Thanks for all of the info! I have been scouring the web trying to find info on this disaster. As someone who spent a great deal of time in the Gulf this is very dear to me. I’m not sure if I know anyone on the DWH or not. I know a lot of people who still work in the GoM and it is quite possible. Condolences to the families of those who are missing. While I wasn’t there at the time I was involved with the SP 60-B fire in 1989. The waiting and wondering is truly miserable. Working for BP I will assure you that one of the hold ups with information is the fact that they will not say anything until they are absolutely certain it is accurate. I’m sure Transocean is doing the same thing. I hold an Amatuer Radio License (Ham Operator) and work with disaster relief from time to time. It is strictly forbidden for us to transmit any personal information about anyone via open air ways. This must only be transmited on secure connections only. I expect this is what prevented any kind of survivor list from being transmitted from the M/V while brining the survivors to shore. I have no idea what type of communications the vessel may have had but for sure they couldn’t just transmit names via their company radio. The last thing anyone needed was for a list of names to show up on the news before any of the families were notified and that wasn’t going to happen until they had absolute correct information.
It is being reported that the well is no longer emitting hydrocarbons. We can only hope. I’m with others here in believing the BOP is not a viable option for controlling this well. I believe there was something wrong with it and that is what the guys on the drill deck were trying to fix when the blow out occurred. It is sort of the only thing that makes sense to me. They had a kick, checked the mud, then tried to actuate the BOP. When the BOP wouldn’t seal they continued to try and probably tried to kill the well and that is about the time the blow out happened. I know it is easy for me to type that but in my minds eye I can see it happening. Just my opinion.
[QUOTE=MODUke;31477]Highly reliable! Appears that the DeadMan finally engaged. I can only wonder why it didn’t engage before.[/QUOTE]
The question about someone not hitting the ESD or it not working has been lingering in the back of my mind since this happened. I have no affiliation with the Horizon but am part of another bp project. The DDIII is headed that way as soon as they get the riser pulled.
This should tell the rest of the story[ATTACH=CONFIG]800[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]801[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]802[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]803[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]804[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]805[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]806[/ATTACH]
[QUOTE=x626xBlack;31480]The question about someone not hitting the ESD or it not working has been lingering in the back of my mind since this happened. I have no affiliation with the Horizon but am part of another bp project. The DDIII is headed that way as soon as they get the riser pulled.[/QUOTE]
Don’t get me wrong here as I work on the sister ship to the Horizon. Something had to have failed with the BOPs for them not to shut the well in. I’m sure they were hovering over the BOP control function on the drill floor, but something had to have not gone right. Afterwards, for the rig to completely be engulfed in flames, especially in the moonpool and drill floor area, the deadman should have actuated itself. On top of this, the ROV made an attempt before the rig went down to close to Rams at the subsea level.
When the rig went down, something must have freed itself when things started moving. I’m sure the deadman had been trying to engage itself the whole time as the rig lost all communication with the stack.
Just wanted to extend my condolences…always a sad day to lose members of the offshore ‘family’.
It is great though that the crew were able to act and abandon rig so there weren’t more missing.
sounds like they got the BOP shut.
“We’ve been able to determine there is nothing emanating from the well-head,” Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry said. “That being said, we have positioned resources to be ready to respond should a spill occur… We will continue to monitor 24/7 for the next several days.”
That is some good news…now only if there could be some good news about the 11 men that remain missing.
I don’t want to be pessimistic, but from the names released here and the positions these guys held, it’s not likely that they will be found alive or at all.
There is something in the works to try to get the ROV back down with a new setup to continue trying to close all of the RAMS.
[QUOTE=x626xBlack;31493]One picture clearly showed the flare boom burning. They must have tried to handle it and actuated the diverter at some stage.[/QUOTE]
I believe that what you are seeing is actually just flow out the the diverter and not a flare. If you look closely, it is to close to the side of the rig and the crane to be a flare boom. Also the latticing seen on a boom is not visible in the picture just fire. In that picture the derrick is still standing so it would be likely that had a boom been installed it would also still be present.
[QUOTE=ladymudengineer;31495]I believe that what you are seeing is actually just flow out the the diverter and not a flare. If you look closely, it is to close to the side of the rig and the crane to be a flare boom. Also the latticing seen on a boom is not visible in the picture just fire. In that picture the derrick is still standing so it would be likely that had a boom been installed it would also still be present.[/QUOTE]
This is the picture i am talking about. Not all rigs have an elaborate Flare boom.
