Why the hell can't they just pump sea water into it instead of mud which they will run out of

[Iwasthere]

If they had to they coud add a number of things (safely) to the water to thicken it a bit. Just a thought. Couldn't they pump sea water till the relief well arrives?

[Odin2005]

1. I believe the viscosity of the mud helps hold back the oil comming out at 100,000psi

[RC]

15. That oil is under no such pressure.

http://www.calctool.org/CALC/other/games/depth_press

The water pressure at 5000 feet is only 2235.5 pounds per square inch.


Also this: Drilling fluid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drilling_fluid

More than you want to know.

[GreenStormCloud]

19. You are neglecting the presssure of the miles of rock on the oil.

The pool of oil has miles of rock pressing down on it. When the drill bit hit that pool, the oil came shooting up the hole. The oil is under far greater pressure than that of the sea floor at 5,000 feet.

[backscatter712]

22. IIRC, and if BP isn't lying, the oil's at about 9,000 PSI.

That's rather significant pressure - enough to overcome the water pressure at depth and then some - it's no wonder stopping the flow's so damned difficult.

[RC]

24. Apparently you have not seen any of the videos of the oil coming out of the pipe.

That much differential and it would be a jet. I saw no such thing. The oil and gas only comes out a few feet before it go up.

[GreenStormCloud]

25. That would depend upon how big the escape hole is.

If the oil is under great pressure, but is escaping through a small hole, then it would not make a jet. I have to admit that I don't know how big the escape hole is.

[HereSince1628]

2. I think the idea is to put in something that goes in easy and comes out hard

sort of the reverse of the effects of viagra and ky jelly.

[PCIntern]

5. Wow...that's gotta be the biggest leap I've ever seen here on DU...

Congrats to you!!!

:hi:

[HereSince1628]

11. Yes, well it is BEST to be hyperbolic when answering

questions of this sort.

Geebus.

[gristy]

3. Not heavy enough. Once the well is filled, the column of mud must weigh enough to hold back

the field's pressure.

[Trillo]

21. That's what I've been reading too.

Over at The Oil Drum. The weight of water is something like 8-9 lbs/gal, whereas the muds may be as high as 14 or thereabouts.

Some have suggested mixing gold into the mud to increase its weight. Perhaps they were being sarcastic.

[Avalux]

4. It's a pressure thing, has to be a dense material.

Think of two cars bumper to bumper with both accelerators floored. The heavier car with the most power wins.

[Iwasthere]

7. So what is the viscousity of the mud

They do have the technology to match the pressure, I have read this from many articles by scientists. If they can match the pressure why can't they alter sea water into a thick enough substance to hold the oil back. I just don't think it is acceptable to wait till the relief well arrives; 1 million gallons a day, you do the math - FUCK!

[Avalux]

8. the mud is quite viscous and heavy; they added pieces of rubber and golf balls to it.

Plus, a huge volume of mud had been pumped in; didn't work. I am not sure what natural substance could be added to water to make it viscous and heavy. A lot would be needed.

[Iwasthere]

12. I realize that

The golf balls and and rubber was to plug it, NOT just hold it at bay. I am just trying to think outside the box. If they were able to hold it at bay for long periods, as they claimed, then duplicate the mud consistancy with a SAFE product or combination of products and hold the oil at bay 24/7 till help arrives. SHIT! Nevermind...

[Avalux]

23. What do you suggest?

You've come up with an idea, now try to think of things they could add to water.

[IcyPeas]

10. the viscosity is apparently...

like peanut butter mixed with cat litter.

[GreenStormCloud]

17. The specific gravity of sea water is too small. Have you ever seen a rock float?

Drilling mud has several times the density of sea water.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Perhaps corn starch as a thickener?

Well at least this isn't as disastrously stupid as nuking the well. The up pressure from the oil coming up the pipe from 18,000 feet down is enormous. The point of the 'dilling mud' is that it is heavy enough to possibly stay down the pipe and then they could pour concrete on top of that.


p.s. they shorted the drilling mud that was supposed to go into the pipe as part of the normal process in order to cut costs, which is probably why the well blew up to begin with.

[eppur_se_muova]

32. That's thinking in the right direction -- bentonite "mud" is actually referred to as "gel"

by the field workers, because it tends to form a stiff gel, like cornstarch and water. Exert enough pressure on it, and it will flow again; relax the pressure, and it behaves more like a solid. This helps keep cuttings in suspension, instead of sinking back down the pipe.

Unfortunately, the stuff they are already using has the kind of properties you are suggesting, plus it's probably full of barite, which makes it extra dense. (Not as dense as gold, but few really dense solids are available in sufficient quantities and/or sufficiently safe. Mercury would probably stop the oil just fine ... )

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Fluid dynamics, sea water simply don't have the oomph for that

[ThomWV]

13. This ain't mud like you played in as a child, its (there are many different kinds) very specialized

It, and there are many forms of it, can be a material that gets harder as more pressure is exerted on it. That is a very good thing but also a very bad thing. If you can get it down inside the pipe properly then the greater pressure from the oil (greater than the pressure of the seawater at that depth plus the pressure in the feed line necessary to move it to the ruptured pipe) will cause it to solidify. So it makes a good plug. However, the problem at great depth is it may require so much pressure to move the stuff down there that it will solidify in the process plugging up the feed line before getting where it needs to be.

[Ikonoklast]

14. Correct.

Some drilling 'mud' is closer in consistency to concrete, very dense.

[TransitJohn]

20. I was working a well 17 miles from the Deepwater Horizon

and we were weighted up to 18ppg.

[Ikonoklast]

26. The stuff I saw roughnecks using in OK looked more like a slurry.

One guy called it 'diarrhea' strength.


Since you are the guy to ask, why can't they engineer a reinforced concrete caisson, with, say, eight-foot thick walls, in the shape of a cube with an open bottom, and have them pre-fabricated as it would take a long time for that mass of concrete to shed heat and cure properly, and have a sea-going barge dedicated to lowering such a device over a wellhead?

[TransitJohn]

27. The pressure of the oil leaving the wellbore in this circumstance

would just come out around the sides. Or, fill up the caisson and then lift up the caisson.

[Ikonoklast]

28. What if it had a collector of some sort at the top?

Where negative pressure could be maintained in some manner and the oil would want to go into the pipe, or relief device, and be siphoned topside?

This is all amatuerish musings, I know, I'm just a natural tinkerer.

[GreenStormCloud]

30. Sounds interesting. N/T

[GreenStormCloud]

16. It is only called "mud". It is actually a different material.

When I worked offshore oil we used barite, mixed with fresh water. It was a hell of a lot heavier that sea water. The weight of the column of barite countered the pressure of the oil and kept it down there until we were ready for it.

[TransitJohn]

18. Well, you'll never get water to an ECD to equilibrate with the

formation pressure of the hydrocarbon fluids entering the wellbore, no matter what kind of pump you have. I suppose you could design and manufacture one with the theoretical ability to make water behave like that, bit that would take years. Relief wells.

[WeDidIt]

29. That would help abate the flow of oil, but would not stop it.

They should be doing that constantly until they try other stuff, though.

[Urban Prairie]

31. Isn't the seafloor there like deep soft mud or quicksand?

Thought that I read a reply or two on the Oil Drum forum a few days ago from someone who posted that being very similar.