Deep Horizon Oil Leak
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Yeah, I was about to post the same thing. Was watching and recording them trying that for a couple hours, then they pulled the thing off the pipe. I'm real curious what the problem was, ie whether it was a malfunction or a situation that they've never used that shear at those depths. You have to wonder what the effects of those extreme pressures might be on the hydraulics down there. Perhaps seals were effective for keeping hydraulic fluid in, but not keeping high pressure water out?
Anyway, it was sad that they couldn't cut that thing.
I think the saw broke, and they dropped it. They were sawing a pipe, and the darn thing just dissappeared, and the arm that was holding it came up empty. Then they seemed to go down to the bottom and pick up the saw, and two arms seemed to be trying to fix it or something.... then the feed was killed.
EDIT: They finally got all but the big pipe cut, and they're bringing that big shear vise-grip thing in again that couldn't cut the pipe earlier. I guess it failed because there were too many small pipes around it that were collapsing. I think that brittle pipes need to be more cracked than cut, and the softer pipes were keeping the big shear from putting pressure on the big pipe. Hopefully it will work this time.
Once they get that big pipe cut, it will take the tension off the main place they need to cut it where they're going to attach the new head. Otherwise they'd get their saw stuck.
This is better than prime time TV.
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Try watching your recordings at like 4 times speed, LOL. when the dropped the saw, and were jugglin it around to get the right handle on it was looked like a comic. Hope they get it under control soon. The gulf aint lookin good right now.
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Boy, I hope the above isn't what happened. They were about a third of the way through the pipe when I gave up last night, but I left the thing recording. When I woke up, they weren't too much further than when I went to sleep, and it looks like the saw might be stuck. At least it isn't moving.
I really hope that it's something else, because if that saw is stuck, they've got a BIG problem. I guess it's also possible that all that methane hydrate stuff clogged the mechanism of the saw, or perhaps the saw blade got dull or something. But it doesn't look good, whatever the problem is.
I keep hoping that they'll say something on TV, but I don't see any mention of it. Perhaps on the Today show.
Locally, the news media is saying this won't be fixed until August. Hurricane season started yesterday. Things could get very ugly around here...
Actually Ive heard hurricanes could help disperse this. I think its a given that it is going to come to shore everywhere but maybe a storm would put a lot of it out to sea
Well, they confirmed that the saw was stuck.
Sounded like plan to try moving the remaining riser pipe in hopes of getting the saw unstuck, but I don't see any activities in that direction. ALL I saw was them trying to crimp off the end of the riser pipe, which forces more oil to come out around the well head, which sounds to me like they're going to try to put on that small tophat thing they were talking about several weeks ago. If they had cut off that riser closer to the well head, the saw wouldn't have jammed. Seems kind of obvious to me. Also, it sure seems to me like they took that saw into the pipe from the wrong side.... or actually they shouldn't have gone in from the side, because that's a SURE way to get a saw stuck. I guess none of these guys have ever cut big limbs off a tree. They've probably only used this saw on pipes that had no tension trying to bend it to one side. I never did get a good idea of from what direction this saw was cutting. They described it as a band saw, but all I could see was what looked like a pair of circular saws, but they may have just been the wheels that the bandsaw was running on. Whichever, it really seems to me like they should have come in from the side away from the way the bend goes. Then it would have opened up the kerf where they were cutting. I learned a long time ago by using those rope chain-saws where you throw them up over a high limb. If you try pulling the ropes at all from the side, the limb will pinch off the saw on the under side of the limb. I know they were in a hurry to get this thing fixed, but I'm really thinking that they needed to ask a lot different people for suggestions of potential problems associated with their plan.
Right now, I think their best bet is to use that cable that's holding up the big monster shear, and lift the remnants of the riser pipe to take off the tension and open the kerf.
Sounded like plan to try moving the remaining riser pipe in hopes of getting the saw unstuck, but I don't see any activities in that direction. ALL I saw was them trying to crimp off the end of the riser pipe, which forces more oil to come out around the well head, which sounds to me like they're going to try to put on that small tophat thing they were talking about several weeks ago. If they had cut off that riser closer to the well head, the saw wouldn't have jammed. Seems kind of obvious to me. Also, it sure seems to me like they took that saw into the pipe from the wrong side.... or actually they shouldn't have gone in from the side, because that's a SURE way to get a saw stuck. I guess none of these guys have ever cut big limbs off a tree. They've probably only used this saw on pipes that had no tension trying to bend it to one side. I never did get a good idea of from what direction this saw was cutting. They described it as a band saw, but all I could see was what looked like a pair of circular saws, but they may have just been the wheels that the bandsaw was running on. Whichever, it really seems to me like they should have come in from the side away from the way the bend goes. Then it would have opened up the kerf where they were cutting. I learned a long time ago by using those rope chain-saws where you throw them up over a high limb. If you try pulling the ropes at all from the side, the limb will pinch off the saw on the under side of the limb. I know they were in a hurry to get this thing fixed, but I'm really thinking that they needed to ask a lot different people for suggestions of potential problems associated with their plan.
