Change in BOP video - one of the holes is partially blockec

[Duer 157099]

did they do the junk shot yet?

[Statistical]

1. Yes. They started top kill 2.0 w/ junk (junk mixed w/ drilling mud) at around 6PM EST.

[Duer 157099]

2. It's back to spewing again, but for a few minutes it stopped

so I guess... oh wait it's stopping again...

[ChiciB1]

3. Where Are You Watching This?? n/t

[Webster Green]

8. here

http://edition.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=1

[Duer 157099]

9. link

http://globalwarming.house.gov/spillcam

[ChiciB1]

11. Thanks To BOTH OF YOU.... n/t

[csziggy]

13. Or you can go to

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/homepage/STAGING/local_assets/bp_homepage/html/rov_stream.html

[scheming daemons]

4. That's a zoomed in view of only one of the spots on the BOP.....

I saw that too.... one of the 3 holes in one section of the BOP stopped gushing.


There are other gushers on other parts of the BOP that are currently out of our view.

[Duer 157099]

7. Thanks, I couldn't get oriented

Every time the scene changed I wasn't watching to see landmarks

It's back to the panned out view

[Mythbuster]

5. Looks like something foreign that was injected.

Maybe this is a good sign. At the same time, as the riser holes fill in, more pressure will be generated at the stress point.

[Statistical]

10. More importantly more pressure will be directed down the well.

The first kill short "worked" in a temporary fashion. It slowed oil but most of the mud flowed out the BOP instead of down the well.
If the junk can increase the portion going down the well they can build more pressure against the flow of oil.

[Mythbuster]

12. Great point!

Now if the damaged riser can sustain the added pressure, mud flow will surely increase down the hole instead of out the riser.

[Statistical]

20. Or at least that is the plan.

Really comes down to how much of the junk catches and how much back pressure that starts creating.

Like a snowball going down a hill if you can get first couple pieces to catch you create spots for more junk to catch which slows flow and allows more junk to catch, etc. Getting that first piece to fall into the right spot though is like a game of Pachinko except the balls are under tens of thousands of psi of pressure.

So lot of luck is involved and a lot of unknown variables. Still hopefully the BP engineers will see the pressure slowly rise as the top of the BOP is increasingly blocked.

[Mythbuster]

29. Should be noticable on the plume as well.

[Webster Green]

6. I just noticed that too.

Seems like junk would be the only reason for that. It closed again just now.

[Duer 157099]

14. Course I suppose it could also just be a rock from the bottom, too?

I mean, why shouldn't there be debris from the well hole coming up too?

[shireen]

15. i'm looking at the BP stream, can someone explain what i'm seeing?

btw, it appears to be frozen. is anyone seeing movement?

http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/homepage/STAGING/local_assets/bp_homepage/html/rov_stream.html

[ChiciB1]

16. I'm Not Sure What I'm Looking For... Nothing Seems To Change...

same picture over and over.

[Mythbuster]

18. Look at the split on the right side.

At the front of the split, there is now a small black protrusion... looks kinda like rubber. I was thinking it may be part of the junk shot, or may be a part of the casing seal that they think is blown.

[Duer 157099]

17. Compare this photo to the current video

notice that just off center to the right there's a stream that is missing in the video but that is there in the photo from earlier

[ChiciB1]

19. So That Means Something Has Been Plugged Or Slowed Down...

Am I correct? I'm NO GEEK, just want to know what's going on! Heard about Markey putting up the live feed from his office or something earlier today.

Just curious.

[Duer 157099]

21. It appears that something is blocking that one tiny hole, yes

the Junk Shot that they're attempting involves shotting a bunch of "stuff" down the pipes in the hopes that some of it will block some of these holes, maybe one just did?

:shrug:

Just another layperson spectator with more than enough WAGs

[ChiciB1]

22. Thanks Again... n/t

[Duer 157099]

23. Now you can see it starting to leak again, a lighter fluid

not lighter fluid, but a lighter color fluid... intermittantly

[FreeState]

30. CNNs video on the right shows less flow every few minutes - heres to hoping! n/t

http://edition.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=1

[ChiciB1]

31. I Didn't Download That Octoshape, So Am Not Seeing It... n/t

[ChiciB1]

32. I Thought That Was Sand... n/t

[Feron]

24. It looks the same to me?

I don't know.

I'm going to lay off the camera for tonight. Watching the robots work was a lot less stressful. LOL

[scheming daemons]

25. The stuff coming out just got a lot darker in color.... and some holes seem bigger

...to my untrained eye.


Don't know what it means, though.

[Mythbuster]

26. Looks like the pressure just shot up.

[scheming daemons]

27. I'm guessing "top kill attempt #2" just ended.....

Much thicker plumes, and much darker in color.

Seems like bigger holes too.



Doesn't seem good to me.... but I have no clue what it should look like.

[FreeState]

28. Looks like mud to me still in comparison to before the top kill n/t

[ChiciB1]

33. Maybe I'm Not Seeing This Correctly, But That Section On The Right Side

of that tuber looks like it's begun to leak a little more. And to the right of center, where there were two smaller holes looks like they merged together.

[Duer 157099]

34. Here's a better photo that shows the specific area

pulled from here: http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6518

[ChiciB1]

35. Saw That Earlier... BP Feed Isn't Showing As Lighter Right Now!

As I said, I'm a novice, but doesn't look like rate is slowing and I'm kind of wondering if it's not just building up for a blow!

But I KNOW NOTHING for sure! It all looks disgusting!

[Duer 157099]

36. Right, that little "lighter plume" is currently intermittant on the video

at this moment, it's not there at all. So, something is partially blocking the hole that it's coming from, that's all I was saying.

But yeah, it does look like somethings gonna blow soon doesn't it?

[ChiciB1]

37. As I Said... I'm No Expert & Could Be Reading The Leaves Wrong...

Still, the gushing is still spewing & gushing at about the same rate!

Well, it's about 1:00 AM here... if I can't sleep I'll be back! Gotta get out of this chair for a while. Nice having a chat. If you're in a better time zone... keep posting.

Guess I could have checked out your zone, huh?

[ChiciB1]

38. Checked It... I'm On The West Side Of The Gulf & Just Waiting To See

it hit our shores. May not be what LA is seeing, but I don't doubt it will affect us here! There have been a LOT of cancellations of trips around here. Traffic seems light.

[Duer 157099]

39. Finally here's a good still shot of what I was talking about last night

from: http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6520