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This is what I am talking about.
No oil is spilling from the subsea wellhead following yesterday’s sinking of the oil rig Deepwater Horizon.
“We’ve been able to determine there is nothing emanating from the wellhead,” USCG Rear Admiral Mary Landry told ABC TV. “That being said, we have positioned resources to be ready to respond should a spill occur… We will continue to monitor 24/7 for the next several days.”
The Houston Chronicle quotes USCG Senior Chief Petty Officer Mike O’Berry as saying that while ROV’s have been unable to shut the valves on equipment at the wellhead, it appears the flow of oil from subsurface reservoirs has stopped on its own.
“This could just be temporary, so we’re not letting our guard down,” O’Berry said.
The Chronicle says that preparations are being made to drill a second well to intercept the open well in case it cannot be sealed off successfully.
I don’t think that the oil just stopped flowing on its own but that the failsafe valves did their thing but as mentioned before why it took so long to happen? Aren’t they supposed to close the well in once the control signals from the MUX system are lost and certainly, the MUX cables would have melted early in the explosion and fire. Anybody a subsea type here?
In any event, while the loss of so many men is a great tragedy, the thought of an uncontrolled subsea blowout at 5000’ is horrible to consider and I am very thankful that scenario is not taking place now.
[QUOTE=c.captain;31498]maybe old news now, but this from Marine Log:
I don’t think that the oil just stopped flowing on its own but that the failsafe valves did their thing but as mentioned before why it took so long to happen? Aren’t they supposed to close the well in once the control signals from the MUX system are lost and certainly, the MUX cables would have melted early in the explosion and fire. Anybody a subsea type here?
In any event, while the loss of so many men is a great tragedy, the thought of an uncontrolled subsea blowout at 5000’ is horrible to consider and I am very thankful that scenario is not taking place now.[/QUOTE]
Lots of scenarios here. First though is I think they are right in that the well stopped flowing on its own. That is what would be referred too as bridging over. The BOP’s are not designed to handle the high velocity flows that would have been seen and I imagine would have been incapable of closing the well off within a short time of the blowout. As for why the deadman system did not work. Biggest part of the deadman system is the shear rams which will shear off the pipe in question and secure the well bore. However at this stage they were running produciton casing and the shear rams may not have been able to cut this or they just happened to be sitting on a tool joint that couldn’t be cut. All speculation but possibilities of what could have happened.
I believe that they were finished running the casing and that they had just cemented it in. What has been reported is that they were displacing the riser with seawater at the time of the blowout.
btw, if the BOP cannont handle the flows of a high pressure/high velocity blowout, how can they be considered a blow out preventer? I imagine that this was a 15k psi stack?
[QUOTE=c.captain;31501]I believe that they were finished running the casing and that they had just cemented it in. What has been reported is that they were displacing the riser with seawater at the time of the blowout.
btw, if the BOP cannont handle the flows of a high pressure/high velocity blowout, how can they be considered a blow out preventer? I imagine that this was a 15k psi stack?[/QUOTE]
It is possible that the casing has collapsed and that is the reason the well has stopped flowing. I do not have any information as to the grade of pipe that was ran or if there was any open hole or the whole wellbore was cased off. I agree with you in that I also find it hard to believe that the BOP would be capable of functioning after being subjected to unrestricted flow for so long. I suppose that until the other rigs get on location we will continue our speculation.
[I]“if the BOP cannont handle the flows of a high pressure/high velocity blowout…”
[/I]Without any Monday Morning syndrome on my part, perhaps you should think of it in a different way. This is “drill through” equipment - it’s installed in order to drill the well and designed to absorb that work with no damage and little wear. While drilling, fluid flow rates are often in excess of 1,000 gallons/minute. It’s built for that - so why could it not suffer an oil flow estimated at 10,000 gallons per hour, assuming it was open at the time (which it apparently was)?
In my experience the biggest factor to BOP longevity in a kick is sand production. If there was no sand production from the kick, then there’s no reason to think the BOP’s would fail. They are massive! My own take is that the Deadman feature finally engaged when the rig went down and the riser collapsed. I have no explanation why it would not have engaged before that, and can only point to the obvious fact that it didn’t. The experts will no doubt figure it out with a little time and research/recovery. But the pictures show the fire getting quite a bit smaller once the rig went down, implying that the well flow may have been abating.
Prayers go out to the dead, and the living. And Thanks go out to the brave people who responded.