Right now, I think their best bet is to use that cable that's holding up the big monster shear, and lift the remnants of the riser pipe to take off the tension and open the kerf.
Weird.... the oil leak feed is just static now, apparently the view from some ROV that's at a depth of 483 (either feet or meters), which means it's just sitting there 1/10th or 1/5th of the way down. Prior to this, they were showing views of what I think is the repaired saw, and was expecting to see views of the cutting activity.
Then, just now on the NBC news, they said that both BP and the Coast Guard have suddenly stopped talking. I wonder if they have decided that they're getting too much negative press by everyone watching these feeds, and have cut them off until they get some good news?
Anyway, I'm curious whether anyone is seeing any other underwater feeds, like perhaps that ABC NewsOne transponder someone mentioned yesterday? Or are all the feeds dead now???
I guess with nothing on the CBS feed, maybe I'll start surfing.
EDIT: Well it looks like ABC News one has the same view that was on the CBS channel. Looks like they've either shut down coverage or absolutely nothing is happening.... besides oil leaking.
EDIT: Well, it's on the move. Heading for the surface, fast.
EDIT: Feed went dead for a while, now, they're down near the bottom, and carrying a circular saw?
Then, just now on the NBC news, they said that both BP and the Coast Guard have suddenly stopped talking. I wonder if they have decided that they're getting too much negative press by everyone watching these feeds, and have cut them off until they get some good news?
Anyway, I'm curious whether anyone is seeing any other underwater feeds, like perhaps that ABC NewsOne transponder someone mentioned yesterday? Or are all the feeds dead now???
I guess with nothing on the CBS feed, maybe I'll start surfing.
EDIT: Well it looks like ABC News one has the same view that was on the CBS channel. Looks like they've either shut down coverage or absolutely nothing is happening.... besides oil leaking.
EDIT: Well, it's on the move. Heading for the surface, fast.
EDIT: Feed went dead for a while, now, they're down near the bottom, and carrying a circular saw?
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Depends on where you live in relation to the hurricane. Tropical cyclones in this hemisphere rotate counter-clockwise, so if you lived West of landfall, the winds would be out of the North. Oil would get pushed away from your location. If you lived East of or anywhere near the point of landfall, the oil would be pushed ashore at your location. In either case, the storm surge ahead of the hurricane would be nasty...
Boy, this thing just goes from bad to worse to worse yet.
On the news they said that they've given up on sawing off the riser pipe, and are just going to use the big monster shear again on it, and try to slip that top hat thing on top.
Can't see if they've done that yet, but it is sure putting out much more than it was before. THe video has been from an ROV that's been spraying dispersant most of the morning.
Yesterday, they said that if the current plans don't work, that they might try replacing the blow out preventer!$#%$^%* I don't even want to think about what could go wrong with THAT.
On the news they said that they've given up on sawing off the riser pipe, and are just going to use the big monster shear again on it, and try to slip that top hat thing on top.
Can't see if they've done that yet, but it is sure putting out much more than it was before. THe video has been from an ROV that's been spraying dispersant most of the morning.
Yesterday, they said that if the current plans don't work, that they might try replacing the blow out preventer!$#%$^%* I don't even want to think about what could go wrong with THAT.
If I were to give them a report card, as of today they'd be getting an F for results, about a b for effort.. I think they should go back with the band saw, but do it on the proper side of the flange. As was talked about earlier with the rope saw and tree limb, go from the wrong side ad it's gonna get pinched.
I hope they start calling all those countries that said they could help, those supertanker skimmers would , at the very least, give people hope that "all is being done, that can be done". Right now, frustration, with BP, the government, and I think the offshore oil industry, is the only thing on the upswing.
BTW: 12 feeds now at Live feeds from remotely operated vehicles | Response in video | BP
I hope they start calling all those countries that said they could help, those supertanker skimmers would , at the very least, give people hope that "all is being done, that can be done". Right now, frustration, with BP, the government, and I think the offshore oil industry, is the only thing on the upswing.
