Ice crystals cause Gulf oil box problems - Gulf spill likely bigger than Exxon Valdez, claims expert

[jefferson_dem]

Source: AP

ON THE GULF OF MEXICO - Icelike crystals encrusting a 100-ton steel-and-concrete box meant to contain oil gushing from a broken well deep in the Gulf of Mexico forced crews Saturday to back off a long-shot plan to contain the leak.

The buildup on the specially constructed containment box made it too buoyant and clogged it up, BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said. Workers who had carefully lowered the massive box over the leak nearly a mile below the surface had to lift it and move it to the side. Now they're trying to unplug it while they look at other solutions.

More than 200,000 gallons of crude have spewed into the Gulf since a rig exploded April 20, killing 11. The containment box, a method never before attempted at such depths, had been considered the best hope of stanching the flow in the short term.

"I wouldn't say it's failed yet," Suttles said. "What I would say is what we attempted to do last night didn't work."

Giant bubbles
The deadly blowout was triggered by a bubble of methane gas that escaped from the well and shot up the drill column, expanding quickly as it burst through seals and barriers before exploding, according to interviews with rig workers conducted during BP's internal investigation.

While the cause of the explosion is still under investigation, the sequence of events described in the interviews provides the most detailed account of the April 20 blast that killed 11 workers and touched off the underwater gusher that has poured more than 3 million gallons of crude into the Gulf.


Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37008288/ns/us_news-environment/

[Arctic Dave]

1. When BP had their spill at Prudhoe Bay, we had to run our vac hose

through a heater hose to keep it from clogging up. We clogged up three hoses before we thought of a fix.

They might want to get a few different hose lines to change out while the defrost.

[Strelnikov_]

19. The plan was a 'pipe in a pipe'. Heated water down through outer casing,

oil and water up through the inner.

Sounds like they did not even get that far.

[PSPS]

2. "More than 200,000 gallons of crude have spewed into the Gulf..."

More than 200,000 gallons of crude have spewed into the Gulf since a rig exploded April 20, killing 11. The containment box, a method never before attempted at such depths, had been considered the best hope of stanching the flow in the short term.

Nice try at understatement. The last I heard, this oil volcano has been spewing 5,000 barrels a day which is 210,000 gallons per day. (A barrel contains 42 gallons.) That's almost 3.8 million gallons so far. And, frankly, I think they're intentionally understating the volume.

[readmoreoften]

12. I caught that too. It's 210,000 gallons a day last I heard.

The news is getting frighteningly sloppy.

[TheWatcher]

34. It isn't sloppy, it's by design.

As I have been saying for the past few days, our Media is becoming more and more like the Old Soviet Union PRAVDA every day.

Americans have very little access to Truth or any kind of reality-based information, at least through The Mainstream Media.

It's a Joke.

[Delphinus]

21. Intentionally

understating the volume is my thought too.

Damn, this is so sad.

[dana_b]

45. yeah - and it was AP that reported it:

"Wednesday, April 28:

_BP's attempts to repair hydraulic leak on the blowout preventer valve unsuccessful

_Homeland Security report projects that based on drift calculations, oil may reach shoreline late Friday or early Saturday.

_Controlled burn conducted.

_An additional 42,000 gallons of dispersants are used.

_A third oil leak is discovered, and the Coast Guard revises estimates of the leak from 1,000 to 5,000 barrels of oil a day."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jJVYA_sWk3yzKKtY0B8fbct1q7CAD9FJ36O85

I think it was an intentional "mistake" too.

[pinto]

3. Aggh. Bad development. I know they planned using hot water to keep

the oil recovery pipe flowing. But ice build up on the containment box seems a big challenge.

[SF342]

11. Maybe if they install induction heaters

until the heat transfer is operational?

http://www.perryslingsbysystems.com/assets/pdf/news/PSSL_Induction_heating_UI_2008.pdf

[kristopher]

4. K&R

[Turborama]

5. Deep-sea ice crystals stymie Gulf oil leak fix

Source: AP

Icelike crystals encrusting a 100-ton steel-and-concrete box meant to contain oil gushing from a broken well deep in the Gulf of Mexico forced crews Saturday to back off a long-shot plan to contain the leak.

The buildup on the specially constructed containment box made it too buoyant and clogged it up, BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said. Workers who had carefully lowered the massive box over the leak nearly a mile below the surface had to lift it and move it to the side. Now they're trying to unplug it while they look at other solutions.

=snip=

"I wouldn't say it's failed yet," Suttles said. "What I would say is what we attempted to do last night didn't work."

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/deepwaterhorizon/6996343.html

---

Problem for Containment Dome in Gulf

Source: NYT

By LIZ ROBBINS

Officials for BP on Saturday encountered a significant setback in their efforts to attach a containment dome over a leaking well on the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico, forcing them to move the dome aside while they evaluate find another method to cap the crude oil flowing into the Gulf since April 20.

