Blow Out Preventer and BP
I am learning about some equipment that I never knew existed until BP started putting oil in the Gulf of Mexico rather than in refineries. That was surely not their intention but happened when the supposed Blow Out Preventer(BOP) on the Deepwater Horizon Rig didn’t do the job of preventing the blow out on their drilling operation.
BOP at one time referred to a type of music, not anymore. A Blow Out Preventer is a 5 story part of a deep water drilling operation that costs many millions of dollars to build It sits on the top of a deep water well and does various thing related to the well. One of those operations is supposed to stop a blow out from happening. This part of the BOP is called a Blind Shear Ram. This did not work properly so we now have the disaster of all that oil in the Gulf.
I’m not going to spend time describing the function of the Blind Shear Ram since there are a whole bunch of smart people working on that with greater interest than has been exhibited on that part of the equipment in the past. With time and study the real fault will be discovered as to where the reckless behavior occurred, which currently has been designated by the President to belong solely to BP.
BP obviously is at the heart of the problem since they were drilling and now are spilling. My several hour course in the operation and history of Blind Shear Rams has given me a clear indication of the complexity and shared responsibility surrounding this event
Tests through the years have indicated that the Blind Shear Rams fail about 46% of the time in a deep water situation.. There are various reasons involving hydraulic requirements and placement of the shear on the pipe needing to be cut and sealed . All of these failure problems are exacerbated by the fact that whatever the problem, it is taking place in water so deep that people cannot get there to fix it.
Drilling rigs now are being built with two Blind Shear Rams by TransOcean the owner of the rigs built for deep water drilling operated by BP. The DeepWater Horizon was not equipped with a second Blind Shear Ram.
The President has labeled BP As being reckless. That may be so since the culture of the oil drilling community is not one of a cautious nature. The Reckless charge should be held for a bit until a study is done by people who know what they are talking about .
The Obama Administration has demonstrated reckless behavior recently concerning proposals to expand off shore drilling in sensitive areas. This administration has shown no interest in correcting the laisse faire attitude of their Mineral Management Service in addressing the need for robust regulations concerning deep water drilling operations.
Large spills in the past have been related to Blind Shear Ram failure. The inclusion of a second Blind Shear in BOP’s is an industry addition, not a requirement of MMS or any initiative of Obama people. The failure of the device is clearly related to a hydraulic valve that has no redundant element to overcome a failure. That weak design element remains, but failure can be attempted to be corrected with the second Blind Shear Ram. This is an improvement but not the answer. The aircraft industry would never have grown if they hadn’t understood the need for redundancy in critical elements.
The Obama Administration has failed miserably with the MMS continuing to ignore numerous recommendations in issues of safety from their own consultants. The potential failure of the BOP that is now a reality in the Gulf has been well know to Obama’s administration and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar since they have taken control of the government .The danger and knowledge have not produced regulatory adjustments where the danger existed.
Obama has dictated a course that shows his lack of understanding concerning crises management. He has stopped drilling in the Gulf with potential fiscal damage to all operations. If Obama thinks about it he may stop all air traffic the next time there is a crash.
BP is aggressive operator with a CEO who is a bit clueless concerning public relations. They need to be held responsible for damages but not subjected to a” hold up” for 20 billion dollars by the President of the United States.
Who knows what Obama going to do with the $20 Billion since there is no established oversight provision for distribution? Any guesses? I think he is probably discussing that issue with Rahm Emanuel right now.
The Photo is of the Deepwater Horizon in happier days
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Comments
It is a huge problem. BP is working to stop the oil gush,
They ae making slow progress. The problem with the Blow Out Preventer has been well known for years. Maybe now MMS will do it’s job and require a redesign of the identified area ( hydraulic valve) of failure.
The new and perhaps greater worry is for Obama and Emanuel to have 20 Billion to spend with no guidelines or oversight established. I wonder where they will stash the money. Probably they know a garage big enough in the Chicago area
1. Anadarko owns 25% of the Deepwater Horizon Well.
2. Every year for the last several years BP has had an identical or similar occurence in various places around the world. The only difference is the size of the spill has been smaller.
The point is this: Everybody has known about ’state of the art’ industry practices for years and turned a blind eye. That includes the Blues, the Reds and the rest.
Culpability/responsibility/accountability rests equally on the entire oil and oil service sectors, including BP and APC which own the well, Transocean and its colleagues for building the rig unsafely, MMS for lack of oversight , at least two presidents, and the governors of the Gulf states.
The question now how best to go forward together. The size of the disaster defies political and personal differences. The waters of the world are at stake. There’s an estimated 2 billions barrels waiting their turn to gush out in the Gulf. Doesn’t that sound like everyone’s problem?