Giant Shower Curtain Solution for Gulf Oil Leak

[boyntonstu]

Giant Shower Curtain Solution for Gulf Oil Leak


Create a 1,000 foot diameter circle of anchored barges over the leak and lower weighted plastic curtains about 200 feet deep.

The oil will float up into the plastic cylinder trap and it can be sucked into tankers and taken to refineries for domestic use.

[Crna Legija]

how big is the hole? cant they just pop rivet a some steel over it with a gasket in-between

[rcman50166]

I don't think pop rivets would support the pressures the crude could produce. They had a giant cap idea a while ago. What ever happened to that?

[12332123]

@rcman

It got clogged up with methane clathrates that made it float to the surface.

[boyntonstu]

@rcman

It got clogged up with methane clathrates that made it float to the surface.

Oil floats; why not collect it in one place and use it until the leak is repaired?

[saefroch]

While your suggestion seems to make sense, I'm pretty sure that there are logistical issues with implementing such a "giant shower curtain." All sorts of things like the actual production of a leakless shower curtain cylinder with a 3,142 foot circumference, then actually getting that in place. Even if such a solution were to be possible, I'm sure BP will be looking for the cheapest solution possible.

[rcman50166]

@rcman

It got clogged up with methane clathrates that made it float to the surface.

Hahaha, not to misinterpret the gravity of the situation, but that makes me think of the cap procedure in slightly fast motion, grainy picture with this playing in my head

[Gaderelguitarist]

I still think that the idea to throw a ball of garbage at the hole is the silliest idea.

SNL hit the nail on the head with their season's finale opening skit, suggesting dolphins with mops, an oil whisperer, and just going to watch a movie.

As for the shower curtain idea, I would hesitate to think that it would work. Theoretically, it would be the best way to contain the oil, yet something would rupture the containment unless it is of a suitable thickness. Still, though, its a much better idea than what has bee proposed by the big shots, so my hats off to you.

[Technician1002]

The largest problem with the idea is not putting it in the right place, but keeping it in the right place. A large wall of plastic in the ocean is called a sea anchor. It moves with the current just like the oil. It is subject to the same shear currents at differing depths, drift, etc. There are few tugs that can push that large of a wall of plastic to keep it somewhere near the well head. Towing a boom is about the best that can be done.

A 20 foot wide tube on the other hand that is anchored over the well may work as long as you can harvest the oil fast enough to keep the flow moving. Water that mixes in will need to be separated. The tube can sway and bend in the ocean current much like sea grass on a giant scale.

[metalmeltr]

invest in shamwows and soak it up

[boyntonstu]

The largest problem with the idea is not putting it in the right place, but keeping it in the right place. A large wall of plastic in the ocean is called a sea anchor. It moves with the current just like the oil. It is subject to the same shear currents at differing depths, drift, etc. There are few tugs that can push that large of a wall of plastic to keep it somewhere near the well head. Towing a boom is about the best that can be done.

A 20 foot wide tube on the other hand that is anchored over the well may work as long as you can harvest the oil fast enough to keep the flow moving. Water that mixes in will need to be separated. The tube can sway and bend in the ocean current much like sea grass on a giant scale.

A big problem calls for big solutions.

A buoyant ring with many anchors would hold a position of the curtain.

I believe that 100 or 200 feet in depth is enough.

AAMOF The anchors could be computer controlled winches to shift the position relative to what the leak is doing.

Another idea is to form a ring of tankers over the leak and harvest the oil from the center.

[kjjohn]

How big is the hole anyway? And what pressures is the crude running at?

[boyntonstu]

dunno, why is it important?

[kjjohn]

Well, it would obviously be harder to plug a bigger hole and harder to stop oil at high pressures.

[CS]

Is collapsing the well an option? Using the deep water/oil pressure to create a water hammer effect within the well? Definitely in thresholds that hold no familiarity, so water hammer could be hard/ non-realistic to achieve.