Oil Spill Gulf Of Mexico 2010
Oil Spill Gulf Of Mexico 2010 – First hurricane Katrina, now this?! The poor state of Louisiana has had the worst luck. This time, an oil rig off it’s coast exploded and sank, killing 11 people. Even worse, the destruction of this platform has caused a huge pipe to break under water.
This pipe is currently spewing out more than 40,000 gallons of oil a day into the ocean. The spilled oil is reaching as far in as 20 miles from the coast of Louisiana. If the spill continues the oil could cause damage to the beaches of four states, threaten many commercial fishing businesses and damage surrounding Eco systems. The coast guard says the spill is covering a circumference of 600 miles.
There are currently submersibles searching underwater for an emergency valve to the broken pipe. There are numerous other vehicles trying to contain and clean up the oil as well.
This Oil Spill Gulf Of Mexico 2010 has been compared to the 1989 oil spill from the wreck of the Exxon Valdez. The tanker spilled some 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into the ocean. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there are approximately 26,000 gallons of Valdez crude oil still in Alaska’s sand and soil. This gives you an idea of just how severe this spill is as well.
May 5th, 2010 at 12:31 am
the oil spill in Mexico would surely be one of the greatest environmental disasters for this year.*~~
May 9th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
A simple cost effective method for prevention of methane hydrate formation during the dome operation.
A 100-ton concrete-and-steel vault will be mounted onto a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico an important step in a delicate and unprecedented attempt to stop most of the gushing crude fouling the sea. The formation of methane hydrate has been seen to cause this operation to fail. They suggested of pumping methanol to act as antifreeze. Methanol will be used to prevent the formation of hydrate. Methanol is toxic and explosive. Methanol is a good anti freeze at normal pressure and temperature. It is not known how methanol is going to do at high pressure and low temperature. Another cost effective method to prevent the formation of crystalline methane hydrate is electrochemical. The inside of the dome is made from steel. This can act as an electrochemical electrode and can be used as a source of releasing gases. The easiest to release is chlorine or hydrogen depending on the applied potential. At high pressure and low temperature (conditions at the bottom of the gulf) the released gas may be in the supercritical conditions (Behave like liquid and gas). It is not known what will be the electrochemical overvoltage for gas release (how easy these gases can be released). However, this does not require special equipment for methanol release at high pressure and low temperature beside methanol is known to be very toxic and combustible. The equipments required for gas release are already available (used for cathodic protection) and very cost effective. The amount and duration of gas release can be controlled according to the requirement. The released gases will produce turbulence which may prevent the hydration and subsequent crystallisation of methane. The release of these gases may require a simple roughening of the interior surface of the steel. The surface of the steel may have to be sprayed with a catalyst that has a very low electrochemical overvoltage for releasing that particular gas. The surface may be sprayed with lead if for example oxygen gas is to be released.
M. Reda
CanadElectrochim
Calgary Alberta T2E5K7 Canada