(#`ω´)∩ これが新しい原油流出対策のプランらしい。
はじめにBPは高さ18m、重さ125トンのコンテナードームと呼ぶ鉄の箱を
原油のリーク箇所にかぶせて、原油を吸い上げる計画だったが、
ドームの内側に天然ガスと海水が反応して出来た氷(ハイドレート)が大量に付着して
凍り付いて詰まってしまい、失敗した。
それで今度はトップハットと呼ぶ鉄の帽子を作り、原油のリーク箇所にかぶせる。
トップハットには海上の船から温水を送り、中のガスハイドレート(氷)を熱で溶かす。
トップハットの大きさは、直径1.2m、高さ1.5mである。
ところでBOP(ドリルパイプ根元の噴出防止装置)が現代重工業製って本当なのかな?
(#`ω´)
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A mile under sea, the US oil leak continues to flow
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8679400.stm
BP has released new footage of oil gushing from the broken pipe that rests nearly
a mile under water, contaminating the Gulf of Mexico.
The images show oil pouring from a break in the yellow pipe, and becoming lighter
in colour as it mixes with natural gas.
Over the past 21 days, more than four million gallons of oil have been released since
the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said that
the flow rate looked "pretty much the same as it has always looked".
Meanwhile, a new containment box, a cylinder called a "top hat", was placed on the sea floor
near the well leak.
Initially, BP tried to lower a 125-tonne, 18-metre (40 feet) high container dome over the main leak on the sea floor. However, this failed when gas leaking from the pipe mixed with water to form hydrates, ice-like crystals, that blocked up the steel canopy.
Instead, engineers have lowered a smaller device onto the site. Dubbed the Top hat, it will sit over the tear in the pipe and partially stop the leak. To prevent the build up of hydrates, methanol is pumped into the top hat to disperse the water and gas.
The top hat is 1.5m (5 feet) high and 1.2m in diameter. Two special side lines are used to pump methanol into the top hat to displace water and gas leaking from the broken oil pipe. This should prevent the build-up of hydrates. Once in place, oil can be pumped up to the surface.
BP plan to lower the original subsea containment dome over the top hat to provide a better seal over the leaking site and pump oil up to the surface. This time, it will be attached to a pipe that can pump warm water into the dome to prevent the build-up of hydrates.