Creative ideas to clean up and/or stop the oil spill

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We have so many intelligent and not so intellig...err creative people here.

How would you clean up the oil spill?
And/or how would you stop the oil from spewing out?

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Type: Discussion • Score: 22 • Views: 6,833 • Replies: 95

[+3] - chai2 - 06/03/2010[quote="spendius"] [quote]I was thinking why not make a clyndrical barrier wall around the immediate area, and boats above could keep pumping it out. [/quote] Where to? Cuba maybe....
[+3] - edgarblythe - 06/04/2010NPR report Capping out-of-control oil wells and snuffing gas leaks has been a challenge since humans began tapping underground energy resources. Robots a mile beneath the surface of the Gulf...

Doesn't oil float? At least it does in my salad dressing - I'd get a huge spoon and simply skim it up.

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@Linkat,

Glen Beck will plug anything to make money so I'd use him to plug the well.

Keith Olbermann and Bill O'Reilly are big blowhards so I'd use them to blow all the oil out of the marshes.

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@Linkat,

They've cut the pipe above the bridge plug. So, set a cement retainer inside the casing. Shoot mud through the cement retainer. Remove the retainer. Perforate the well casing below the hydrocarbon zone, reset the retainer and start pumping cement.

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I don't understand why you couldn't have a giant cone-shaped funnel, that works to contain the oil in a limited area after it's come out of the leak; and then clarify the water in that limited area as soon as possible. You could probably even recover a lot of the oil.

Cycloptichorn

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Whip up oil enough and you get an emulsion. Create waves (use some tide machines from Six Flags) and turn the Gulf into an enormous pool of mayo.

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@jespah,

jespah wrote:

Whip up oil enough and you get an emulsion. Create waves (use some tide machines from Six Flags) and turn the Gulf into an enormous pool of mayo.

Gross

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@Cycloptichorn,

Well, how 'bout salad dressing instead?

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I had wonder why they just can not just buried the well site under a few hundreds tons of fill and shut the leak off that way.

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@jespah,

jespah wrote:

Well, how 'bout salad dressing instead?

Also gross. I don't eat either of those things.

Cycloptichorn

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@BillRM,

BillRM wrote:

I had wonder why they just can not just buried the well site under a few hundreds tons of fill and shut the leak off that way.

Question of pressures. The thing is pumping out at like 8500 PSI... it's not going to be stopped by fill at this point.

Cycloptichorn

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If everybody in the country donated ten loaves of bread each the creative oil digging experts (wreckers?) could just sop it up.

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@Cycloptichorn,

What about dumping the leftovers from some building, road or bridge demolition on top of the well and then covering it with silt?? Or, sinking some old barges/ships on the well?

One question I haven't seen answered anywhere yet is what happens once the relief wells are completed? Will they be capped off or will BP be allowed to resume pumping oil from the site using the relief wells?

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@Butrflynet,

Butrflynet wrote:

What about dumping the leftovers from some building, road or bridge demolition on top of the well and then covering it with silt?? Or, sinking some old barges/ships on the well?

One question I haven't seen answered anywhere yet is what happens once the relief wells are completed? Will they be capped off or will BP be allowed to resume pumping oil from the site using the relief wells?

No way will the first one work. Oil is oil, it seeps out of any tiny crack it can find. You can't just throw permeable crap on top of it to solve the problem.

As for the second, I'm sure BP will pump that oil off and sell it.

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@Cycloptichorn,

As they was going to stop the flow by placing "mud" and concrete to block the tube I still do not see why they just can not buried the whole site.

Your pressure posting I think is the water pressure on the seabed not the pressure of the oil leak and if it was that great no metal tube could contain it.

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@Cycloptichorn,

Quote:

No way will the first one work. Oil is oil, it seeps out of any tiny crack it can find. You can't just throw permeable crap on top of it to solve the problem.

Before the hole was drill the ground or seabed was containing the oil very nicely so once more a few hundred feet and even a few thousands tons of fill should do the job.

If some seep out if still would be or should be one hell less then now and could be live with until the new well is drill to relieve the pressure.

1 Reply

@BillRM,

BillRM wrote:

Quote:
No way will the first one work. Oil is oil, it seeps out of any tiny crack it can find. You can't just throw permeable crap on top of it to solve the problem.

Before the hole was drill the ground or seabed was containing the oil very nicely so once more a few hundred feet and even a few thousands tons of fill should do the job.

If some seep out if still would be or should be one hell less then now and could be live with until the new well is drill to relieve the pressure.

Yeah... I don't think this will work as easily as you seem to think it will.

The oil was contained under a large amount of bedrock. Now that this bedrock has been penetrated, I don't think you can replace it with loose fill. It just won't contain the problem - the pressurized oil will simply blast it out of the way.

As for the PSI question, the well is currently venting oil at 9000 or so PSI, just as I reported. It is at a much, much higher pressure then you seem to believe it is.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0603/BP-oil-spill-Next-step-is-to-attach-a-giant-garden-hose-seal

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

what we need is a time machine.

but not to just go back before the spill...

we need to go back to when the BP exec's were just small little lizards and trolls and make them be better people before they ruin the earth...

1 Reply

@Cycloptichorn,

Quote:

As for the PSI question, the well is currently venting oil at 9000 or so PSI, just as I reported. It is at a much, much higher pressure then you seem to believe it is.

Maybe 9000 PSI compare to surface pressure of 15 PSI but I can not see how it could be venting at 9000 PSI compare to the ocean floor pressure or no tubing or cap or concrete would or could contain it.

The important figure is not absolute pressure but relative pressure compare to it surroundings in this case the ocean floor pressure at one mile.

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@Rockhead,

Quote:

and make them be better people before they ruin the earth...

Very big over statement here as oil had been leaking out into the ocean long before mankind came on the scene to the point that there are bacteria in the ocean that live by eating such oil leaks.

All we are guilty of is causing a local leak many times over the normal amount of such oil leaks and that is hardly likely to ruin the earth.

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Creative ideas to clean up and/or stop the oil spill

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