BP Prepares for ‘Top Kill’ Procedure to Contain Spill

[Chris_]

As BP prepared Tuesday for its most ambitious effort yet to stop the torrent of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, company officials emphasized that the procedure known as a top kill had never been tried so far underwater, that it might be delayed again and that it might not succeed at all.

Officials planned to begin the procedure Wednesday morning, and they said it could take from 12 hours to a few days to determine whether the operation is successful. Either way, President Obama will return to Louisiana on Friday to survey the spill’s damage, the White House said.

Engineers guided submarine robots through diagnostic tests Tuesday in preparation for the top kill, a maneuver in which tubes will inject thousands of pounds of heavy drilling fluids into a five-story-tall stack of pipes to clog the well. A 30,000-horsepower engine on a ship floating above the well will shoot the liquids, known in the oil business as drilling mud.

The technique has been used successfully for other spills, notably for stopping the oil flooding out of Kuwaiti oil wells sabotaged by the Iraqi army at the end of the first Persian Gulf war.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/us/26spill.html?src=mv

Interesting... hope it works.  Live video is here: http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/homepage/STAGING/local_assets/bp_homepage/html/rov_stream.html

BP America on Twitter.  For faster updates, I guess.

[Chris_]

Hmm... they've moved the camera.  Interesting-looking equipment.

[Chris_]

BP's 'Top Kill' Effort to Plug Oil Spill in Gulf Reportedly Working

BP's "top kill" operation halted the flow of oil and gas from the stricken Deepwater Horizon rig Thursday, according to U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, cited in the Los Angeles Times.

Allen, who is coordinating the government response to the oil spill, said Thursday that engineers had succeeded in stopping the flow of oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico from the BP well.

Allen said the engineers had pumped enough drilling fluid to block all oil and gas from the well. The pressure from the well was very low, but persists, he added.

If the risky procedure stops the flow, BP will then inject cement into the well to seal it. The top kill has worked above ground but has never before been tried 5,000 feet beneath the sea. BP pegged its chance of success at 60 to 70 percent.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/26/bp-says-effort-plug-spill-going-planned/