preventers still deployed around the world at offshore wells. The complete BOP failure scenario is detailed in a new 11-minute computer video animation the CSB developed and released along with the draft report. - See more at: LINK ]

This pretty much says no one is to blame.

quote:

---

This pretty much says no one is to blame.

---

This somewhat points the finger at Transocean's failure to handle their equipment.

quote:

---

The CSB draft report also revealed for the first time that there were two instances of miswiring and two backup battery failures affecting the electronic and hydraulic controls for the BOP’s blind shear ram. One miswiring, which led to a battery failure, disabled the BOP’s “blue pod” – a control system designed to activate the blind shear ram in an emergency. The BOP’s “yellow pod” – an identical, redundant system that could also activate the blind shear ram – had a different miswiring and a different battery failure. In the case of the yellow pod, however, the two failures fortuitously cancelled each other out, and the pod was likely able to operate the blind shear ram on the night of April 20.

---

Although the report is pretty inconclusive when it has what likely could have occurred and what likely was able to operate the blind shear ram.

LOOK AT ALL THIS ERL ON MA SKRIMP YAW!!

Video link for the lazy. LINK

quote:

---

This somewhat points the finger at Transocean's failure to handle their equipment.

---

I interpreted the brief quotes I read as saying that there was some previously unforeseen pressure phenomenon at those depths. Is that not the case?

quote:

---

Cant wait for the OT O&G knowitalls to explain why they disagree

---

Checking in.


So this is some bullshite..










Just kidding, the buffoonery that led to needing to shear the pipe is the main problem.

Thanks BP, Halliburton, and Transocean for making it a shitload more difficult to drill in the GoM

I hope it happens 3 more times. Sorry earth

there should have been a float in the sub to prevent the fluid from coming up the drill pipe

the shear rams would have centered the pipe or sheared through it regardless of wether it was bent or not. The only thing it may not have been able to cut through is a tool joint, which is where the pipe screws together, or if the pipe had parted, (broke) and there were effectively two pieces of pipe in the BOP.

Another reason that the shear may not have worked is there may have been a drill collar in the ram. A drill collar is a heavier stronger and thicker pipe at the bottpm of the drill string used to put weight on the bit and absorb some of the shock before it gets to the weaker drill pipe. Some drill collars have spiral grooves in them and the hydrocarbons could have flowed in between the space created by the flutes.

Anular BOP's are not rated for high pressures, they are more of a "splash guard". If you have any real pressure those things, referred to as "bags" may buy you some time, but that is it.

This whole thing was caused by human error. there are probably at least a dozen things that could have been done to prevent this from happenning. There is so much "cover your arse" going on that what really happenned wil never be found out. People fudge reports all the time so take anything you hear witha grain of salt. And definately don't listen to some lame arse government agency. Uncle Sam can't deliver mail properly, how in the hell is he going to run a drilling rig investigation.