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BP Robot Seriously Hampers Oil Spill Containment
ChiefMonkeyGrinder writes
"A high-tech effort by BP to slow the oil gushing from its ruptured well head led to a large accident yesterday that forced the company to remove a vital containment cap for 10 hours. Robots, known as remote operated vehicles, were performing multiple operations at the disaster site when one bumped into the 'top hat' cap and damaged one of the vents that removes excess fluid, according to the US Coast Guard. The robots weigh around four tons, and are controlled from vessels on the surface using advanced IT systems with both manual and automated functions. BP removed the cap for nearly 10 hours ... in order to assess it after a discharge of liquids was noted from a key valve. The cap's removal left the oil gushing out of the wellhead, largely uninterrupted. Admiral Thad Allen, US National Incident Commander for the response, told the media that part of the problem was the number of robots conducting simultaneous operations at an immense depth. A dozen robots are circulating the wellhead."
Another factor that may hinder containment even more is the increasing potential for tropical storms in that area of the Gulf.
What would a robot's ideal soup be? Hot soup would interfere with the cooling systems, so it would have to be cold, it's a robot, so obviously petroleum would be a must, and needs a good amount of salt. Oh, hey, robot soup is oil in ocean water.
This whole mess is probably caused by robots trying to get delicious, delicious robot soup.
"The key to great robot cooking is to start with a good oil... and eat it" - Bender
The problem is pressure. There isn't a pumpjack on the sea floor using suction to draw the petroleum out of the well. It is coming out by itself, and under very high pressure.
You could weld a valve onto the top, but if you try to close it, the pressure will seek relief elsewhere. If you get really, really lucky, it just blows out the weld and rejects the valve. Much more likely, however, it would split the pipe under the sea floor where we don't have access. The only hope of capturing anything is if the breech remains above the surface.
One day in July or August BP will suddenly get shit under control and the leak will stop over night. That will be the day the two relief wells come online and provide means to reduce the well pressure. BP started drilling these relief wells in April, and they take a few months to come online. Everything else is window dressing.
See that "Preview" button?
If BP is seized it will quit laying golden eggs.
I don't think people are too happy with the "golden eggs" that BP is laying.
so damaging the shareholder value does _nothing_ against the employees who screwed up.
The first problem is identifying who actually screwed up. Was it some worker who made a mistake and hit the wrong button or something? Or was it his manager who asked him to bypass some safety measure? Or perhaps the manager's manager who asked for unrealistic metrics while looking the other way on ethical violations? Or was it the manager's manager's manager who knew all this was going on and just didn't do anything?
How do you assign blame, and how do you prove it? Once you've figured that out, how do you punish them? Do you throw them in jail? I'm not opposed to it, but it doesn't help clean up the oil spill. You could fine them billions of dollars, but I don't think the individual employees have that money.
And here's the thing: when you get down to it, the shareholders invested in a company that was behaving unethically. It's the shareholder's investment that allows BP to function this way. When CEOs act unethically, they do it in the name of serving the shareholders. Don't the shareholders bear some responsibility? Isn't part of the problem that the "owners" of the company failed to ensure that their company was "doing the right thing?" I'm not sure that we should be seeking to punish shareholders, but I also don't see why they should take a pass.
As I see it, we have a systemic responsibility/blame problem. We love to blame people, but our system is explicitly set up to limit liability of anyone with wealth or power so that entrepreneurs won't be too risk-averse to build new business ventures. However, I think we've gone too far. The problems of the last decade have not been because people are not risk-averse enough.
People aren't investing their money, they're gambling it. Corporations cut corners and endanger lives to save a few bucks, creating situations where serious accidents become likely. When accidents occur, we let them off the hook. We say, "we shouldn't punish these corporations, because that will just hurt share holders!" and so not only do we not punish them, but we bail them out. I bet if we do go looking for an individual to blame, we'll get fed some low-level middle-management-type who was just passing along orders. Nothing will happen. Nothing will change.
The well casing is ruptured below the sea floor. If they cap it, oil will begin leaking below the surface. This will cause extensive erosion leading to the collapse of the blow out preventor. This erosion will continue and leakage rates will continue to increase until the whole oil field depressurizes. In other words: The very best anybody will ever do is to leave this pipe wide open. It will only get worse from here, and substantially faster if they do cap it. Our only hope is with other means to depressurize this (relief wells).