We have just moved through the hottest summer on record... so, is it Global Warming?
There are a great many who argue that from either the 'yes' or 'no' side...
What do you think?
Global Warming, or just part of an upturn in the normal cycle?
Monday, September 13, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Gulf after the leak...
The Gulf of Mexico has taken its share of pollution over the years, and perhaps the worst of it is the most recent oil leak...spill...I don't know what to call it... Gusher!
Now that it is stopped we need to take a deep breath and figure out what needs to be done in the future to prevent this type of catastrophe. And we need to look well past the leak...we need to look at drilling design requirements, containment measures, recovery tools, new methods for less environmentally destructive disbursement... hell, we need to look at everything involved with recovering from this type of disaster because it has happened before (bet you didn't know that) and it will undoubtedly happen again.
The BP Gulf Oil Spill, as it turns out was so large it was visible from Space as it was a spill the size of Rhode Island, photographed by NASA satellites...it really is an issue we will have to address for decades to come.
So...haven't we learned from the past?
1911: Lakeview Gusher
Drilling at Lakeview Number One well was started by the Lakeview Oil Company on January 1, 1909. As the drilling continued and only natural gas was found, the Lakeview company partnered with Union Oil Company which wanted to build storage tanks on Lakeview property.[2]
While modern well-drilling techniques have advanced safety features such as blowout preventers that reduce the chances of a gusher, early twentieth-century drilling technology could not contain the high pressures encountered at Lakeview. The gusher began on March 14, 1910, as the drill bit reached 2,440 ft (740 m).[3]
The well casing is a steel pipe-liner that contains oil as it is pumped from the depths. During drilling, the casing also guides the drill bit and drive shaft in a roughly straight line. Pressure blew at least part of the casing out, along with an estimated 9 million barrels (1.4×106 m3) of oil, before the gusher was brought under control 18 months later in September 1911.[4]
1979: Ixtoc I was an exploratory oil well being drilled by the semi-submersible drilling rig Sedco 135-F in the Bay of Campeche of the Gulf of Mexico, about 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche in waters 50 m (160 ft) deep.[2] On 3 June 1979, the well suffered a blowout resulting in the fourth largest oil spill in history.Mexico's government-owned oil company Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos) was drilling a 3 km (1.9 mi) deep oil well when the drilling rig Sedco 135F lost drilling mud circulation.
In modern rotary drilling, mud is circulated down the drill pipe and back up the well bore to the surface. The goal is to equalize the pressure through the shaft and to monitor the returning mud for gas. Without the counter-pressure provided by the circulating mud, the pressure in the formation allowed oil to fill the well column, blowing out the well. The oil caught fire, and Sedco 135F burned and collapsed into the sea.[2]
At the time of the accident Sedco 135F was drilling at a depth of about 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) below the seafloor.[5] The day before Ixtoc suffered the blowout and resulting fire that caused her to sink, the drill bit hit a region of soft strata. Subsequently, the circulation of drilling mud was lost resulting in a loss of hydrostatic pressure.[6] Rather than returning to the surface, the drilling mud was escaping into fractures that had formed in the rock at the bottom of the hole. Pemex officials decided to remove the bit, run the drill pipe back into the hole and pump materials down this open-ended drill pipe in an effort to seal off the fractures that were causing the loss of circulation.
These aren't the only spills...but they are examples of super spills...and they demonstrate that we should have learned, as with the Exxon Valdise and now the New Horizon... Oil may be valuable...but our earth is precious!
We need to solve these problems before they happen...not after they are in play.
Now that it is stopped we need to take a deep breath and figure out what needs to be done in the future to prevent this type of catastrophe. And we need to look well past the leak...we need to look at drilling design requirements, containment measures, recovery tools, new methods for less environmentally destructive disbursement... hell, we need to look at everything involved with recovering from this type of disaster because it has happened before (bet you didn't know that) and it will undoubtedly happen again.
The BP Gulf Oil Spill, as it turns out was so large it was visible from Space as it was a spill the size of Rhode Island, photographed by NASA satellites...it really is an issue we will have to address for decades to come.So...haven't we learned from the past?
