Hay vs Gulf Oil Spill?
- Thread starter buster
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Right now they should be loading C-5's and C-17's with hay ,just open the ramp and push it out.could you imagine?
Well why not give it a try. You've got all the government brains and oil company brains working on this and an old country boy from somewhere in the South comes up with this idea.
Looks like its worth a try, and it might be a cheaper safer clean up.
hay would do very little
Probably but it is still worth a shot.
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
hay would do very little
Agreed. I don't think there is enough hay around to come close to cleaning this up. How would you then clean up the oil soaked hay? Where would it go? Landfill? Resulting hay shortage would then drive up the cost of cattle/food. Consumer always pays in the end.
hay would do very little
Agreed. I don't think there is enough hay around to come close to cleaning this up. How would you then clean up the oil soaked hay? Where would it go? Landfill? Resulting hay shortage would then drive up the cost of cattle/food. Consumer always pays in the end.
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
hay would do very little
Agreed. I don't think there is enough hay around to come close to cleaning this up. How would you then clean up the oil soaked hay? Where would it go? Landfill? Resulting hay shortage would then drive up the cost of cattle/food. Consumer always pays in the end.
No very easy - put it in place of coal through a gassifier and burn it for the heating value of the hay plus oil... to make power.
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
hay would do very little
Agreed. I don't think there is enough hay around to come close to cleaning this up. How would you then clean up the oil soaked hay? Where would it go? Landfill? Resulting hay shortage would then drive up the cost of cattle/food. Consumer always pays in the end.
No very easy - put it in place of coal through a gassifier and burn it for the heating value of the hay plus oil... to make power.
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
hay would do very little
Agreed. I don't think there is enough hay around to come close to cleaning this up. How would you then clean up the oil soaked hay? Where would it go? Landfill? Resulting hay shortage would then drive up the cost of cattle/food. Consumer always pays in the end.
No very easy - put it in place of coal through a gassifier and burn it for the heating value of the hay plus oil... to make power.
Okay....is that EPA Approved?
Where will you get 10 billion bales of hay?
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
hay would do very little
Agreed. I don't think there is enough hay around to come close to cleaning this up. How would you then clean up the oil soaked hay? Where would it go? Landfill? Resulting hay shortage would then drive up the cost of cattle/food. Consumer always pays in the end.
No very easy - put it in place of coal through a gassifier and burn it for the heating value of the hay plus oil... to make power.
Okay....is that EPA Approved?
Where will you get 10 billion bales of hay?
I don't think that a pile of water and oil soaked hay at least 1/4 mile square and 3-1/2 feet deep would make it to the gasifier, before spontaneously combusting.
Don't know of any coal handling equipment that I'm familiar with that could handle straw, particularly matted sticky stuff.
Don't know of any coal handling equipment that I'm familiar with that could handle straw, particularly matted sticky stuff.
No one really has an answer do they? Even if they can clean up a portion of the mess with the hay it was worth a shot. IMO they're in the dark here, hoping. Sadly the people of that region will suffer, and we'll be paying very shortly at the pumps. Big oil never loses.
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
No one really has an answer do they? Even if they can clean up a portion of the mess with the hay it was worth a shot. IMO they're in the dark here, hoping. Sadly the people of that region will suffer, and we'll be paying very shortly at the pumps. Big oil never loses.
IMO, the incident should never have occurred, prevention better than cure, blah blah.
Something that seems lacking is the absence of targets, and plans for action. Trying to funnel the flow, while admirable doesn't deal with the already spilled oil.
They needed to stop the oil from reaching ground, and if that needed multiple booms, hay, dinghies with oil absorbant mat and hand wringer washing machines, then that's what was needed.
Like a military campaign, they needed to decide where the released oil was NOT going, stop it from getting there, and THEN do everything that they could do to stem the flow into the containment zone.
failure to do so is their second act of negligence.
No one really has an answer do they? Even if they can clean up a portion of the mess with the hay it was worth a shot. IMO they're in the dark here, hoping. Sadly the people of that region will suffer, and we'll be paying very shortly at the pumps. Big oil never loses.
IMO, the incident should never have occurred, prevention better than cure, blah blah.
Something that seems lacking is the absence of targets, and plans for action. Trying to funnel the flow, while admirable doesn't deal with the already spilled oil.
They needed to stop the oil from reaching ground, and if that needed multiple booms, hay, dinghies with oil absorbant mat and hand wringer washing machines, then that's what was needed.
Like a military campaign, they needed to decide where the released oil was NOT going, stop it from getting there, and THEN do everything that they could do to stem the flow into the containment zone.
failure to do so is their second act of negligence.
Love the bib overalls - but having a piece of hay in his mouth would have completed the picture.
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Use it as a wick to keep it burning while at sea. The hay should last a long time that way.
I imagine a kelp harvester could collect the stuff easy enough. Throwaway barges to be used for cook outs.
I imagine a kelp harvester could collect the stuff easy enough. Throwaway barges to be used for cook outs.
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Low cost Viking funerals. It could subsidize the operation. Always make the best of a bad situation.
Where's that magic algae that eats the stuff? Mutant bacteria...
Where's that magic algae that eats the stuff? Mutant bacteria...