Officials discovered that gas hydrates had turned into ice-like crystals and built up inside the 100-ton metal container, preventing the dome from being effective. They lifted the dome off the well and placed it on the seabed.

BP officials said they had anticipated a problem with hydration — but not this soon in the operation. Since last week they had been cautioning that this type of procedure had never before been attempted at 5,000 feet below the surface.

=snip=

For now, they have put the dome 650 feet to the side of the leaking well, “while we evaluate options,” Mr. Suttles said.

Full article: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/problem-for-containment-dome-in-gulf/

[gristy]

6. Heating cables run along the inside surface of the dome should do the trick

You only need to raise the temp a little bit. And isn't the oil pretty warm when it comes out of the pipe?

[Po_d Mainiac]

35. The problem is from the gases expanding

The same basic physics that cools down your refrigerator....I could require a lot of heat considering how fast it froze up.

[RainMickey]

36. You're correct. Expansion cooling. n/t

[alfredo]

7. What will happen to weather patterns if the gulf is covered with an oil slick?

What if this isn't contained. How much of the ocean will be despoiled?

[northernlights]

22. who knows?

it depends on how much oil the geyser is sitting on.

[alfredo]

39. Wouldn't the oil cut evaporation, then alter rainfall?

[northernlights]

46. in covered areas that would seem to make sense

so it may impact the microclimate. The next question is how much of the sea is going to end up covered in oil? If this gusher continues unabated for 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 months...or until it is simply empty...how much of the Atlantic will be coated in an oil slick, and for how long?

Eventually the oil becomes clumps and washes ashore, too.

There's just no way to know how this is going to play out. But frankly, to me, it is not looking good...

[alfredo]

47. Let's hope it isn't bad enough to affect weather patterns in

the southeast. I worry about droughts.

[elias49]

43. What will happen to the oil slick when weather patterns change?

Hurricane season officially begins in 3 weeks.:dilemma:

[alfredo]

44. The storm surge will poison the land

[IndianaGreen]

8. According to Interior Secretary Salazar, it will take 90 days to build the relief well

That's a long time to wait, so they better get this crap to work pronto!

[Hubert Flottz]

20. 90 Days

@ 200,000 a day = 180 million gallon of crude oil.

Exxon Valdez spill was about 10.8 million gallon.

[Delphinus]

23. OMG!

This is incomprehensible. I don't think we can even fathom how bad this could possibly be. :(

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

48. 18 million gallons.

200k x 90= 18M

[SidDithers]

49. 90 days at 200,000 per day is 18 million, not 180 million...nt

Sid

[NickB79]

24. The Gulf will be rendered sterile for decades if the oil isn't stopped in the next few weeks. NT

[IndianaGreen]

31. A hurricane's storm surge will bring that oil deep inland

This is a catastrophe of biblical proportions!

[HughMoran]

9. Uggh

I knew this was a long-shot :(

[janx]

10. The headline refers to an expert who says this is bigger

than the Valdez spill, but I see nothing about that mentioned in the article...? :shrug:

[Baclava]

13. new maps and oil spill trajectory projections

It all depends on the wind and currents






http://ocg6.marine.usf.edu/~liu/Drifters/latest_roms.htm

[Uncle Joe]

14. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, jefferson_dem.

[IScreamSundays]

15. BP Chamber Clogged, Removed From Leaking Gulf Well

Source: Bloomberg

By David Wethe

May 8 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc said gas hydrates like ice crystals formed inside the steel chamber it’s trying to use to capture leaking oil from a Gulf of Mexico well, forcing the company to move the structure aside while working on ways to stanch the flow of crude.

The hydrates clogged the 40-foot-tall containment system, which was designed to funnel oil to an overhead drillship, Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said today at a press conference in Robert, Louisiana. He said BP placed the chamber on the seafloor, about 200 meters (656 feet) away from the well’s biggest leak, and will evaluate ways to prevent hydrate slushes from forming.

“I wouldn’t say it’s failed yet,” Suttles said. BP expected to deal with hydrates forming in the pipe above the containment system, which would have been broken up by sending warm water through an insulating layer, he said.

The containment system was London-based BP’s best hope for slowing the leak while the company drills a relief well aimed at relieving pressure so the flow of oil from 5,000 feet beneath the Gulf’s surface can be stopped altogether. BP has 20 experts studying the possibility of injecting pieces of rubber into the well, called a “junk shot,” to stop up the pipe.

