Those of you that follow my twitter will know of course that Deepwater Horizon happens to be my obsession of the month .Up to now my experiments have been confined to the bathtub using sewing thread candle wax and tinfoil with the occasional drop of olive oil. Somehow I thought my efforts lacked any reality As the day was so gorgeous I sat on the deck for a long time after my 2nd visitor departed doing the staring thing …..suddenly I realized that I was looking at the very thing I needed to add a bit of reality to my process. A fire bucket which had not been used since the winter and when last used had not been emptied fully of ash so with added rainwater about a foot deep and 3” of ash at the bottom .My very own Gulf of Mexico.
The problem with the square dome overnight as I understand was ice crystals are forming on the square dome due to the very near freezing water at that depth, so far I have been unable to get Tony or Doug on the phone to confirm this but that’s what the media are saying. This is where the power of circular thinking came into play supposing the square dome wasn’t in nearly freezing water all presumably would be OK .Found a screw which I carefully placed in the middle to represent the wellhead ,I then rooted for and found a 2” x 4” plastic pipe that had been knocking about the studio and placed this in the ash at the bottom even tho it was a sunny day the bucket behind a chair was pretty cold so I had another coffee. A moment of clarity occurred while washing the dishes as I realised that Fairy Liquid was the answer ‘Fairy Liquid’ does not exist in the USA as far I know but I am talking about a brand of dish detergent ,soon I had reamed out the nozzle with a tin opener and inserted a straw, a drop of superglue later and I had my topside ready. I put the straw in the pipe and slowly squeezed the bottle and lo and behold was able to fill the pipe with Fairy Liquid which is fairly unfreezable being mainly a chemical called teepol. I did a bit of spooning and so forth to mimic currents etc., held together pretty well.
I then made the holes in my tinfoil round dome a bit bigger and lowered it down bit sluggish once it hit the Fairy Liquid but sank all the same. Obviously they will need a much bigger pipe or containment area to pump teepol or a similar fluid into large enough for the robots to scurry about and when they have finished suck it all out again .I didn’t go that far. The End is no longer nigh .This should work a green answer.And a great way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon -(oo)-
copyright 2010
Looks like you have a prototype, great.
Good ideas and well thought out. T’is always a pleasure to speak to a fellow intellect. Now I have a few years experience in the Gulf-roughneck, snubber, and professional surfaced supplied diver. They don’t “Fairy Liquid” but they do have some very powerful disperssants to break up small spills, such as diesel and small amounts of contaminate. The problem here is that heavy crude is floating fairly thick and I’d guess 6 inches or thicker depending on the area.
I am from Lousiana and it is sad that this is happening now when there is so much debate at this time for and against the exploitation of our natural resorces. On the one had those in favor are trying their best to justify it and on the other hand simpleminded ones are basking in their stupidity as they lavish fuel for their nonsense.
All in all time will tell but the long term affects will be there.
Cole Vidrine
missed an exciting day
need to address the staring thing
post haste to my counsellor. .
Dear David,
Yes I have been following your latest obsession on twitter. now it came to my web sight. Thought it would be easier to see it all together. David I realise (if not before now) I am “thick as two short planks”. I applaud your brain and enthusiasm. May you continue to
explore your scientific side and share your discoveries.
Look forward to you blog Mary