Nah ... it is carbon that has the sixes ... Atomic #6: with 6 electrons, 6 neutrons and 6 protons.:eek:
There are no good options, which highlights the criminal stupidity of BP in taking chances with it in the first place. Clearly the well casing is breached. When they pumped in mud, it immediately came out the sides. The flow seems to be increasing, also indicative of a breach and erosion. At some point, the casing and even the BOP will be destroyed by the sandblasting effect. Then there will be hell to pay. The reservoir is already emptying too fast for its own good, leading to likely damage in the reservoir. An explosive release, say if the BOP fell off or was destroyed, could result in a geyser and tsunami, carrying oil inland. The sea floor might collapse, with unpredictable results. Just hope and pray that relief well hits the target and before any of the above takes place.
The current estimate is actually 35000-60000 bbl/d.. 100000000/35000 (best case scenario) = 2857 days = 7.82 years.
Does anyone know if NOAA has made public the Thomas Jefferson findings? <object classid="clsid27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="cs_player" width="425" height="330"><param name="movie" value="http://eplayer.clipsyndicate.com/cs_api/get_swf/3/&pl_id=8178&wpid=7804&page_count=5&windows=1&show_title=0&va_id=1516742&auto_start=0&auto_next=1" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://eplayer.clipsyndicate.com/cs_api/get_swf/3/&pl_id=8178&wpid=7804&page_count=5&windows=1&show_title=0&va_id=1516742&auto_start=0&auto_next=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="330" /></object>
Let's pretend for a moment that the well is NOT a gusher, or, that it stopped gushing tomorrow. Are there any Math Heads out there willing to compute the Pounds Per Square Inch a 1 Mile high head of water exerts over a 21" hole? I'm no math head , but suffice it to say, it will be a very very large number. And, it will remain constant until every single drop of oil has been displaced with sea water or the hole is plugged. Furthermore, all the relief wells in the world will not reduce that pressure. Sorry :eek:
The pressure gradient of fresh water is 0.433 psi/ft. Salt water contains more minerals and ions and can be 5-10% heavier than freshwater. Therefore, 0.433 psi/ft * 1.1 * 5000 ft = 2381 psi. It will remain constant, and does not depend one bit on how much oil is left in the ground. Actually, that pressure helps hold the oil back at this point.
Whatever the numbers are, (we're all guessing), safe to say that if the relief well doesn't work, oil will be gushing in to the gulf for 5-20 years. Just wait until the first storm of substance blows through, probably in the next 30-45 days. It'll be a spray of oil hitting the coast.
http://www.theoildrum.com/ <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CpPNQoTlacU&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CpPNQoTlacU&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
I think it's an apples and oranges comparison. Beyong the logistal and technological challenge of doing this a mile beneath the sea, something tells me the sea bed will not come apart like earth at the suface. I would suspect it would tend to crack and split more than fill in. What could happen is a huge new path could be created which would result in the oil being released all at once. Can you imagine 100,000,000 barrels of oil coming up that fast? I just don't think we can chance that, no matter how slim the chance of it happening. What we have now is a mess, but over time, it's a managable mess.