Snip>

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aP2ZrjaBp7a4

[jody]

16. BP can always blame Bush or Clinton. I'm not surprised the steel band-aid didn't work. n/t

[truthisfreedom]

17. More than 200,000 gallons? More like 200,000 barrels.

[Number_Six]

18. Why does this remind me so of Chernobyl?

All these explanations, "gas bubbles", "methane leaks", on and on and on.

I used to work in the radiation biz long ago, and we got used to phrases like "positive void", "graphite moderator" and the like.

Yet, a "safe" reactor wasn't, barfed and coated the atmosphere and the town of Pripyat in a lovely mega-curie bath of Strontium, Uranium and enough death to, well, guess.

"There is no safe nuclear reactor", an old timer retiree from a utility told me back then.

And no safe oil wells, either.

[Lionel Mandrake]

42. Who said Chernobyl was safe?

It didn't even have a containment vessel.

Some nuclear reactors are much safer than others. And similarly for oil wells. It makes a big difference whether safety was ever a priority in the design, construction, and operation of these monsters.

[cachukis]

25. I've been following the no news. News shows up and....

speculation follows.

Let's be real here. These guys want to stop this flow. Think of the myriad reasons why.

my skepticism was based not on the engineering but the variables. This was a good move.

I want these bastards to be exposed like all of you.

On this point I want them to succeed.

I refer to http://www.theoildrum.com/
for insight. These guys are realists.

I don't know what the headline is at this minute, but you will get the info if you can handle the technical reading.

The fact is that we are oil dependent. Plastics, pavement, medicines, the littany goes on.

My escape from this is dark aged.

To my fellow DUers I can only suggest temperance.

This is going to be a long haul. We have yet to face "The Road."

[underpants]

26. Crews dealt setback in placing containment dome in Gulf oil spill

Source: CNN


Biloxi, Mississippi (CNN) -- The effort to place a massive containment dome over a gushing underwater wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico was dealt a setback when a large volume of hydrates -- icelike crystals that form when gas combines with water -- accumulated inside the vessel, a BP official said Saturday.

The dome was moved off to the side of the wellhead and is resting on the seabed while crews work to overcome the challenge, a process expected to take at least two days, BP's chief operations officer Doug Suttles said.

Suttles declined to call it a failed operation but said "What we attempted to do last night didn't work."


"We did anticipate hydrates being a problem, but not this significant ," he said.

Two options officials are looking at to resolve the problem are heating the dome or adding methanol to dissolve the hydrates, Suttles said, adding that they are continuing to assess other methods to capturing the oil.


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/08/gulf.oil.spill/?hpt=T1

[madmax]

27. Yesterday Gov. Haley Barbour

said, let's not over react we don't know if this is going to be a big deal. Words to that affect. Just another minor setback.

[Baclava]

28. Nuke it from orbit.

It's the only way to be sure.

[Strelnikov_]

32. That would mostly work . . mostly n/t

[JDPriestly]

29. BP is trying to a) confuse the public with a lot of unclear technical

information. Most people will read this to mean that a bubble of methane gas caused the whole problem, so BP is not to blame. With that public relations blurb, BP is trying to b) set the stage for an Act of God defense.

That argument might relieve them from some liability or kick in an insurance policy. But any thinking person will have to ask, if this horrible catastrophe is due to an Act of God, does BP or any other oil company have the technology to deal with future Acts of God of this type? And if not, shouldn't these off-shore rigs be shut down? Is the risk of another blowout too great to justify continuing to extract oil in this way?

[jxnmsdemguy65]

30. That's it...

I'm 'taking to my bed'... can't take this anymore...

[CHIMO]

33. Hydrates

Have been known for quite awhile. It is expected and accounted for in many pipelines.

I suspect that they were aware of the possibility but continued with the effort to show, well an effort. I would ask, Why wasn't a plan in place to remove/negate the hydrates?

What about utilizing this phenomena to reduce the total flow?

Gas Hydrates
http://knol.google.com/k/gas-hydrates#

[Strelnikov_]

37. The plan was a 'pipe in a pipe'. Heated water down through outer casing,

oil and water up through the inner.

The unit was in place, the next step was to connect the pipe.

Seems the Methane clathrate built up faster than they anticipated.

They are now probably trying to work out a scheme to start the heated water pumping prior to placing the unit over the pipe.

[CHIMO]

38. Wasn't

Aware of that.

I would wonder how much heating would be required.

Seems like a nice problem. One mile of annulus and counter current heating?

The difference in pressures, temperatures, compositions and other variables is a real challenge.

And I presume money is not a problem in this endeavor.

[junior college]

40. This whole "reduce our dependency of foreign oil" bullshit has got to stop

Republicans and conservative people are idiots

[BrklynLiberal]

41. No one involved in this "genius" plan knew about this possibility???

..or perhaps they..did but figured anything would do to buy some PR time and publicity.