2200 psi is nothing. That riser is good for at least 6 thousand. It's a really complicated problem though. The riser is twisted like a pretzel and is leaking in a few areas. Do you risk cutting the riser to give better access to plug it? If things go wrong you'll have a hell of a lot more flow but there is a decent chance of success. I don't know if you guys are familar with how a BOP works but it's basically designed to detect blowout through the rapid increase in pressure and force HUGE rams shut. These rams are designed to slice through whatever is in it's way...including large diameter 1''+ wall pipe. It sounds like something went wrong or the BOP was undersized at it wasn't able to shear whatever was in its way. Since it's partially closed a junk shot has a decent chance of working. The top kill had no chance of working. The flow was too high for the relatively small difference in density. Maybe if they used mercury or something it would have had a chance, haha. It looks like the relief well is what we'll be waiting for. I think they should just cut right at the mud mat and be ready with 5000 feet of 36''X2'' or larger pipe. Whatever it takes to get around everything. Then just drive it in over everything. Drive it down a hundred feet or so into the mud. Out in the golf it's common to drive pipe down like that since the ground is so soft. Another idea would be a large explosive device to try to collapse the hole. However, in order to do that you'd need to cut the pipe. Very risky if things don't work.
Author
Topic: If you wanted to plug a hole in the ocean, how would you do it? (Read 13722 times)