"Topkill" - Will it Turn into Bottomkill?

[Palehorse]

While we're waiting to hear whether this latest procedure will finally plug the oil gusher at the bottom of the Gulf, and viewing the "mud" they say has now replaced the crude in the cloud, I got to wondering. . .What is this "mud" made of?

A little poking around and I ran into this: . . .  http://www.cetco.com/cdp/Bentonite/Properties%20of%20a%20Drilling%20Fluid.pdf

VI.   Types of Drilling Fluids
A.   Clay (bentonite) B.   Polymer C.   Foam
VII.   Bentonite Clay
A.   Advantages i.   High viscosity
ii.   Low solids iii.   Suspends cuttings iv.   Fluid loss control v.   Stabilizes borehole vi.   Aids in prevention of lost circulation
B. Disadvantages i.   Retards settling of cuttings. The gel strength and viscosity properties of the
bentonite clay allow for cutting suspension and removal. This advantage of bentonite clay becomes a disadvantage in the settling of small cuttings and sand at the surface.
ii.   In highly swelling clays and shale's, the use of bentonite clay alone will not be sufficient to prevent hydration and swelling of the formation.
iii.   Bentonite is sensitive to water contamination. Hard water and salt water have adverse effects on bentonite. Low pH and extremely high pH water will also affect the bentonite clay performance.
C.   Overcoming Disadvantages i.   If the settling of cuttings becomes a problem in using bentonite clay, the addition
of small amounts of polymers will aid in this application. Polymers increase the viscosity of a bentonite clay mud. At the same time, no additional solids are being added, and the gel strength characteristic of the bentonite clay is reduced. This allows for better cutting removal. The best method for removing cuttings is the use of a desander. The desander removes a greater percentage of sand and cuttings than the addition of polymers, and does not change the properties of the bentonite clay. The use of a desander will increase the life of the bentonite clay. It will also reduce maintenance and repair of the mud pump.
ii.   In clay and shale drilling, it is most important to seal off this formation and to reduce hydration of the formation. Bentonite clay drilling mud cannot perform this function alone. Adding small amounts of polymer to the bentonite clay mud or switching to an all polymer drilling fluid system will
offset this problem. Polymers coat the clay or shale preventing hydration. Always add polymers to hydrated bentonite not to the mix water. Adding polymers to the mix water will have the same effect on the bentonite as it will on the clay formation, and the bentonite clay will not hydrate.
iii.   Bentonite clay's performance as the water in which it affects a drilling mud is mixed. The make up water is one of the main building blocks of the drilling mud. The pH, hardness, and salt content of the make up water determine the yield and performance of the bentonite clay.
a.   The pH of the make up water should be within the alkaline range. On the pH scale, the acidity range is from less than 1 to just below 7. The alkalinity range is just above 7 to 14. A pH of 7 is considered neutral. The pH desired for mixing bentonite clay is between 8.5 and 10 on the pH scale. A pH of 9 is considered perfect. If the pH of the make up water is low, it will affect the hydration of the bentonite clay. The make up water should be treated with soda ash to raise pH. If the pH of the make up water exceeds 11 pH, flocculation of the bentonite clays can occur.
b.   Hard water results in unsatisfactory performance of bentonite clay mud. Hard water contains dissolved calcium salts. Calcium salts impair the suspending and sealing properties of bentonite clay. Soda ash is used to treat hard water usually 1 to 2 pounds of soda ash will be sufficient treat for both high pH and hardness.
c.   Salt has a most adverse effect on bentonite clay. Salt will affect the bentonite clay in the mix water and if it comes into contact with it during drilling. Salt adversely affects filtration, suspension, viscosity, and gel properties of bentonite clay. If the salt is in the make up water, the viscosity and gel development of the bentonite clay will be greatly reduced. Increased filtration and filter cake thickness will be accelerated. If the salt is encountered during drilling after freshwater hydration, the bentonite drilling mud will thicken. It will, over time, flocculate out the bentonite clay. There is no treatment for salt contamination. Bentonite clay should never be mixed in salt water. Find another water source for the mix water. If salt is encountered during drilling, the mud should be disposed of as it becomes contaminated, and fresh mud, made up in advance, should replace it. If the salt contamination within the formation is high or continuous, an alternate drilling fluid is advisable. VariFlo (guar gum) or Attapulgite clay mixed with Rel-Pac (dry polymer) are two alternatives that perform well in salt conditions. Note salt concentrations begin to adversely affect bentonite at 500 ppm. At 5000 ppm, bentonite should not be used.
VIII.   Polymers
A.   Dry Polymers (Rel-Pac) Dry polymers such as Rel-Pac are non-toxic, non-fermenting organic polymers. There
are many advantages to using a Rel-Pac type material in conjunction with a bentonite clay mud. Bentonite is very stable in the presence of Rel-Pac. Rel-Pac increases lubricity, decreases fluid loss, increases viscosity, and inhibits water sensitive shale and clay formations from hydrating. Dry polymers perform well in hard and salty water, and do not deteriorate with age. Dry polymers contain much higher active ingredients than liquid polymers.
B.   Natural Polymer (Guar Gum) - VariFlo Guar gum is natural occurring polymers in the form of a bean much like coffee beans.
The product is finely ground and used as a drilling fluid or additive due to its viscosifying abilities. The product works well in fresh or salt water. The product is subject to biological degradation because it will support biological growth. Like all polymers, VariFlo (guar gum) is a poor filtrate control agent used alone. It also will not suspend cuttings when drilling stops. The product is sensitive to high temperatures and biological degradation. Mix waters should be low in temperature and free of enzymes and bacteria.
C.   Liquid Polymers (Insta Pac-425) Liquid polymers are polyacrylamide/polyacrylate emulsions kept in suspension with
