The Gulf Oil Spill: BP's Race for a Fix

The recent oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico has been devastating and has once again brought to center stage the battle between the environmentalists and the offshore oil industry. Even though the responsible oil company, BP, along with federal and state agencies, are trying to contain the damage, it seems to me that there is room to improve the technology of the response.  There is room, but there is scarcely any time!

This issue appeals to me because I am a confirmed optimist about human potential.   With all the smart engineers in the world, I do not believe there are any issues about offshore drilling that cannot be made compatible with the environment.  I was struck this weekend while watching jokester Bill Maher blather on about how Brazil had "gotten off of oil" so it was easy for the USA to move to renewable energy.  Maher overlooks that Brazil's Petrobras is a world leader in offshore technology and production; which just proves that (very) little knowledge is a dangerous thing. 

Bob Fryar, a senior VP in  BP's Exploration and Production division was brought in from heading offshore drilling in Angola and is now handling the crisis.  He says five different possible solutions are being pursued concurrently. These are:

- Disperse the oil by spraying chemicals;
- Make the existing BlowOut Preventer (BOP) work to shut off all wells;
- Add another seal off valve on one well;
- Put a container (box) above the leak to catch and collect and collect the spilled oil; and
- Drill two relief wells and plug the well bore well below the surface.

BP will also welcome any other approaches and consider them.

The first option has had limited and bittersweet results; consequences of all those hydrocarbons in the oceans are yet to be fully understood.

The second option hasn't worked, at least not yet.  A variant to remove debris and bolt a second BOP on top of the non-functioning BOP seems very risky, as it this action may cause even greater leakage and might fail to stop flow.

The third option requires testing the pressure before it can be tried. Even then, Option 3 stops only one of three leak sources.

The fourth option--expected to be deployed in about a week's time--is BP's best bet, which we hope to improve below. 

The fifth solution is the ultimate solution, needed unless the BOP can be made to work.  Oh yeah, it will take almost three months.

However, even the fourth option has its challenges. The caisson system--the steel box--being created will be heavy; carrying it to the site and placing it accurately will be a challenge.  There are 3 leaks, which may be reduced to 2 leaks in the meantime, which will require 2 box-based capture systems with pipelines to the surface vessels.  I am hopeful that this method will work, with great effort.

Can we improve on this solution?

It might have been better to catch the oil and gas "plume" as it rises in a pyramid-shaped flexible "hood" made from super fabric.  Fabrics can be stitched to any shape, then fixed by coating with marine- and oil- resistance polymeric coatings.  By using coated fabric of relatively light weight, the hood could be as wide as need be to fully cover the leak site, while being lightweight and easily handled.  The existing boxes have a mouth of 14 feet by 24 feet and are 40 feet tall.  Imagine replacing that box with a triangular pyramid whose edge is 100 or even 150 feet on the triangular mouth.  And the pyramid might be 200 feet tall, if needed to provide ample storage and phase separation height.  Any of these are feasible.  The edges of the hood's rim would be literally stitched and glued to cylinders of similar fabric.  Inflating these "power cylinders" with a modest head seawater pump would hold the mouth of the hood open wide to catch the goop.  A rigid pipe to the surface is similar to the existing proposal.

Beyond that, rather than rely entirely on the buoyancy of crude oil and natural gas liquids to raise the goop to the surface (though a pipe of course), we can improve the system by forcing some seawater to flow upward (with an induction pump at the surface if need be).  
Using a two pipe system, one for the upward flow of the three phase oil/gas/seawater and the other to recycle the somewhat dirty water back down into the pyramid,  will help keep the negative impact localized.  Dirty seawater would be caught in a loop where its hydrocarbon contaminants would reach an equilibrium with the oil, minimizing the need to haul away and treat contaminated seawater.

A coated super fabric pyramid is lightweight, tougher than steel, gives with any blows rather than being dented or worse, and is easily transported by inflation and towing.  If needed far away, air transport is conceivable.  And with proper polymers and additives, the service life would be very long.

Here is a simplified diagram of what it would look like: