Saturday, May 29, 2010

Aardvark and No Play

"aardvark" has a plausible summary of the state of play at the well site. Be sure to click through to the diagram while you read it. I am not saying that everything there is right (I am not qualified to say either way) but it certainly offers some insight into the flavor of the technical problem.

Comment 7 on this Dot Earth article is somewhat simpler, and also tells the story quite well.
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8 comments:

  1. Hank RobertsMay 29, 2010 at 11:37 AM

    This is a link from that thread you point to, it's the first one that clearly identifies the location of one of the often seen views: http://bittooth.blogspot.com/2010/05/deepwater-oil-spill-restarting-mud-and.html

    That's the place the riser is bent over past 90 degrees above the BOP, if I read it right.

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  2. Hank RobertsMay 29, 2010 at 12:07 PM

    Maddening. Last comment at the WKRG video page was stopped for a long time showing the bent over pipe at the top of the BOP, same one identified in the thread Aardvark started.

    The poster at WKRG mentions something happening with a specific timestamp:

    "I am saying at 4:07 am this morning that pipe above burst wide open ...."

    No clue what's really going on.
    Very curious what the Herc 6 Plume Monitoring video shows, several people have commented it now looks like the flow is doming out of something down in a hole, but that could be perspective if it's a view from almost overhead looking down at the seabed.

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  3. Hank RobertsMay 29, 2010 at 6:34 PM

    http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6523#more

    Deepwater Oil Spill - The LMRP Attempt, the "Press Conference," and a Live Open Thread

    Posted by Gail the Actuary on May 29, 2010 - 7:30pm

    BP is now saying that its Top Kill approach has failed, and it is moving on to LMRP. A few comments from the press:

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 30, 2010 at 7:46 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hank RobertsMay 30, 2010 at 8:10 PM

    Oy!

    http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/article/bp-ceo-disputes-claims-of-underwater-oil-plumes/891587/May-30-2010_4-19-pm/

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  6. AnonymousMay 31, 2010 at 12:24 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hank RobertsMay 31, 2010 at 10:13 PM

    Finally something informative:
    http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/incident_response/STAGING/local_assets/downloads_pdfs/Riser_Removal_large.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hank RobertsJune 3, 2010 at 8:15 AM

    resources:
    https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYETicASkH8SZGZmN3ptcXpfN2M2cmR3c2M5&hl=en

    ReplyDelete

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