Spokane7
65°
May 26, 2010 in Nation/World
BP pins hopes on risky tactic
Ocean depth makes ‘top kill’ effort tricky
As early as today, BP will begin its first attempt to seal the deep ocean well that is spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, using a series of high-risk maneuvers that has never been attempted at such low depths.
The so-called top kill effort is increasingly critical for BP, which has come under attack in recent days from Obama administration officials and Gulf Coast states frustrated with the company’s inability to cap the well and stop the worsening environmental disaster.
BP officials were running diagnostics Tuesday on the blowout preventer above the leaking well, a final step before the effort gets under way. BP and federal officials have been prepping for the top kill attempt since the first days after the spill, in large part because they’ve seen the method succeed to seal off gushing wells in the past – most notably, the burning Kuwaiti oil fields from the first Gulf War.
But no one has ever executed the method 5,000 feet below the ocean’s surface. The added complexity of measuring oil flow and working with undersea robots at that extreme depth, along with the difficulty of directing ship traffic on the surface, has slowed scientists’ efforts.
Here’s how it will work:
Heavy mud will be forced into the well to counteract the upward pressure of the leaking oil and gas. Then cement will be poured in after the mud to seal the opening.
If for some reason the mud alone cannot push down the oil, BP officials said they may also try to stop the flow with a “junk shot” filled with golf balls, among other objects.
Success of the venture will depend on loading enough mud and cement into the well to stop the surge of oil and gas – a tricky proposition. Iraj Ershaghi, director of the petroleum engineering department at the University of Southern California, estimated that the upward pressure is likely to be about 9,000 pounds per square inch. At a depth of 5,000 feet, the water pressure bearing down on the leak is about 2,500 pounds per square inch, he said.
That leaves a difference of about 6,500 pounds per square inch of upward pressure at the wellhead, explaining why the oil and gas flowing upward can easily overwhelm the water pressing down on it and why the crude has continued to gush into the ocean.
“This is not a kids’ game, to fight that kind of pressure,” Ershaghi said.
To make up the pressure difference, technicians plan to pump mud into the blowout preventer, a kind of surge protector that sits on top of the wellhead. The device had failed to cut off the flow of oil when the pressure surged too high.
The mud that will be used, drilling mud, is a dense mixture of water and minerals such as bentonite clay. It can be made even denser by adding heavier minerals such as barite and galena.
The heavier the mud, the more it will suppress the flow – but on the flip side, the harder it will be to pump in.
The mud will be pumped from surface vessels with a combined 50,000-horsepower pumping capacity into the internal cavity of the blowout preventer. BP officials said they plan to pump the mud at a rate of up to 40 barrels per minute.
It’s unclear how much mud will be needed to stop the flow of oil, BP spokesman Bryan Ferguson said. It’s possible, he said, that the entire cavity of the blowout preventer will have to be filled.
Once the oil flow has been contained, the hole will be covered with cement to permanently close the well.
Not just junk
If the top-kill procedure doesn’t work, technicians plan to implement the “junk shot” – shooting in material to keep the mud from escaping.
Objects in the junk shot – such as rope knots, golf balls and shredded tires – are picked for a reason. Each odd shape serves a different function, and the more varied the shapes of the collected junk, the more effective the clog will be.
Stocks plummet as outlook in Europe dims 
Nomore on May 26 at 9:12 a.m.
Very interesting.. they are able to use such precision to fill the preventer with mud, yet they cannot “capture” the oil being released. And Thanks BP for the added oil tax which will in turn become yet another fuel cost to the end users. Again the tax payers will be paying for a corporate disaster.
BP should be boycotted for their lack of response on this issue. If it is too deep to resolve in a timely manner then they are drilling beyond their means.
force_vector on May 26 at 10:09 a.m.
Lack of response? Really? You honestly think that BP is dragging their feet while the oil that they stood to make a profit on billows out into the gulf, creating a PR and environmental disaster? The technical complications involved in drilling require months to years of study prior to actual drilling taking place. The failure of this well was unprecedented, and as such, any attempt to stop the flow will be a first-ever attempt. If they rush to do something because people are complaining about things not being done in a “timely manner”, and they make the situation even worse, then what? I have cursed BP many times when spending over $50 to fill my tank, so I am no BP appologist. I am just saying that people need to be realistic about what the challenges are, and allow the experts at BP time to fix this mess. There is no one else out there who would be able to do a better job, like it or not.
mikeln on May 26 at 10:13 a.m.
