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Out of the Blue

[Jun 04, 2010, 09:56 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

Today is National Doughnut Day, a tradition that goes all the way back to 1938. Ant sends along an article on mainstreet outlining how to score a freebie. Mmmmm doughnuts...

Doughy Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez and Acleacius.
Play:	Destructo Truck. Amateur Surgeon 2. Touch the bubbles 3.
Stories:	BP lowers a cap onto leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well. Goalkeepers Dislike Official World Cup Ball. Patrick Stewart gets a promotion.
Science:	Navy Shoots Down Plane With Really Big Raygun. Thanks [H]ard-OCP. Mars minerals point to warmer and wetter past. Monkey Controls Advanced Robot Using Its Mind.
Images:	See Honey, You Don’t Need A New One. Why Villains in Scooby Doo are Arrested. Thanks Digg.
Media:	StarCraft 2 Rick Roll. Thanks Digg. BP: Rich Fish. How to Avoid Paying for Airport Parking.
Follow-up:	Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill- No Way, U.S. Says. Thanks j.c.f. Scientists blame bee-colony collapse on cell phones. SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ready for first launch.

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13.

Re: Nuclear Option

Jun 4, 2010, 14:08

The nuke idea is to impact the sea bed rock so it collapses and seals the well. Basically the "hit it with a kiloton hammer" approach. But, it could also open up the well with a fissure that would be basically impossible to seal. High pressure oil and gas would just surge out at vastly higher volume than presently. This in turn would erode the weakened rock... Not forgetting that you've just blown up all other options. Currently they have a broken pipe that has a (albeit failed) device on it designed to stop the flow. I'm no engineer, but I'm pretty sure that offers a lot more opportunities to stop the flow or at least has less risk of it getting worse than setting off a bomb and hoping. They can't just crimp the pipe because of the amount of pressure. They tried clogging it up with drilling fluid, mud, clay, golf balls, rubber and cement and it didn't work. It's looking like they've been successful with the containment cap which will syphon off much of the leak, while the permanent fix is the relief wells being drilled (which will basically be a functioning well that takes over the flow and pressure, so the leaking one can be plugged relatively easily).

Subject

Comment [quote="DG"Jun 4, 2010, 14:08] The nuke idea is to impact the sea bed rock so it collapses and seals the well. Basically the "hit it with a kiloton hammer" approach. But, it could also open up the well with a fissure that would be basically impossible to seal. High pressure oil and gas would just surge out at vastly higher volume than presently. This in turn would erode the weakened rock... Not forgetting that you've just blown up all other options. Currently they have a broken pipe that has a (albeit failed) device on it designed to stop the flow. I'm no engineer, but I'm pretty sure that offers a lot more opportunities to stop the flow or at least has less risk of it getting worse than setting off a bomb and hoping. They can't just crimp the pipe because of the amount of pressure. They tried clogging it up with drilling fluid, mud, clay, golf balls, rubber and cement and it didn't work. It's looking like they've been successful with the containment cap which will syphon off much of the leak, while the permanent fix is the relief wells being drilled (which will basically be a functioning well that takes over the flow and pressure, so the leaking one can be plugged relatively easily). [/quote]

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