1911: Lakeview Gusher
Drilling at Lakeview Number One well was started by the Lakeview Oil Company on January 1, 1909. As the drilling continued and only natural gas was found, the Lakeview company partnered with Union Oil Company which wanted to build storage tanks on Lakeview property.[2]
While modern well-drilling techniques have advanced safety features such as blowout preventers that reduce the chances of a gusher, early twentieth-century drilling technology could not contain the high pressures encountered at Lakeview. The gusher began on March 14, 1910, as the drill bit reached 2,440 ft (740 m).[3]
The well casing is a steel pipe-liner that contains oil as it is pumped from the depths. During drilling, the casing also guides the drill bit and drive shaft in a roughly straight line. Pressure blew at least part of the casing out, along with an estimated 9 million barrels (1.4×106 m3) of oil, before the gusher was brought under control 18 months later in September 1911.[4]
1979: Ixtoc I was an exploratory oil well being drilled by the semi-submersible drilling rig Sedco 135-F in the Bay of Campeche of the Gulf of Mexico, about 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche in waters 50 m (160 ft) deep.[2] On 3 June 1979, the well suffered a blowout resulting in the fourth largest oil spill in history.Mexico's government-owned oil company Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos) was drilling a 3 km (1.9 mi) deep oil well when the drilling rig Sedco 135F lost drilling mud circulation.
In modern rotary drilling, mud is circulated down the drill pipe and back up the well bore to the surface. The goal is to equalize the pressure through the shaft and to monitor the returning mud for gas. Without the counter-pressure provided by the circulating mud, the pressure in the formation allowed oil to fill the well column, blowing out the well. The oil caught fire, and Sedco 135F burned and collapsed into the sea.[2]
At the time of the accident Sedco 135F was drilling at a depth of about 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) below the seafloor.[5] The day before Ixtoc suffered the blowout and resulting fire that caused her to sink, the drill bit hit a region of soft strata. Subsequently, the circulation of drilling mud was lost resulting in a loss of hydrostatic pressure.[6] Rather than returning to the surface, the drilling mud was escaping into fractures that had formed in the rock at the bottom of the hole. Pemex officials decided to remove the bit, run the drill pipe back into the hole and pump materials down this open-ended drill pipe in an effort to seal off the fractures that were causing the loss of circulation.
These aren't the only spills...but they are examples of super spills...and they demonstrate that we should have learned, as with the Exxon Valdise and now the New Horizon... Oil may be valuable...but our earth is precious!
We need to solve these problems before they happen...not after they are in play.
Monday, May 31, 2010
More Oil... lets politicise it!!!
The Spin Doctors are all trying to make a big Political Gain from the BP Oil Well disaster. There are several questions that might need to be asked when it comes to this in the future, but right now we need to stay focused on solving this disasterous problem.
There needs to be more engagement of skimmers; subsurface suctioning; fluid seperation, not chemical breakup with toxic mixtures.... The Gulf of Mexico is one of our finest resources for sea food, oil, recreation and more...and like it or not, in the short term we need to harvest all of these elements ... not throw them away...and that means CLOSE THE WELL.
The US Government is not...and should not...be in the oil well business. Those who are, however, need to solve this problem and develope the technologies to prevent these problems in the future, or to solve them if they come along.
I do not believe that there was Criminal Intent at any point in the chain of events that caused the accident, so we need to stay focused on solutions...not prosecution.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Memorial Day ...
Congratulations and Thanks to all of us who served loyaly and made it home... and my thanks and best thoughts for those who are serving overseas and in combat zones today.
We solute all of the Men and Women who place themselves in harms way for love of country.
sincerely,
Scott Bradley, LCDR (ret)
We solute all of the Men and Women who place themselves in harms way for love of country.
sincerely,
Scott Bradley, LCDR (ret)
Sunday, May 9, 2010
What is in a 42 gallon barall of crude oil?
Source: American Petroleum Institute (www.api.org). Figures are based on 1995 average yields for US refineries. Though one 'barrel contains 42 gallons of cruce oil, the refined volume increases due to added chemicals introduced during the refining process.Processing gains raise the volume by 2.2 gallons to a total of 44.2 gallons overall.
Monday, May 3, 2010
15 inches of rain in one hour!
I must admit I am glad I am not living in Nashville right now. While they have blue skys today, they also are going to continue to flood as their rivers are rising to more than 10 feet above flood stage.
Is this Global Warming? Well, as best defined...global warming is viewed by changing weather patterns and unexpected storms of extream force.
Let's send our best wishes to these Americans who are being hit by these really crazy patterns.
Oil still flowing...
There are oil rigs in operation throughout the world, not just off of our coasts but in the North Sea, the Persian Gulf, Arabian region, and Indian Oceans... South Pacific... even the Red Sea.
This catastrophy may be the worst in years, but the question has been raised ... is it the last? And for that matter, is it the worst potentially?
What we know for sure is that it ... the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico... has been dumping from 20,000 to 50,000 gallons of crude oil into the Gulf for two weeks today...and may not be shut down for several more weeks.
Your government needs to know how you feel. Should we allow coastal oil drilling or not...and if yes...should we put more secure programs in place? That is to say, is it good enough now, or not?
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