[/caption]BP started the "top kill" operations to stop the flow of oil from the MC252 well in the Gulf of Mexico at 1300 CDT on May 26, 2010. The procedure was intended to stem the flow of oil and gas and ultimately kill the well by injecting heavy drilling fluids through the blow-out preventer on the seabed, down into the well.
Despite successfully pumping a total of over 30,000 barrels of heavy mud, in three attempts at rates of up to 80 barrels a minute, and deploying a wide range of different bridging materials, the operation did not overcome the flow from the well.
The top kill procedure is a viable solution, it was only done wrong. What I don't understand is how engineers who have spent years in the oil business and other scientist and such working for BP don't seem to know how to make the top kill procedure work. It is simple.
BP says that about 5,000 barrels of oil are leaking out of the ruptured pipe per day. The federal government's estimate is 19,000 barrels daily. Personally, I think that both estimates are too low. BP want's to keep their face so they down play it. The government doesn't want to risk an exaggeration so they say less then they probably think. I wouldn't be surprised if there is up to 100,000 barrels flowing out daily. Why do I say this? The rig that sunk costed no less than $1 million per day for BP to operate. If there are only 5,000 barrels coming out daily at $100 per barrel, BP would be losing $500,000 daily. I think that it is highly unlikely that a company like BP would continue an operation if it wasn't profitable.
To break even, BP would need at least 10,000 barrels coming out daily. To make a nice profit they would need 20,000 barrels, to become the industry giant that they are it is very likely that they would need a lot more than that. This is all a rough estimate, however according to my calculations it would not make sense any other way.
Now that this is understood, we come to why the top kill procedure didn't work. It is simple, there was not enough pressure on the "mud" that they were trying to push into the well.
An example to clear up any confusions:
Let's say you have a hose, you turn on the water and hold the hose so the nozzle is pointing up. Water gushes out. You want to stop that water so you take an empty water bottle and fill it with mud. You take bottle with the mud to your gushing "water spill" and you pour the mud over the water. The water continues to flow and the mud just gets pushed out of the way of the gushing water. If, however, you took that mud bottle and put in some dry ice and closed the lid gradually you would get that bottle under some serious pressure. Now, you would take that bottle and face it in the direction of the gushing water hose and open it. The mud would force the water back with its pressure. Your make-believe "top kill" procedure was a success. (Don't actually try this. It could be dangerous and I assume no responsibilities for what may happen.)
There, if anyone can tell me that I am wrong, feel free to do it. I am certain, however that it would work. You need to get the mud coming out at a higher pressure than the oil is and then it would over come the oil.
For example, if you were racing someone in a car, you are going 50 mph and the other guy that you are racing is going at 100 mph, how do you think you can win? You can't, its physics. You have to have more speed than the opposing person.
Now, on the new operation that is going to be tried.
The Government, together with BP, have therefore decided to move to the next step in the subsea operations, the deployment of the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) Cap Containment System.
The operational plan first involves cutting and then removing the damaged riser from the top of the failed Blow-Out Preventer (BOP) to leave a cleanly-cut pipe at the top of the BOP’s LMRP. The cap is designed to be connected to a riser from the Discoverer Enterprise drillship and placed over the LMRP with the intention of capturing most of the oil and gas flowing from the well. The LMRP cap is already on site and it is currently anticipated that it will be connected in about four days.
This operation has never before been tried out at such a deep level as 5,000 feet so success cannot be assured.
Drilling of the first relief well continues and is currently at 12,090 feet. Drilling of the second relief well is temporarily suspended and is expected to recommence shortly from 8,576 feet.
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