General Music Chat

AND DONT LET ANY AHOLE TELL YOU IT CAN'T BE DONE TOMORROW!

Exactly Glen...it can be done easily by competent people that even have half of a clue what they're doing. It's really as simple as that. Really...

I glad to see so many engineering types on the forum ... wow with so many great answers' ... like "if all else fails lets blow it up". Well if it fractures the rock below ... then you have a real mess and will never be capped or stopped. Ok ... lets all yell "STOP THE SPILL" that's working great.

I am a engineer and have work in both the oil industry, on land, and have designed and developed underwater ROV's to harvest wood up to 500 ft down below the surface, behind dams (triton logging). Working with an ROV at 500 ft is challenging enough ... never mind 1 mile.

You don't think that BP want's this stopped? This could bankrupt BP ... their share price has dropped in half ...

This is probably one of the most challenging engineering problems that they have ever tried to solve. The pressures involved are mind boggling ... the pressure a mile down is like 2400 psi .. and who knows what the pressure of the oil and gas is coming out of the pipe ... it's not a small amount.

We'd all like to see this end but it is not as easy as you think. This is what greed and lack of regulation gets you ... in many countries that drill deep oil wells off shore, they have to drill the relief well at the same time that they drill the main well ... but that costs more money ... if they had done this we probably would've only had a small spill.

"This is what greed and lack of regulation gets you ... in many countries that drill deep oil wells off shore, they have to drill the relief well at the same time that they drill the main well ... but that costs more money ... if they had done this we probably would've only had a small spill."


Some good points, Prevost82

Only diff is that I think regulations got us into this by tree huggers insisting we do not drill where it is safe to drill because we might kill a butterfly or something, which is preposterous when you think about how easily a spill on land could be stopped.

I think we all agree a well on land is preferable to one anywhere in the ocean, but we must also preserve our state and federal parks and wilderness areas. This is not just "treehuggers" who want this, but any good American. Some things are worth more than money, which is why we are willing to purchase most of our petroleum rather than ruin our protected lands. The bottom line is, a well should not be placed anywhere that it is not easily serviceable. 500 feet of water? Sure, go ahead. One mile down? Forget it, never again.

Prevost, BP is not taking proposed solutions from engineers outside of BP.
The Titanic lies 12,000 Ft down and they managed to get down there and take pictures.

Exactly gtZip!

Anyone can take pictures anywhere. We've got realtime HD video of the leak, so what. Hell, we know what Mars looks like better than some places here on earth. Sure they took pictures of the Titanic and even retrieved a few relics; let's see them fix the toilet in the Captain's stateroom. Fixing this leak is not trivial so stop acting like anyone can do it.

Fixing this leak is not trivial so stop acting like anyone can do it.

This is true. Suggestions get made... "Let the Navy do it!" but the Navy does not have the expertise that BP and other Oil Companies do. For this reason, it MUST be BP (or similar) that fixes this leak. This is one of the reasons that I believe, pushing them into setting aside the 20 Billion is crucial... kind of a hedge bet. Like others, the thought easily comes to mind... "Set off an explosive charge!" But... the problem is, that WE DON'T KNOW what that will do either. Will it make it worse? We don't know. The President also RIGHTLY pointed out, that... "We don't want to run BP out of business!" That would ensure that they don't fulfill their responsibilities, not to mention strongly affect the UK's economy, as one of not only THEIR largest corporations, but one of the WORLD'S largest corporations. Then there is the problem of rising energy costs, were they to go out of business.

This is NOT an easy problem to solve.

That doesn't mean BP is not making mistakes. THEY ARE!

It is a disaster of biblical proportions.

We have not even seen the tip of the iceberg of the ill effects this will bring about.

My hope, is that it will open the minds of conservationists, that "Hey, maybe drilling in the arctic refuge, is not such a bad idea after all! I do agree with Jimmy, that SOME LAND in our national parks should be OFF LIMITS, but the Arctic Refuge? Give me a break! There are no tourists to that area, and it is so large that any accidents would have minimal effects on the environment.

Hopefully we reform our energy policy through all this, and find compromises that everyone can live with, while we put new energy sources on the fast track!

Anyone can take pictures anywhere. We've got realtime HD video of the leak, so what. Hell, we know what Mars looks like better than some places here on earth. Sure they took pictures of the Titanic and even retrieved a few relics; let's see them fix the toilet in the Captain's stateroom. Fixing this leak is not trivial so stop acting like anyone can do it.

my point exactly Jimmy ...

Slacker .. my point on lack of reg's were pertaining to off shore oil ... but yes you have a valid point on the over all energy policy

No slight to your engineering intended but imploding casing or shooting off tubing is no big deal.
It's done all the time.
I've done it myself.

I remember a day when our engineer came screaming onto the tank battery is his car, then ran out yelling for us to stop the project.
While he spread his drawing out on the hood of the car for the foreman we finished bolting the exact same tank as the one that go burned to the exact same flange.

Engineers may be the reason we had a spill in the first place.

If you are such an engineer prevost than come up with a solution and have it enacted. 2400 psi is a minor pressure. The average scuba tank works at pressures of 3200 to 3500, so in the terms of general engineerig this is not a very impressive pressure. Would you like to go into extreme hydraulics?
What bothers me the most about your attitude is the losers position that this CAN NOT BE DONE. This is America , all things are possible,,, OH I forgot, You don't live here.
Take your losers position and stuff it.I don't care how much experience you think you have because BP and Washington don't care to solve this problem.
Oh I forgot you don't live here.

Anyone can take pictures anywhere. We've got realtime HD video of the leak, so what. Hell, we know what Mars looks like better than some places here on earth. Sure they took pictures of the Titanic and even retrieved a few relics; let's see them fix the toilet in the Captain's stateroom. Fixing this leak is not trivial so stop acting like anyone can do it.

I know you're not talking to me...

They did fix the toilet. You didn't hear about that?


It isn't trivial, and I don't think that anyone implied that 'anyone' could do it

That one post makes you sound just like everyone else prevost. Lets point fingers and start grabbing cash.
From what you said you allready discounted the equalization of pressure from the sea above. Yes as an engineer we know that a smaller pipe will increase PRESSURE, what you fail to disclose is that pressure increase occurs at the end of the smaller PIPE. This is simple plumbing. This leak can not be stopped from above, it has to be stopped from below.
As long as we have BRILLIANT MINDS such as yours working on this ,GOD SAVE US. Stop lecturing!

Heres another Idea prevost. wrap the original cap in coils and pump warm sea suface water to stop the freezing problem. BP And the WHITE HOUSE are not looking for solutions. Why waste a pefectly good catastrophe?

Dont talk about pressures at that depth because hydronics will be raised but we can do the same thing we do with pressures when we pump water up every 33 ft , REMEMBER?

Go home prevost you ain't helping here!

Engineers may be the reason we had a spill in the first place.

Cutting corners is why we have the leak. Safety steps were avoided to rush the drilling and make more money faster.

No slight to your engineering intended but imploding casing or shooting off tubing is no big deal.
It's done all the time.
I've done it myself.

I remember a day when our engineer came screaming onto the tank battery is his car, then ran out yelling for us to stop the project.
While he spread his drawing out on the hood of the car for the foreman we finished bolting the exact same tank as the one that go burned to the exact same flange.

Engineers may be the reason we had a spill in the first place.

hey .. I'm not saying that won't work Sans .. but there is a risk factor that the explosion may fracture the ground around the well ... then what do you do???? it will be leaking out everywhere ... is it worth the gamble ...