nuke, or even high explosives for that matter, have a greater chance of adding to the problem. The stuff is under pressure so anything that can widen the exit port is a bad idea. I'm not sure how far under the sea floor the rock drilling occurred but since the cement cap injected as a well crown stabiliser is not working as designed, it's safer to not further subject the area to concussive shocks.<br>
<br>The "cap and capture" method is actually still a workable idea but they have to have a capture hose much larger than the existing leaking process. The engineering issue with that is they must be actively pulling a suction on the line while the cap is lowered into place. This will prevent the methane ice from forming a plug like before. However getting a 48 inch running, suction line down a mile is not something the engineers have tested before since the process has always been guided by the hubris of the management.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, May 30, 2010 at 1:22 PM, Damon L. Chesser <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:damon@damtek.com">damon@damtek.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
For crying out loud. Use a very large HE explosive or a very small<br>
tatical nuke. Hole sealed, oil in the area neutralized.<br>
<br>
Of course we can't use a nuke, after all nukes are BAD. NOT.<br>
<br>
The problem that I see is that politically/socially/enviroly, nukes are<br>
not an option. Don't know why a large (very large) explosive would not<br>
work. If you nuke it, you can't use that well (opening) any more and if<br>
you want THAT oil, you would have to diagonally drill off from about 2<br>
miles distance. So, we would have a 1 mile patch of glowing ocean 1<br>
mile deep. I don't see a problem with that, but I am insensitive, and<br>
perhaps (admittedly) not fully informed on the repercussions.<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
On Sun, 2010-05-30 at 10:13 -0400, Jim Kinney wrote:<br>
> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/us/30rig.html" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/us/30rig.html</a>?<br>
><br>
> Time to start pumping the well head full of execs yet?<br>
><br>
> Does anyone know of a single component compound that reacts with mixed<br>
> organics to make a solid? Drilling mud is a lubricant. They need to<br>
> pump in a fast-setting glue. However, since the article talks about<br>
> the screw ups in the valve and the cement well casing I'm concerned<br>
> that with the well pressure a plugged head will only force a leak (or<br>
> blowout) near the head in the sea floor. The cement casing is supposed<br>
> to act as a reinforcement but there are reports that the material used<br>
> was substandard (thanks Haliburton!) and poorly installed.<br>
><br>
> Maybe since the riser pipe is still attached to the head they can beat<br>
> on it with the "top cap" box and crimp it down to cut the flow. Who<br>
> knows. Maybe a slow crimping cutoff of the flow will not shock the<br>
> casing and allow a temporary blockage with the sub-floor fracturing of<br>
> the crappy casing they are worried about.<br>
><br>
> --<br>
> --<br>
> James P. Kinney III<br>
> Actively in pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness<br>
> Doing pretty well on all 3 pursuits<br>
><br>
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<br>
</div><font color="#888888">--<br>
Damon<br>
<a href="mailto:damon@damtek.com">damon@damtek.com</a><br>
</font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>-- <br>James P. Kinney III<br>Actively in pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness <br>Doing pretty well on all 3 pursuits <br><br>