BTW: 12 feeds now at Live feeds from remotely operated vehicles | Response in video | BP
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Anyone been watching the feed of the oil leak today?
They're now off it with a feed of AF1 landing, but they've been on a fairly static view of the oil leaking off that top hat thing most of the day.
The thing that was noteworthy to me, was watching the alignment fins on that rocket ship shaped top hat, it's pretty clear that it is floating on the oil pressure. It's lifting up and moving around quite a bit with changes in the oil flow, particularly when they close down those vents on top. The thing really bounces around as more comes out underneath.
Really occurred to me that if they would simply run an adjustable cable over the top, to tie that thing securely to the well head pipe, or attach some very heavy weights to the top hat thing to weigh it down, that they could both reduce the leakage and increase the pressure forcing the oil up the pipe to the surface.
Anyway, it still looks like there is a LOT of oil still coming out, whether they close the vents or not, but I really think this thing still has a chance of catching 90% of the oil if they pull or weigh it down tighter to the pipe. I'm sure that they're aware of that though. I think I remember last night, one of the robot arms was reaching out and pushing down on it.
Speaking of robot arms, yesterday, before all the action started, they had one clip of a robot trying to repair some electronics down there. It was actually doing some troubleshooting, whereby it was into some electronics, and the metal fingers would go out and touch two contacts, and you'd see something move or light up. Then it would pull out several things that looked like 1/4" phono plugs, and all sorts of drilling mud would come out of the hole, and the robot would shake the plug to get the mud off. Pretty neat to see a robot fixing what might have been another robot down that deep.
EDIT: Just as I hit send on this message, I started getting clear audio on the oil leak channel. Someone getting ready checks from a whole mess of other people. I thought that they were going to try something really interesting, so I was rushing to start recording... then they started saying "T-13 minutes", and "mission control", etc. Turns out that they apparently have NASA audio piped into the oil leak video. It's still there now... T-11 minutes and counting. Not sure what's going up at nasa today.
EDIT2: Couldn't resist checking out NASA. NOTHING is going on live on NASA-TV??? Makes me wonder if maybe CBS has access to the scrambled channel, or perhaps they are just running audio from a recorded shuttle launch or something. I know that I used to do that myself, ie when transferring video from a video camera that didn't have audio to my TIVO, I would generally add leave the audio plug in from some sat channel, or visa versa if I were trying to record audio, because the audio or video quality seemed to be better if there were both video and audio.
HOWEVER, NOW, they switched to some NASA launch of a regulear rocket. Not sure that I recognize what rocket it is. Hopefully the audio will come on and tell us. But that must mean that CBS has access to the encrypted channel, unless this is from one of the SCPC transponders...... they just ID'd it as FALCON-9
this is pretty neat... cameras from side of rocket as it takes off. NEAT.
EDIT3: Weird! I just did a GOOGLE to find out what Falcon-9 is, and went to a wikapedia article Falcon 9 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Falcon_9_upright_on_pad.jpg" class="image" title="Falcon 9 on Launch Complex 40 during ground tests"><img alt="Falcon 9 on Launch Complex 40 during ground tests" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2e/Falcon_9_upright_on_pad.jpg/270px-Falcon_9_upright_on_pad.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/2/2e/Falcon_9_upright_on_pad.jpg/270px-Falcon_9_upright_on_pad.jpg
The darn thing was already updated to the effect that the thing went up at 14:45 EDT, and I read it at 14:48 EDT! BOY, someone is updating that web page FAST!
This is just as interesting as the oil leak. Wish I knew which NASA sat signal that came from.
NEATER STILL. THAT rocket went into earth orbit less than 10 minutes after launch! That is amazing.
EDIT4: I think that it wasn't a sat feed, but that it came from a live webcast at http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/001/status.html
The webcast is shut down now, but there is a still there which looks just like what I saw.
Also, it's kind of dissapointing that those satellite views of the oil leak are actually also coming from a webcast coming out of the UK. I guess BP is controlling everything before we see it.
They're now off it with a feed of AF1 landing, but they've been on a fairly static view of the oil leaking off that top hat thing most of the day.
The thing that was noteworthy to me, was watching the alignment fins on that rocket ship shaped top hat, it's pretty clear that it is floating on the oil pressure. It's lifting up and moving around quite a bit with changes in the oil flow, particularly when they close down those vents on top. The thing really bounces around as more comes out underneath.
