Posted on 05/07/2010 1:46:01 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
ON THE GULF OF MEXICO – Underwater robots positioned a giant 100-ton concrete-and-steel box over a blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico on Friday as workers prepared to drop the device to the seafloor in a first-of-its-kind attempt to stop oil gushing into the sea.
A spokesman for oil giant BP PLC, which is in charge of the cleanup, said the box was suspended about 200 feet above the main leak Friday and was being moved into position, though it could be Saturday before that happens.
Several undersea cameras attached to the robots were making sure it was properly aligned before it plunged all the way to the bottom.
"We are essentially taking a four-story building and lowering it 5,000 feet and setting it on the head of a pin," Bill Salvin, the BP spokesman, told The Associated Press.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Guy goes into a bar, there's a robot bartender.
The robot says, "What will you have?" The guy says, "Martini." The robot brings back the best martini ever and says to the man, "What's your IQ?" The guy says, "168". The robot then proceeds to talk about physics, space exploration and medical technology.
The guy leaves, but he is curious, so he goes back into the bar. The robot bartender says," What will you have?" The guy says, "Martini". Again, the robot makes a great martini, gives it to the man and says, "What's your IQ?" The guy says, "100." The robot then starts to talk about NASCAR, Budweiser and John Deere tractors.
The guy leaves, but finds it very interesting, so he thinks he will try it one more time. He goes back into the bar. The robot says, "What will you have?" The guy says, "Martini", and the robot brings him another great martini. The robot then says, "What's your IQ?" The guy says, "Uh, about 50." The robot leans in real close and says, "So, you people still happy you voted for Obama?"
Dear God, let it work......
Thank you Optimus Prime!
Not to Monday Morning quarterback but the oil industry should have had one of these babies sitting on the dock just in case. It looks like cheap insurance. You have at least 10 big major oil companies who could have chipped in and paid the storage costs.
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not sure if one size would fit all, but I agree, so it might costa a bit but i the long run, what’s a little insurance, right?
Some mechanism should be in place ready for most situations short of massive failures.. I don’t recall if this is a custom rush job but suspect it was.. the idea may have been around, they just didn’t have opportunity yet to build this big before..
pretty nifty idea. if it works. ;-)
My understanding is that if that big metal box scrapes the metal equipement on the ocean floor and emits a spark — KA-BOOOOOOM!!!!
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It seems there would be insufficient oxygen available for underwater combustion. Please elaborate.
Sorry, fires don't burn well underwater. No oxygen. So no "KA-BOOM".
Mea culpa. The concern was when moving that metal beast off the boat a spark could cause the rising gas and oil mixture in the water to go off on the surface.
See post #28. (I wish I had a delete button)
This could end up being the biggest ‘Hey ya’ll, watch this!’ moment in the history of the planet.
Now that makes sense. Let’s hope these guys have a plan!
At one point I read that there is 1000 cf of natural gas vented with each barrel of oil from this leak. The expansion of this gas causes so much cooling that the design has to have a double jacket pipe with oil in the inner pipe and the gas/water/alcohol antifreeze comes up in the outer jacket.
1000cf of gas per barrel seems like a huge number but if what I heard is true then the alcohol is probably a pollution source too.
THAT is a quite reasonable concern, given that the work crews in the area are using respirators and breathing equipment due to fumes in the area. I suspect there are explosimeters (portable instruments that determine if an explosive air/fuel mix is present) in use everywhere and great pains taken to avoid sparks.
But as I understand the latest news, that stage is past, and the "beast" is already in the water and being brought into position for the "big drop" over the wellhead.
If there ever is such a thing, it will be about how Obama single-handedly saved New Orleans from the evil BP and be titled "Day One."
This is engineered specifically to contain the situation. This is only one team working the problem and it looks like they are writing the book on how to respond to a mess like this. It will be interesting to see what the other teams are coming up with as this is only a temporary solution.
Thanks for the post. This is going into running account on this engineering feat by BP in http://www.theusmat.com/
Why can't we get thousands and thousands of bales of hay...from all over the country, tie them together somehow...and place them along the seashores where the oil might come in? The hay would absorb the oil as the water washed ashore, just like it does when you spread it on a garage floor to sop up oil. The oil would not get on the sand and beaches and the hay is not dangerous to animals and is eco-friendly in itself. Then as the bales start to disintegrate, they could be scooped up along with the oil they absorbed and taken to a place nearby and burned. They could even dig pits in the sand, burn the hay, and it would be gone. Nothing to bury that might hold the oil and could cause problems later. No chemicals. And the fires might cause some smoke...but that would not last long, either. Seems to me easier and less costly than the booms.
An added benefit: The hay could be purchased from farmers, helping them with their economy,in these times of economic problems for them.
I sent this suggestion to my Congressman, Eric Cantor, although not his area, this is a problem affecting all the country. And, I called the BP Gulf spill hot line and talked to a person who thought it was a great idea. Let's see if anything happens with this suggestion. Sometimes old fashioned remedies could/would be the best.
That’s some serious rigging. I’d love to see it happen.
Box to contain oil leak touches down on Gulf floor
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100507/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
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