Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

[JustJason]

Hey Chris,
I've heard through the grapevine that you've worked on many an underwater ROV. I take it your not a geologist but I wanted your take if you have one on the whole gulf oil spill, that is assuming you follow or hear about american news.

So how hard is it to drop a ROV 5000ft underwater with explosive and implode a well? Can a ROV do/deliver that kind of TNT, even if that meant destroying the ROV itself?
I'm at a loss, why is it we can put a man on the moon and a satellite on every planet in the solar system but not plug a leak on our own planet???

Am I just getting caught up in hollywoods smoke and magic about what can be done? Or does BP want to drill a "relief well", so they still get to keep getting their oil without shutting down the well. (and profits).

I don't get it... does anybody else? How hard can it be for somebody to take charge and get this thing stopped?

 

[QC]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

Let's keep this one to the technical question guys. This will be the third Oil Spill thread in Dockside and will be kept open as long as we keep the topic to:

ROV Well Capping capabilities (and other, Hollywood like, super duper, Red Adair type procedures) . . .

 

[rbh]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

I dont work in the oil and gas industry, but if I remember correctly, there can be many PSI at the well head.
I think you are going to find that the oil company will try and cap the well instead of collapse it.

 

[achris]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

Your lucky day... I don't come down here much anymore... I get involve in too many arguments...

Ok... ROV capabilities..

Most ROVs are rated to about 1500m (4800 ft), the problem is pressure and the affect it has on the bouyancy block. The bouyancy block is usually made of syntactic foam, which is closed cell. It's that foam that determines how far a vehicle can go down.

As for setting explosives. That's easy, do it regularly. Or should I say used to do it regularly. The greenies stopped us using 'expanding bait' to P&A wellheads years ago.

Why is it we can put a man on the moon and can't plug a little hole on the ocean floor? The moons' atmosphere is easier to work with than the pressures at the sort of depths we're talking about. At 5000ft the pressure is over 150 atmosphere. That's 2200psi.... THAT'S A LOT!!! (your car tyre is about 28psi, the compression on an engine is only about 150psi) The well itself could be another 10,000psi above that too, depending on the type of reservoir it is and how long it's been exploited.

About the deepest that saturation divers can work is 1000ft... so ROVs are the only 'quick' option.

Drilling a 'relief' well. Depending on the substructure of the seabed it could easily take 3 weeks to drill that far down. The 5000ft is only to the sea floor, the oil reservoir could be another 2,000-10,000ft beyond that. Remember also that they would have to drill into the exact same cavity that the current well is in. Miss it by a few metres and all that work would be for nothing. They can't drill above it because of the existing casing in the ground, they have to come at it at a slight angle... and drilling through rock can sometimes be real slow. If they go too fast then they risk the new hole collapsing on the drill string and locking it up....

Plenty of problems on this one... Part of me is really glad I'm not there, but part of me wishes I was.

Another idea I saw was to use 'capture' devices to grab the oil was it rose off the bottom... Risky... Even the smallest current change would render them useless...

As far as their profits are concerned... They need that leak stopped! The amount they will be paying in fines is not worth taking extra time to recover any oil left in the ground....

One last thing to remember... Under the very best of conditions the deepest light will penetrate is about 400ft... After that, it's night 24 hours down there....

Chris.......

 

[JustJason]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

Thanks for the insight Chris. That was exactly was I was looking for. Somebody with experience that wouldn't get into the "politicin" of it all.

So do you think they could blast it shut, or would that option potentially do more harm then good?

 

[achris]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

...So do you think they could blast it shut, or would that option potentially do more harm then good?

Done properly it would work... Get the numbers wrong and it will end in

....

The main problem will be visibility... If the ROV guys can't see through the crap in the water, they can't see where to set the bombs...

Chris..........

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

Thanks for posting that achris.
Very interesting.

Their is a lot of mis-information being thrown about on this
side of the pond.

We are starting a collection here on iboats to pay your airfare
over here and help get this thing stopped.

 

[Cofe]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

@Wow Achris
At 5000 feet the pressure is 2200psi.
Makes me wonder what pressure the oil coming out of the well is, in order to over come the 2200psi. of static water pressure.

 

[achris]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

...We are starting a collection here on iboats to pay your airfare over here and help get this thing stopped.

Yes please.. I could stop off at a few place in The States and fix a boat or two while I'm there.

@Wow Achris
At 5000 feet the pressure is 2200psi.
Makes me wonder what pressure the oil coming out of the well is, in order to over come the 2200psi. of static water pressure.

Wellheads can have in excess of 10,000psi above ambient, especially if there's a lot of gas involved ...

Chris...........

 

[aspeck]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

I have a lot of gas!! (that one was for Rubber Frog)

Seriously, thanks for the info you have given us ... it helps keep things in perspective when reading or hearing news.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

I can tell you from working with explosives above water that it is an entirely a different method involved with underwater stuff. I can only imagine with that kind of pressure the techniques involved.

 

[achris]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

I can tell you from working with explosives above water that it is an entirely a different method involved with underwater stuff. I can only imagine with that kind of pressure the techniques involved.

We don't get involved in the details. We are just the taxi drivers, it's the powder monkeys who set them up...

Chris.....

 

[NelsonQ]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

We don't get involved in the details. We are just the taxi drivers, it's the powder monkeys who set them up...

Chris.....

Love the term 'powder monkeys'

And thanks for the info achris. Was very informative and gave me in 60 seconds what the internet and media couldn't.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

Just a point of interest - the reservior is much deeper than 2,000' - 10,000'. Its 18,000' below the seabed. That would be a pretty deep well, even on-shore. The drilling of the relief well actually began the day before yesterday, but it could take several months to complete.

The cofferdam that is being built, is supposed to be ready for loading at noon today. It will then take 48 hours to transport it to the well site and lower it into place. This system has been used at shallow depths before, but never 5,000' feet down. There are a number of potential problems, one of which is that there may not be enough pressure within it, to drive the oil upwards 5,000', to the drill ship on the surface.

All we can do is to keep trying to protect the estuaries and hope that this attempt works.



???

 

[achris]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

Just a point of interest - the reservoir is much deeper than 2,000' - 10,000'. Its 18,000' below the seabed. That would be a pretty deep well, even on-shore. The drilling of the relief well actually began the day before yesterday, but it could take several months to complete....

WOW, that is a deep one... That's for the extra info... I was using general figures, I'm not familiar with this well.

Chris.....

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

Yup, its a deep one. While at one time, an 11,000 - 12,000 foot well was considered deep, I'm noticing more and more of the much deeper ones. I don't follow the E&P business closely any more, so maybe this has been going on for some time, but its still pretty amazing to me. In particular. I'd love to hear from a mud engineer, to get an idea of how the heck they control these wells at all - the pressures have got to be incredible.



???

 

[achris]

Re: Hey achris, any other ROV guys, BP/Gulf situation.

Failure. Gee, who predicted that?

...Another idea I saw was to use 'capture' devices to grab the oil was it rose off the bottom... Risky... ...

These ice crystals that they are talking about are called 'hydrates'. They form when gas under high pressure is released under water. As you probably know, when the pressure is released the temperature drops, in this case, dramatically, and the water around that gas freezes. That's what's blocking up the oil catchers.

Chris.. (still waiting for that plane ticket)