In order to control the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico after a explosion in an oil rig, workers finished fabricating the containment chamber portion of the collection dome that will be deployed to the sea floor to collect oil as it escapes from the well. Work will now begin on the piping system that brings the oil to the surface for collection; this method has never been tried at this depth before. The first rig to be used for drilling a relief or cut-off well is on site and should begin drilling approximately half a mile from the well head on Friday.
The relief well will not be complete for several months. Responders are still figuring out new ways to use Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to try to trigger the blowout preventer (BOP), a series of valves that sits at the well head. These efforts will continue concurrent with the collection dome and relief well(s). Good weather on Wednesday 28th April allowed for both skimming operations and aggressive aerial application of dispersants - over 50,000 gallons of dispersant have been applied to the surface oil in the last two days. Patches of surface oil were captured with fire-retardant boom and ignited (in situ burn).
NOAA's efforts are focused on: gathering more information about the spill, planning for open water and shoreline remediation, and readying for environmental assessment and response. Natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) activities are now underway.
Winds are forecast to become strong (20+ kts) and blow from the southeast starting tomorrow and continuing through the weekend, which will continue to push surface oil towards shore. NOAA oil-spill trajectory analyses indicate that oil continues to move towards shore. 100,000' of oil-containment booms (or floating barriers) have been deployed as a precaution to protect sensitive areas in the Louisiana area.
The effects of oil on sensitive habitats and shorelines in four states (LA, MS, AL, and FL) are being evaluated should oil from the incident make landfall in appreciable quantities.
NOAA's Assessment and Restoration Division is evaluating concerns about potential injuries of oil and dispersants to fishes, human use of fisheries, marine mammals, turtles, and sensitive resources Baseline aerial surveys to assess marine life were conducted today with personnel from NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), these will continue as needed.
The massive flange that is just below the cut pipe is the best place to attach a large, cylindrical adapter sleeve. This adapter sleeve would be about the same diameter as the flange itself and perhaps ten feet in length. Long guide rods could extend from the bottom of the adapter sleeve to help align it with the flange as it is being lowered. The lower part of this adapter sleeve would slide down over the flange and have six hydraulic powered wedges that would extend inwards and engage with the underside of the flange, thereby forcing a rubber seal inside the adapter sleeve against the top outer circumference of the flange. The upper part of the adapter sleeve would have a huge shutoff valve and also a connection pipe extending from the top. As the adapter sleeve is being lowered over the broken pipe and flange, the valve is left wide open to allow the free passage of oil until the bottom wedges have extended and secured the seal. Once the adapter sleeve is locked onto the flange, the valve located at the upper part of the adapter sleeve can be closed. A pipeline can then be lowered from the surface and connected to the pipe stub that extends from the top of the adapter sleeve.John B Rogers - johnrogers@eastlink.ca - 11/06/2010 - 15:48
I propose to a device which we could connect to the head of the well without the flow of oil and perfectly gas-tight.
Claude@secchi.frClaude SECCHI - 11/06/2010 - 04:45
Shut the stupid pipeline off tie in a "T" with a valve on both ends othe line and temporarly run a hose across the gulf similar to the first telephone wires from irland to canada, the run a new pipeline in stainless steel because who ever saw a steel pipeline want to raught out under 5000 feet of salt water, stainless stell sch 10 pipe is the same cost as sh 40 steel pipe and will never under any cercumstances rought out, its the 21 st century, this should be embarassing for the americans Mat_glen@hotmail.commathew glen - 04/06/2010 - 12:50
When you put the cap on, have the valve open, then inflate a churn type exspandable ring at bottom side of cap...Tracy Bell Sewer Shark Plumbing - 04/06/2010 - 12:16
I wish I knew what ther orientation of the main outflow line was... I wish it was as easy as a vertical line that could have a large metal spike dropped into it... just get it positioned over the leak and drop it... let the force of the weght drive it into the pipe.dhkeen@yahoo.com - 23/05/2010 - 19:57
the job should be as simple as useing a large deminsion pipe with a rubber boot leading into a pumpimg line '
using a sub to guide the bell or large tube uver the ruptured area setting it so the rubber will form as a gasket pump the sludge from the dammaged area untill the correct repares can be made or reverce the process by pumping quickset vver a gasket materialgarylchurch - 23/05/2010 - 00:08
Take an old hull of a ship turn up side down drop over well on ocean floor with pipes coming up to oil cargo ships and pump the oil to out to contain spill. there are ships be scraped all over the world you can acquire one and there must be pumps large enough available. DO THIS IMMEDIATELYRussell E Hayes - 20/05/2010 - 22:57
insert a pipe deep enough where you could inject liquid hydrogen to freeze the oil and make a temporary cork at the end of the spilling pipe which would leave enough time to make a permament corkmichel prete - 19/05/2010 - 02:59
should put shark bite fitting over end of pipeharry whitney - 17/05/2010 - 16:11
They should crush the pipe to squeeze it off or blow off the cap and steer a tapered oil drill bit in the old hole.Fred Irani firani@verizon.net - 30/04/2010 - 23:03
Video showing the 134' aluminium catamaran survey vessel and work boat featuring quad propeller propulsion. Sea Scout performs a variety of tasks for the offshore survey, research, geophysical and wind farm industries. See operational aspects and the building process of the vessel. Click here to read the article describing the vessel.
The relief well will not be complete for several months. Responders are still figuring out new ways to use Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to try to trigger the blowout preventer (BOP), a series of valves that sits at the well head. These efforts will continue concurrent with the collection dome and relief well(s). Good weather on Wednesday 28th April allowed for both skimming operations and aggressive aerial application of dispersants - over 50,000 gallons of dispersant have been applied to the surface oil in the last two days. Patches of surface oil were captured with fire-retardant boom and ignited (in situ burn).