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
No one really has an answer do they? Even if they can clean up a portion of the mess with the hay it was worth a shot. IMO they're in the dark here, hoping. Sadly the people of that region will suffer, and we'll be paying very shortly at the pumps. Big oil never loses.
IMO, the incident should never have occurred, prevention better than cure, blah blah.
Something that seems lacking is the absence of targets, and plans for action. Trying to funnel the flow, while admirable doesn't deal with the already spilled oil.
They needed to stop the oil from reaching ground, and if that needed multiple booms, hay, dinghies with oil absorbant mat and hand wringer washing machines, then that's what was needed.
Like a military campaign, they needed to decide where the released oil was NOT going, stop it from getting there, and THEN do everything that they could do to stem the flow into the containment zone.
failure to do so is their second act of negligence.
I agree it should have never happened but it did. They are in the dark, brilliant minds guessing. Give it time maybe the well will run dry. Seriously it is a tragedy.
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
No one really has an answer do they? Even if they can clean up a portion of the mess with the hay it was worth a shot. IMO they're in the dark here, hoping. Sadly the people of that region will suffer, and we'll be paying very shortly at the pumps. Big oil never loses.
IMO, the incident should never have occurred, prevention better than cure, blah blah.
Something that seems lacking is the absence of targets, and plans for action. Trying to funnel the flow, while admirable doesn't deal with the already spilled oil.
They needed to stop the oil from reaching ground, and if that needed multiple booms, hay, dinghies with oil absorbant mat and hand wringer washing machines, then that's what was needed.
Like a military campaign, they needed to decide where the released oil was NOT going, stop it from getting there, and THEN do everything that they could do to stem the flow into the containment zone.
failure to do so is their second act of negligence.
I agree it should have never happened but it did. They are in the dark, brilliant minds guessing. Give it time maybe the well will run dry. Seriously it is a tragedy.
Kestas
Staff member
Today on the news they talked about many people submitting all kinds of ides on how to clean up the mess. In the face of grim disaster, it's nice to know that American ingenuity exists.
Are the pipelines so brittle that they can't be pinched off by a heavy weight? Perhaps if they didn't use such brittle pipes in the first place they wouldn't be in the mess they're in.
One final thought - with the scores of drillers in the Gulf, you'd think there would be something on standby for the inevitable, like a ready-made funnel waiting for use, instead of being forced to make one on the quick.
Are the pipelines so brittle that they can't be pinched off by a heavy weight? Perhaps if they didn't use such brittle pipes in the first place they wouldn't be in the mess they're in.
One final thought - with the scores of drillers in the Gulf, you'd think there would be something on standby for the inevitable, like a ready-made funnel waiting for use, instead of being forced to make one on the quick.
Kestas,
The pipe leaking is what is called a riser tube. Inside of that is a string of drill pipe. The drill rig was floating in 5000 feet of water. When the rig received a gas kick the control mechanisms for some reason failed. This allowed a large Methane cloud to form on the drill rig, and it found an ignition source. This is when 11 men tragically lost their lives.
Over 100 other personnel were evacuated from the platform and it burned and unfortunately the fire was hot enough to collapse the structure allowing it to sink. The riser was attached to the rig and to the wellhead/BOP 5000' below. When the rig sank it damaged the pipe. This is not simply one pipe though; it is a drill pipe within the riser.
There is a large plume with approximately 50% of the volume being natural gas.
It is easy to ask why this contingency was not planned for after an event happened(much like the space shuttle heat shield damage that resulted in tragedy. When exploring in areas that is beyond what man has gone to before it can be expected that we run into the unexpected. By definition it is difficult to plan for the unexpected or more appropriate the unimaginable scenario.
Despite the negative press there is nothing being spared in shutting down the flow and limiting the impacts. The fishermen who can not fish are being paid; they have been advised to submit their claims to get paid so that they don’t lose their boats.
The pipe leaking is what is called a riser tube. Inside of that is a string of drill pipe. The drill rig was floating in 5000 feet of water. When the rig received a gas kick the control mechanisms for some reason failed. This allowed a large Methane cloud to form on the drill rig, and it found an ignition source. This is when 11 men tragically lost their lives.
Over 100 other personnel were evacuated from the platform and it burned and unfortunately the fire was hot enough to collapse the structure allowing it to sink. The riser was attached to the rig and to the wellhead/BOP 5000' below. When the rig sank it damaged the pipe. This is not simply one pipe though; it is a drill pipe within the riser.
There is a large plume with approximately 50% of the volume being natural gas.
It is easy to ask why this contingency was not planned for after an event happened(much like the space shuttle heat shield damage that resulted in tragedy. When exploring in areas that is beyond what man has gone to before it can be expected that we run into the unexpected. By definition it is difficult to plan for the unexpected or more appropriate the unimaginable scenario.
Despite the negative press there is nothing being spared in shutting down the flow and limiting the impacts. The fishermen who can not fish are being paid; they have been advised to submit their claims to get paid so that they don’t lose their boats.
Kestas
Staff member
Thanks for the explanation. Many times I wish that journalists would devote more explanation on the technical challenges at hand instead of telling us over and over how terrible the situation is.
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