First, I want to apologize to my fellow Kossocks for not responding to queries regarding my last post regarding the Drill, baby drill. Bills, too long ignored by me had to be formally addressed by me. They have been and so I am back, for now.
The recent Gulf Oil spill sickens and angers me and I'm sure many of you guys have gone round and round along similar lines.
One of the main purposes of this diary then is not to tell any of you something you may not already discussed. As some of you might have guessed about me, I am more interested in ideas those in the establishment may not have considered at this point.
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If some of you are still reading and have followed the above link, you will notice a particularly Geeky idea inspired, in part by Rachel Maddow. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I often find Ms Maddow very inspirational.
The proposed device is not high tech, although it does require a great deal of prefabrication: a process that could involve combination of military and NASA resources in some kind of possible future application of the original concept.
In the proposed device, a concrete conical enclosure is placed over the site of the initial spill. Robot submersibles could, in theory, lower the enclosure and place it correctly.
Ballast devices, attached along the periphery could, in theory, through remote control, effectively modulate the structure's decent and placement.
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The Naval and Marine Engineering (N.A.M.E.) aspects, I must confess, I am not expert enough to fully comment on at this point, but I do know that this problem is essentially a Marine Engineering problem: that's why I have chosen a large conical shape as my initial base containment structure as opposed to a column: especially given the direction of vertical displacement the spilling oil is currently taking advantage of.
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After setting the base, robot submersibles then assemble the large Top Assembly to the structure's nadir. A floating hydromechanic pump to regulate collection and flow, temperature and pressure is installed at this time be at the juncture.
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The upper structure is composed of a much heavier grade of the same kind of material used to fabricate boons used on the surface.
In the proposed model, initially there will be an increase of volumetric pressure of oil-water slurry. More collection ships on the surface will be necessary.
Regarding the existing plumes of oil-sea water slurry that have not yet surfaced, similar Emergency Oil Reclamation and Anti-Spill Devices (E.O.R.A) devices can be constructed and suspended under water between the surface and the ocean floor to effectively capture those plumes and direct them to the surface for recollection.
These secondary devices are different in so far that the lower Bell portion, instead of being made of concrete are instead made of either a much heavier grade boon material or a similar polymer based material that retains its natural buoyancy in extreme conditions of temperature and pressure.
Again, sufficient collection vessels on station on the surface will be necessary. the fact remains that in principle, BP may have had originally had a good idea in their initial attempt to drop an enclosure on the initial site of the spill. Where BP dropped the ball was in the SHAPE of their Emergency stop gap measure. For the kinds of pressure at that depth, the box shape was woefully inadequate.
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It is not without some irony that Al Jazeera's explanation is, quite probably, the most interesting at this point, especially in terms of the actual "dome" structure initially part of the earliest efforts to gain control of the spill subsurface.
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Bottom line: I'm not claiming this idea is THE one sure fire answer to effective containment. Fact is, even if the spill is finally contained, cleaning up the already spilled oil remains a substantial challenge.
There has been some talk, as many of you know about the possibilities of hay and other materials: possibility 1
or this one that describes a particular valve arrangement:
valves for pressure and temperature regulation
Yet, the one possible solution out there that dovetails well into my proposal is this the proposal put forth by this idea:
a new look at oilzout
IN CONCLUSION
There is no conclusion to this mess, this coming Wednesday be damned: and even if push comes to shove, which by many accounts, it already has in spades, it is going to be a very long and a very hot summer in the Gulf of Mexico.
The ideas put forth in this diary may be far fetched and there may be a lot reasons why none of the proposed ideas will work, but something has got to work sooner than later.
My only hope and prayer is that those in charge of formulating an effective strategy in resolving the current Gulf Oil Spill fiasco before the coming hurricane season, find something more effective than vague sound bites and empty assurances.
The massive vacuum device I have proposed may not be THE answer, but ladies and gentlemen given the circumstances is it really that crazy?