Another example of government-corporate corruption. Attempts have been made to point fingers at the present administration, but the corruption has been in place for decades, under many presidents. It’s time for the people to take energy away from private ownership as it is quite evident that this kind of power and money always leads to this kind of corruption. We need to be moveing full steam ahead to eliminate our dependence on oil, instead monied interests come first. Don’t kid yourself, the people will pay for this mess and BP will probably walk away, with us oweing them money. The earths energy belongs to all of us, not just the corrupt few that a corrupt government gave it to. Untill we solve our energy and health care problems we will be nothing but economic slaves to the corrupt few.
force_vector on May 26 at 10:59 a.m.
How do you suggest the “people” take energy away from private ownership? Government? Is that not just as corrupt as corporations are? Natural resources located within the limits of America’s boundaries are already owned by the “people” However, the “people” have no ability to collect them because they don’t have the expertise, equipment, or capital to invest in doing so.
Whoever was in charge at the platform that ignored the warning signs that something was about to go wrong should be dealt with in a very public manner. Additionally, BP should be fined heavily for his/her mistake as they are accountable for placing qualified and responsible people in-charge of operations.
We are currently not “economic slaves to the corrupt few” as we chose whether to do business with them or not. If you give control of these things to the government, that is where the slavery will begin. That goes for oil, health care, and a whole host of other issues.
mikeln on May 26 at 11:35 a.m.
The people that do the real work in these areas would still be there, at a higher income. The profit takers, you know, the ones who have convinced you these things can not be ran without them, would have to get jobs that require real work, not just playing golf with our elected officials. The money that is now profit for the few could be used to get us off oil. We could then move forward, as it is now, the monied interests will keep us dependent on oil as long as they can. The corruption goes deep and untill we can put people in office that are honest and will truly work for the people, we will get nothing but the same crap we have been getting for years. The people that are making huge profits at our exspence will say and do anything to keep this money coming in, including killing any one that gets in their way. I am all for people making a buck but there are certain things that need to belong to all of us, not just people of wealth.
mikeln on May 26 at 11:45 a.m.
It seems to me if, at some depth below the ocean floor, these oil companies would install a double wall pipe with explosives between the walls of the pipe it could then dentonate that pipe and stop the flow of oil. Seems like a cheap and effective fix for this kind of problem, hope they think about it in the future.
force_vector on May 26 at 11:48 a.m.
“At a higher income”? Paid for by what, higher taxes or yet even more expensive oil? Better yet, just tack it onto the red-ink that doesn’t dry on our national balance sheet, right? If gov’t takes control of these things it will turn into the same thing it is now on the corporate side; a tool to enrich a few and empower those that are part of the “good ol’ boys club”. Yet, even worse, it will be done by your hard-earned tax dollars. Yeah, sounds like a great idea. I am supportive of greater regulation, and government employment of experts who are qualified to inspect operations for safety issues, but a complete takeover, no way.
Additionally, if the gov’t was in control of oil, and thus empowered and enriched by it, what makes you think it would be interested in ending our dependence?
mikeln on May 26 at 6:50 p.m.
You do realize the money would still be coming in, just not to the greedy. In fact taxes could be lowered once the money was diverted from profit to maintaining roads, which the greedy oil companies contribute nothing to even though they depend on these roads for their huge profits. Also, we are economic slaves, it is not how we spend our money, but the amount of money we have to spend. As long as credit exists in its present form, there is no reason to be paid enough to save for what we want. We have allowed one group of people to charge us money to use money, stupid way to run a economy. The only way to create the kind of wealth some people demand is for us to be kept in debt. This is a lousy way to live ones life. We no longer live in freedom, we live in a country of the wealthy, and by their rules, not our own.
misjustice on May 27 at 8:59 p.m.
mikeln; you hit on one of the major problems in our nation, we are no longer viewed as Citizens, we are viewed as Consumers. And the difference is that as Consumers we only have power IF we can consume and our power is relative to HOW MUCH we can consume; whereas if our power was derived from being viewed as Citizens then our worth would be measured by our contributions to the public sphere/square. Two very different measures of worth…indeed. And with two very different outcomes…as we are now all bearing witness to.