A Possible Way to stop the Gulf Oil Spill
As a retired military liquid fuel and maintenance technician I think the young lady, Alia Sabur of Long Island,New York is right on target when she said that she can stop the leak. Sabur proposes surrounding a pipe with deflated automobile tires, inserting it into the leaking riser, and then inflating the wheels to form a seal. She said, "I started thinking of something that goes inside it.
However,The tires might not be able to fully inflate inside the pipe, but the resulting seal would be able to stem the flow of oil and redirect it into a new pipe", she said. Sabur also said a valve in the pipe could be closed to block the oil or open to allow it to flow, presumably to a ship on the surface. Sabur admitted that she's not certain the inflated tires would be enough to hold the new pipe in place. As a former fuel technician I think that a far better idea would be the use of a batching pig, or a series of batching pigs.
The first thing to do is cut the oil pipe as close to the sea bed as possible, then using the size of the oil well pipe inside diameter, find, modify, or design a batching pig about one quarter of an inch smaller than the size of the pipe so that it will just fit into the oil pipe, and with the known pressure of the oil well, use opposing force to neutralize or equalize the pressure from the well, push a batching pig down into the pipe with as much force as possible, with pressure greater than the pressure coming from the oil well. Once the pig is into the pipe some distant, fill it with hydraulic concrete, then put a slab of concrete over the pipe, that will withstand the pressure of the well. This is the same principle as the young lady said, except instead of using a tire and inflating it, use a batching pig.
I know this worked in the military fuel sections, as well as over land fuel commercial transfer systems. It is a known given that with a series of batching pigs different grades and type of fuel and oil can be sent from Texas to Manhattan in New York city with no leaks or other problems.The basic principle is nothing new to those in the oil industry and the fuel section in the military...
As a footnote, here is a little information about batching pigs:
The UM series are well-built, steel bodied pigs designed for a variety of pipeline applications. General uses include batching, condensation removal, purging or light cleaning. These batching pigs will also traverse pipeline anomalies of up to 25% without damage to the inline auxiliary equipment.
However,The tires might not be able to fully inflate inside the pipe, but the resulting seal would be able to stem the flow of oil and redirect it into a new pipe", she said. Sabur also said a valve in the pipe could be closed to block the oil or open to allow it to flow, presumably to a ship on the surface. Sabur admitted that she's not certain the inflated tires would be enough to hold the new pipe in place. As a former fuel technician I think that a far better idea would be the use of a batching pig, or a series of batching pigs.
The first thing to do is cut the oil pipe as close to the sea bed as possible, then using the size of the oil well pipe inside diameter, find, modify, or design a batching pig about one quarter of an inch smaller than the size of the pipe so that it will just fit into the oil pipe, and with the known pressure of the oil well, use opposing force to neutralize or equalize the pressure from the well, push a batching pig down into the pipe with as much force as possible, with pressure greater than the pressure coming from the oil well. Once the pig is into the pipe some distant, fill it with hydraulic concrete, then put a slab of concrete over the pipe, that will withstand the pressure of the well. This is the same principle as the young lady said, except instead of using a tire and inflating it, use a batching pig.
I know this worked in the military fuel sections, as well as over land fuel commercial transfer systems. It is a known given that with a series of batching pigs different grades and type of fuel and oil can be sent from Texas to Manhattan in New York city with no leaks or other problems.The basic principle is nothing new to those in the oil industry and the fuel section in the military...
As a footnote, here is a little information about batching pigs:
The UM series are well-built, steel bodied pigs designed for a variety of pipeline applications. General uses include batching, condensation removal, purging or light cleaning. These batching pigs will also traverse pipeline anomalies of up to 25% without damage to the inline auxiliary equipment.
posted by DAN at
8:20 AM
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