Hi PSUBS,
I got an email this morning asking for ideas on how to stop the BP blowout. I'll be the first to admit I don't know a thing about oil drilling, but since the experts haven't had much luck why not throw out some amateur ideas? Mine was pretty elementary, I'll include it below. Please read from the bottom up.
Have at it.
:)
Alec
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Alec Smyth <alecsmyth@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, May 24, 2010 at 9:23 AM
Subject: Re: Aerospace Electronics and Systems Society vs Gulf Coast Oil Rig Disaster
To: "Roger Oliva, IEEE/AESS" <roger.oliva@ieee.org>
Hello Roger,
Rather than build a 500 ton device, I would suggest a more elegant solution might leverage the high ambient pressure to accomplish the force for a seal. A simple device could be constructed to that end. It would have two concentric cylinders terminating in a shared hemispherical bulkhead on one end, and open on the other. The open edge of the external cylinder would have a wide flange to prevent the device from sinking too far into the bottom. The following valves would be provided, mounted on the bulkhead:
A: Shutoff valve connecting to the inside cylinder.
B: Shutoff valve connecting to the outside cylinder.
Both valves should allow the connection of external tubing.
Operation:
- With both A and B open, lower the device over the well head. Oil and gas escapes through A.
- Extract water from the external cylinder with a high pressure vacuum pump.
Because the vacuum chamber represents a much larger area of the hemispherical head than the pressurized internal cylinder, the net effect would be a large downward force sinking the entire device into the bottom. Once a sufficient pressure differential were accomplished, valve A could be closed to stop the leak. Tubing could subsequently be connected to valve A for the well to enter production.
Thanks,
Alec Smyth
On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 8:11 AM, Roger Oliva, IEEE/AESS <roger.oliva@ieee.org> wrote:
Ladies and Gents,
Tired of hearing about the failed attempts to remedy the oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico? If you are like me, you probably didn't think this was
rocket science, but apparently IT IS. A month has gone by since the spill
began.
The pressures at 5000 feet below sea level associated with the 25,000 barrel
(42 gallons/barrel) per day oil leak are significant enough that a good
solution is still pending.
Over the last couple of days three of us here at AESS and another buddy have
come up with a couple of ideas. Now we seek your inputs to this problem.
It's generally not what we do, but it makes sense in this case. None of us
want to be victims of the impact of oil continuing to flow out-of-control
off our shores.
As you know, we were lucky enough to have a program manager from the
National Oceanographic and Atmospherics Administration's Deep Sea
Exploration come to speak to us in January. We will share our unsolicited
findings with them and other US Government personnel.
Metrics that I'm suggesting that you consider while developing your ideas
are:
- Fully vetted scientific approach
- Material/electro-mechanical risk analysis performed
- Documented uncertainty tolerances
- Minimal scientific complexity
- Scalability - can it be modeled or simulated
- Ease of deployment
- If failure occurs, minimal impact to the site
- On-site manufacturing and disposal
- Quantified expectation of pollution mitigation
(% of oil flow reduction)
- Suitability for continued oil mining at the site with
minimal conversion
- Timeliness of solution (end oil spill within 10 days)
Assumption - Support of the full weight of the US technical community and
Executive Office (unverified)
The two solutions that are currently on the table are:
- Culver's Needle
Position 500 ton concrete slab with a tapered needle-like
protrusion from the bottom that would fit into the oil well-head. It would
probably have a valve design, but this is not critical. This slab of
concrete would be lowered by cranes/wenches and above the needle-like
protrusion, re-enforced concrete with material distributive techniques would
be put into place to manage the load from the pressurized well-head. More
details are available upon request.
- Wall's Wall
Anchor and build a 30 (or more) foot diameter containment
wall around the oil leak. The material solution has not been solved for
this one, yet, but it is anticipated that nanofiber re-inforced and
impervious low/no buoyancy metals may be considered for 3-5000 feet. At
1-3000 feet below sea-level, durable plastic or other neutrally buoyant
material would be used that would be flexible enough to withstand ocean
currents, but durable enough to maintain the columnar configuration of this
composite containment device.
Please embellish on these or submit your ideas NLT Wednesday, 5/26/10 at
3pm. This is not a Government sponsored activity, but the AESS will put
forward any/all ideas that pass basic common sense tests per metrics, above.
Also as mentioned, our POC is not "operations" but can be counted on to move
good ideas forward. The ranking of your idea with the rest can be
anticipated by noon, Thursday, 5/27/10. Please indicate your willingness to
share your idea with the rest of the AESS when submitting it. We will only
pass forward our ranking of the top 10.
We are glad to move your other related good ideas forward, too. Please
share with us how you would clean up the mess that's been made here and on
how to assure that this kind of tragedy has more immediate remedies in the
future. You may submit those ideas, too, but those are not our initial
focus.
We recommend that any solutions that you pass to us are also entered on the
BP internet-site at:
http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/546759/
We aim to assist in keeping our "SEA TO SHINING SEA" clean or at least
reduce the impact of events like the above disaster.
Thanks and Good Luck,
Roger Oliva
AESS Program Director,
Washington, DC and Northern VA Chapters
703 849-8221
roger.oliva@ieee.org