Really occurred to me that if they would simply run an adjustable cable over the top, to tie that thing securely to the well head pipe, or attach some very heavy weights to the top hat thing to weigh it down, that they could both reduce the leakage and increase the pressure forcing the oil up the pipe to the surface.
Anyway, it still looks like there is a LOT of oil still coming out, whether they close the vents or not, but I really think this thing still has a chance of catching 90% of the oil if they pull or weigh it down tighter to the pipe. I'm sure that they're aware of that though. I think I remember last night, one of the robot arms was reaching out and pushing down on it.
Speaking of robot arms, yesterday, before all the action started, they had one clip of a robot trying to repair some electronics down there. It was actually doing some troubleshooting, whereby it was into some electronics, and the metal fingers would go out and touch two contacts, and you'd see something move or light up. Then it would pull out several things that looked like 1/4" phono plugs, and all sorts of drilling mud would come out of the hole, and the robot would shake the plug to get the mud off. Pretty neat to see a robot fixing what might have been another robot down that deep.
EDIT: Just as I hit send on this message, I started getting clear audio on the oil leak channel. Someone getting ready checks from a whole mess of other people. I thought that they were going to try something really interesting, so I was rushing to start recording... then they started saying "T-13 minutes", and "mission control", etc. Turns out that they apparently have NASA audio piped into the oil leak video. It's still there now... T-11 minutes and counting. Not sure what's going up at nasa today.
EDIT2: Couldn't resist checking out NASA. NOTHING is going on live on NASA-TV??? Makes me wonder if maybe CBS has access to the scrambled channel, or perhaps they are just running audio from a recorded shuttle launch or something. I know that I used to do that myself, ie when transferring video from a video camera that didn't have audio to my TIVO, I would generally add leave the audio plug in from some sat channel, or visa versa if I were trying to record audio, because the audio or video quality seemed to be better if there were both video and audio.
HOWEVER, NOW, they switched to some NASA launch of a regulear rocket. Not sure that I recognize what rocket it is. Hopefully the audio will come on and tell us. But that must mean that CBS has access to the encrypted channel, unless this is from one of the SCPC transponders...... they just ID'd it as FALCON-9
this is pretty neat... cameras from side of rocket as it takes off. NEAT.
EDIT3: Weird! I just did a GOOGLE to find out what Falcon-9 is, and went to a wikapedia article Falcon 9 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Falcon_9_upright_on_pad.jpg" class="image" title="Falcon 9 on Launch Complex 40 during ground tests"><img alt="Falcon 9 on Launch Complex 40 during ground tests" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2e/Falcon_9_upright_on_pad.jpg/270px-Falcon_9_upright_on_pad.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/2/2e/Falcon_9_upright_on_pad.jpg/270px-Falcon_9_upright_on_pad.jpg
The darn thing was already updated to the effect that the thing went up at 14:45 EDT, and I read it at 14:48 EDT! BOY, someone is updating that web page FAST!
This is just as interesting as the oil leak. Wish I knew which NASA sat signal that came from.
NEATER STILL. THAT rocket went into earth orbit less than 10 minutes after launch! That is amazing.
EDIT4: I think that it wasn't a sat feed, but that it came from a live webcast at http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/001/status.html
The webcast is shut down now, but there is a still there which looks just like what I saw.
Also, it's kind of dissapointing that those satellite views of the oil leak are actually also coming from a webcast coming out of the UK. I guess BP is controlling everything before we see it.
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Suggestions
I sent them one guess on how to plug the pipe. Screen grab from this morning.
Anyone else? Here is the form link, Alternative Technology Response Form
I sent them one guess on how to plug the pipe. Screen grab from this morning.
Anyone else? Here is the form link, Alternative Technology Response Form
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Thanks for the link I too have now submitted a suggestion, it will be really interesting to see their responses.
im wondering what initially failed with the blow out preventer. having worked in the canadian oil patch myself, i cant understand how oil companies wouldnt be required to have proofed contigency plans to even apply for a drilling liscense at that depth. the response should have taken days not months. this well is a gusher. i guarantee bp knows exactly how many barrels they arent producing. $$$ cha-ching $$$
for people who like camera angles. there are actually alot of rov's down there.
hxxp://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=9033572&contentId=7062605
crackt out,.
for people who like camera angles. there are actually alot of rov's down there.
hxxp://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=9033572&contentId=7062605
crackt out,.
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