posted
From what I've seen on YouTube, the Corexit dispersant is much more dangerous than the oil.
I'm concerned for the people along the Gulf and east coasts. That Corexit is bad stuff.
Posts: 921 | From CT | Registered: Apr 2009
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'Kete-tracker
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posted
For all you engineers, techies & wanna-be's, the pressure 5,000 ft (down) is about 2,200 psi (pounds per square inch) :-o
Posts: 1233 | From Dover, NH | Registered: Sep 2008
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'Kete-tracker
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posted
(hit the wrong button... sorry) ...and the oil leak flow rate's been Around 2 to 2 1/2 million gallons EVERY DAY. (It increased by ~50% when they cut the bent part of the riser pipe off.) What most here probably don't realize is that the leak is about 1/2 natural gas & 1/2 crude oil.
At this depth, natural gas forms mostly methane "slush", most of which eventually melts & works it's way to the surface, where it's adding to the toxic mix, requiring nearly all workers out there at the "pump site" to wear special respirators to keep themselves from becoming ill.
The pressure in the vast oil resevoir that they tapped into, located nearly three miles beneath the seafloor(!), is MUCH higher than the water pressure down where the cap is... probably more on the order of 50,000 psi +/-, based on pressure readings taken during the attempted "top kill".
As far as the oil that could *potentially* leak out? It would easily be 2 MAGITUDES (X100) higher than the Valdez disaster.
The Good news is that the 2 relief wells are on target & the 1st is ahead of schedule. And the guys doing this have a very good track record of stopping these blowout leaks. Still, any "bottom kill" is 2 months away.
SO... If you're a Gulf coast fisherman, you'd best plan to move if you intend to stay in your profession. The currently affected area (no pun intended) won't be "fishable" for at-LEAST a generation (25-30 years), acc. to leading scientists.
Posts: 1233 | From Dover, NH | Registered: Sep 2008
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posted
So, some of the problems are oil, methane, Corexit, pressure at 1 mile of water and another 5 miles of earth below the sea bed is approximately 50,000 psi (probably more) & possibility of a broken well casing in several places, because nothing man-made could withstand that much pressure.
Do we have anyone who lives near it?
Posts: 921 | From CT | Registered: Apr 2009
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'Kete-tracker
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Member # 17189
posted
Actually, it's about 3 miles below the seabed & I just read an old petroleum engineer's post- about the resevoir pressure- where he says:
"This means that the pressure in the oil reservoir encountered must be nearly 20,000 psi." (I can send you/post the link to his explanation.)
So we were both wrong. It's less...but still HIGH! (I know some hydraulic systems work at 10,000 psi, so it's not out of the question to use Hi-grade, thick steel-alloy pipe for this.)
A Bunch of folks live... what? ~60 miles away? Only folks livin' "nearby" are all the poor workers, I'm afraid. :-(~
Posts: 1233 | From Dover, NH | Registered: Sep 2008
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