What could have been so explosive on that rig?

[Winterblues]

There was no Natural Gas being pumped and crude oil isn't really all that explosive. Burns like crazy but doesn't seem that explosive to me.. Something just doesn't feel right.. :shrug:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. What could be flammable on an oil rig?

Rigging? No. Metal? No. Krusty burgers? Probably not.

[Winterblues]

4. Being able to burn is quite a bit different than exploding..

I heard there was no Naural Gas at all. Crude Oil just doesn't blow up that easily.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

Ever heard of a low order explosive?

It's just something that burns really fast.

[enki23]

13. i would suggest a couple Google U courses to take:

crude oil fractions. vapor pressure. lower explosion limit.

in any case, i *seriously* doubt there was no natural gas down there.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

2. There is almost always some natural gas on top of oil deposits

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Exactly... +100

And they tend to be very explosive... too... oh and I forgot all of this crap is under amazing pressures.

[shireen]

15. yes, i was thinking the same.

it sounded like a very pressurized deposit, i'm amazed that they don't have the equipment to deal with such conditions.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

5. Drilled too deep

BP's lease gave them the right to drill to 18,000 feet, a limit imposed not by other drilling leases, but because the monitoring technology only goes that far. Instead, they drilled to 25,000 feet and experienced a blowout. Either way, their acts are criminal.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. Oh shit, they've unleashed a balrog.

[SidDithers]

16. YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!...

:rofl:

Sid

[B2G]

14. If you're not just making that up

link please. Because I think you're wrong and blowing shit.

[napi21]

7. I heard some "expert" on Thom Heartmann today saying that it wasn"t

the rig that blew, it was the well itself. He talked about this well being under so much more pressure than normal wekks, and that's one of the reasons they're having so much trouble with it.

[Xipe Totec]

8. There was no natural gas?

What makes you say that?

[Ruby the Liberal]

9. It was explained to me this way.

First, the heat at that depth causes oil deposits to form natural gas.

Secondly, it is likely that the rig hit an "artery" that was too powerful in pressure that blew through the safety valves and between the heat and the volume of gas, it took down the rig.

Thirdly, this was why there was no leak in the beginning - as it was all still connected and burning on top of the sea.

Lastly, the pipe from the well to the rig collapsed when the rig went down. The 3 (known) leaks are coming from the cracks in the pipe where it crumbled and split apart.

That was the simplistic explanation I was given, but I am not a scientist nor an engineer. If this is wrong, I anticipate correction shortly from someone who understands this in greater depth.

[MajorChode]

10. Natural gas is a by-product of the drilling process

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowout_%28well_drilling%29

[librechik]

11. one theory: when Halliburton cemented the well (20 hours before the explosion)

heat was produced during the process which started a small fire which then exploded from environmental natural gas. That is the conclusion drawn from the Australia spill Halliburton caused a few month ago.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Someone else early on was wondering

why the Dept. of Defense and SWAT teams were sent out, and all other rigs had to be inspected.
There could be a couple of ways to look at that, twas said.

Me, I know not what the hell happened, and so far Bin Laden is silent.

[eppur_se_muova]

17. There was a huge methane release.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... (last para)

[Turborama]

19. Unfortunately, those links appear to be broken... n/t

[eppur_se_muova]

21. strange ... so much for permalinks? try again ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8266402&mesg_id=8266402

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8267452&mesg_id=8267452

[roamer65]

18. Sounds like this deposit's pressure is way beyond what we can handle.

Too deep and way too much pressure.

[Rex]

20. Maybe it came from whatever they hit 6 miles down.

The whole rig was red hot! What could make the entire thing glow from such heat? Pressure and temperature?

[branders seine]

22. A Balrog from Morgoth