re: #167 Bagua

Oil Spill Update:

Good animation of the Top Kill which may be tried Wednesday.

The Mud (a heavy fluid) will be pumped off the adjacent barge to the platform which will pump it at pressure down to the sea-bed. They will most likely start with heavy mud, about twice the weight of sea water.

The mud goes straight down a marine riser, and into the specially manufactured manifold which will inject it into the two available inlets into the failed BOP. One is a choke line and one is a kill line.

They just re-installed the control pod that was brought to the surface for repair. This pod controls the choke and kill lines.

If all goes well, and they are able to force the mud down, the hydrostatic pressure will stop the flow of oil and gas. Once the mud start to be lost into the reservoir, they will shift to lighter mud and attempt to balance the well, at which point it will be possible to cement it shut.

[Video]

I appreciate your fascination with this and the info. you provide.

But I’m confused about the mud. If it’s the heavy mud pressure that pushes the flow back down, then how will they move to a lighter mud and keep the flow down?

I have a vague understanding that one of the problems that caused the blowout in the first place, was that they displaced the heavy mud keeping pressure on the flow with lighter seawater, thus allowing the oil and gas to spew on out.