Posted on 06/12/2010 7:53:15 PM PDT by Qbert
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- Extensive measures aimed at keeping the Gulf spill from penetrating Perdido Pass failed their first test early Wednesday as globs of hazardous oil rode a rising morning tide through the inlet and settled on beaches, bulkheads and grass beds in the city's inland water bodies.
"I'm mad," Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon told about 500 of his constituents during a midday public forum. "I'm absolutely sick to my stomach."
As slicks approached the pass overnight, city officials said they asked that heavy-duty boom strung across much of the pass be used to close off the inlet completely but were rebuffed by the U.S. Coast Guard. By midday the tide had reversed and oil-splotched water coursed back out of the basin toward the open Gulf and awaiting skimmer boats.
But the damage had been done.
Thick, sticky oil coated the brick-covered southern edge of Boggy Point, a stubby peninsula at the confluence of Cotton Bayou, Old River and Terry Cove that hosts a public boat launch. Neon boom that wrapped the basin's islands and sensitive submerged grass beds was stained the color of chocolate.
[Snip]
"There goes my flounder fishing," said Bob Wilson Jr., who lives in the Bear Point neighborhood adjacent to the private waterfront. Wilson said he first spotted the oil at about 10:30 a.m., and though he called the sighting into the Unified Command in Mobile, no one had been by for so much as a look four hours later.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.al.com ...
If I'm not mistaken, deep wells (and 17,000 thru the crust is deep) have to use specially treated pipe in the drill stem because of the high heat that is encountered.
E.g., see this on the Homestake Mine.
The temperature of the rock at the bottom of the mine (8,000 ft) is 135 degrees F.
Is 40 deg API LLS crude the lighter crude known as “Louisiana sweet crude”?
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/04/gulf_of_mexico_oil_spill_could.html
If so, what’s coming out of this well is different stuff. It seems to be heavier “asphaltene crude”.
Big Government has been making this worse from Day One.
It’s just like Obama takin us all on the “Road To Perdition!” (same base word meaning... DEAD END)
40 degrees refers to the “specific gravity” of the oil, which is a measure of its density. There’s a good chart here if you scroll down some:
http://www.gcmwenergy.com/crude-oil-basics/
It looks like the oil coming out of this well might be heavier than 40 degrees though.
The U.S. National Bureau of Standards established the Baumé scale (degrees Baumé) as the standard for measuring specific gravity, or density of liquids less dense than water. API gravity, is a measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water.
Not density. Weight as compared to the heavier weight of water. Density is varied by temperature. Weight is not. We still do not know the temperature of the oil. If it is very low, then its weight would be a more accurate metric. Not its volume at an undefined temperature.
“It looks like the oil coming out of this well might be heavier than 40 degrees though.”
Where is your support for this, other than what it “looks like”?
The oil’s temperature will be the same as the surrounding water. If you know the temperature of the ocean water, you know the temperature of the oil.
The oil’s weight will not vary with temperature.
Its density relative to water is the best measure of whether it will sink or float. Assuming the oil and water are at the same temperature, which they are, then the relative gravity will tell you that.
Unfortunately, the best one is also the most profitable.
Drill like there is no tomorrow.
Since it is profitable, and since it could also have a significant positive affect on our debt and economic condition, it is the last thing the Marxists will do.
My support is in the first article I linked. Some scientist at a university studied a sample of the oil and determined that it isn’t light crude. Another article mentioned that this isn’t surprising since this is a much deeper well than is typical.
Here’s what came up when I googled:
Just realized that the oil is being forced through a narrow well and the pressure is very high. So its impossible to estimate at this point in time what the temperature and density of the oil is at the release point.
Here’s that first article:
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/04/gulf_of_mexico_oil_spill_could.html
“asphaltene crude”
Oil is nearly incompressible so the density can easily be estimated. The temperature at the release point is irrelevant since it will quickly attain the temperature of the water.
“Some scientist at a university studied a sample of the oil and determined that it isn’t light crude.”
Something still seems amiss here: why would they need to take a sample after-the-fact to determine what type of crude is coming from the individual wells, when the EIA has supposedly been keeping track of all of the relevant data on crude sent to refineries for ages? I would think from a pricing standpoint alone, if the crude wasn’t light crude that this should’ve been known before.
And as I said in an earlier comment, it looks like the Coast Guard is trying a new skimming method- hope for the folks in the Gulf that it works.
I think the POTUS wanted this to happen. He is all about destroying America.
Right on Lady!
I read right here on FR that on something like Day 5 the dutch offered several (like 10 or so) Oil sweeper ships (they scoop the oil off the surface of the water) Now over a month has gone by since that offer. How much more oil could have been scooped up and kept from hitting the shores but guess what the Obama admin sent them a nice letter saying we didn't need those ships.
And that is just one item. I've seen two guys on youtube giving a demonstration of hay spread across the water and it attacks the oil then you let it wash to shore and you scoop it up with sea weed scoopers (they use em on beaches so folks don't have to walk through sea weed to get in and out of the water)
Hey it may not work but why not get those two fellows and give 'em a boat and some hay and let em try it close to shore. If it doesn't work well then try something else but Christ these idiots can't even decide who is in charge of what. This is the most inept bunch of clowns ever to be put in charge of our government and that is saying alot since I lived through the Carter years!
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