mineral oil. Because the polymer is a liquid, it is much faster mixing than dry polymers. Because of this it is the product of choice in the groundwater industry. Liquid polymers are high in viscosity buildings, but
like all polymers, the product has poor filtration control when used alone. Liquid polymers work well in bentonite mud systems. They increase viscosity without increasing solids content of the mud. They increase lubricity and, working with bentonite, offer excellent fluid loss control. The liquid polymers are extremely sensitive to calcium and low pH water. The product is not as stable and has a much shorter shelf like than dry polymers. The primary function of Insta-Pac is as a clay shale formation hydration inhibitor. Secondary usage includes: use as a hydration inhibitor in mix water with granular bentonite for loss circulation material; use with bentonite clay as an aid to cuttings' removal; use as a low solid viscosifier with bentonite mud; and as an additive in foam drilling.
IX.   Foam
When drilling in a consolidated formation, air drilling is typically used. The air drilling system increases cutting rates in rock by carrying the cuttings away from the drill bit and up the hole. The formation is naturally stable. Therefore, a drilling fluid systems objective is to maintain circulation, lower hydrostatic head, and remove cuttings using the lowest volume of water and compressed air. This is typically done using air, water, foam, and stiff foam, in that order, depending on the formations encountered, depth of hole, diameter of hole, and size of cuttings. When foams drilling, use 1 to 2 pints per 100 gallons of make up water. This should be added to the foam-mixing tank. The foam/water mixture is injected into the air stream from the compressor through the mixing nozzle. The resulting foam is piped through the parts in the bit where it expands and flows back up the hole to the surface bringing with it suspended cuttings.
If stiff foam is desired, the addition of Insta Pac- 425 in small quantities will help stiffen the foam. Insta- Pac 425 can also be used as a stiffing agent.
X.   Chemicals
A.   Sodium Carbonate (NaCO3) soda ash is used to precipitate soluble calcium from water base mud's to control pH. When the soda ash enters hard water, it ionizes as Na+ and CO3= in the continuous phase. The carbonate ions combine with the calcium ions, forming calcium carbonate (CaCO3), and inert precipitate. Treating hard water with soda ash prior to using the water to make a bentonite or polymer drilling fluid will result in a higher yield and more stable drilling fluid. Make up water should be treated with soda ash if 500-ppm calcium is present. Formula for soda ash addition is .001 x ppm Ca = lb. soda ash 42 gallons make up water. Excessive treatment with soda ash can cause high viscosity and gel strengths. If a mud has pH less than 11, soda ash additions will raise it.
B.   Sodium Hydroxide (Caustic Soda) A chemical primarily used to impart a higher pH. Caution is to be used when using
caustic. It can cause severe burns and it is highly corrosive. To raise pH, use 1⁄4 to 1-pound Caustic per 50 gallons of water. Product is not recommended for use by groundwater drillers.
C.   Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (SAPP) SAPP has a 4.5 pH in 10% solution. It is used as a thinning agent, to disperse sticky
clays and clean up and develop water-bearing formations. A very small amount of phosphate is required to thin clay-drilling fluids. Normally, 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 pound per 50 gallons is adequate. To develop water well, use 4 to 10 pounds per 50 gallons of water, jetting and circulating product at the targeted water-bearing formation. The following phosphates can be used the same as SAPP:
*   Sodium Hexametaphosphate - 6.8 pH *   Sodium Tetra phosphate - 8.0 pH Care should be taken when using phosphate to develop water well. Development should
start and be completed at the time the phosphate is introduced to the system. Introducing phosphate into a system and letting it sit for 6 to 12 hours prior to well development can damage water-bearing formation inhibiting proper well development.
D.   Lime
Lime (Ca[OH2]) has the same detrimental effect as cement has on drilling mud. Lime increases viscosity, gel strength and fluid loss in the formation. The reaction is very severe. Lime hinders the ability to develop a water-bearing formation properly.
E.   Borax (Sodium Borate) Used as a viscosifier and gelling agent in conjunction with guar gum (VariFlo).
F.   Chlorine (Sodium Hypo chlorite-Liquid or Dry) Chlorine is primarily used to destroy bacteria once the well is completed. It is also used
to destroy bacteria and enzymes in the mix water prior to using a guar gum (VariFlo) polymer.
XI.   Mixing Drilling Mud
Attention should be given to the equipment used to mix drilling mud's and to the sequence of addition of the mud and any additives.
clay.
A.   If the make up water requires treatment, always treat it prior to addition of the bentonite
B.   Use a jet hopper mixer to disperse the bentonite clay.
C.   Bentonite clay (Super Gel-X) should be mixed slowly through the jet hopper at a rate of one 50 lb. bag every 10 to 20 minutes.
D.   Volume of mud pit should be three times the volume of the proposed hole. Figuring volume of pit length (ft.) x width (ft.) x depth (ft.) x 7.5 = volume (gal).
E.   The mud pit should be of such design that the drilling mud, during flow, changes direction and slows, allowing for cuttings to drop out.
F.   The addition of viscosifying polymers should be made after the bentonite clay mud is thoroughly mixed in fresh water.
G.   Viscosity and density tests should be run on the drilling mud following mixing. Periodic tests should be made during drilling and changes noted. Sand content tests should be run on the mud once drilling starts.

So. . . what are they using and will it be just as bad or worse? 

[The Troll]

  Where do shrimp live, where do shrimp eat, where do shrimp breed.  It's on the bottom.
 
   What do the fish eat in the gulf, they eat shrimp.

  This is absolutley going to kill the shrimp industry and the fishing industry for years and years.

  When you kill all of the shrimp you kill the Gulf.

[Henry Hawk]

well it looks like you two scientist have it all figured out now....we might as well open up the drilling agian....everything is already destroyed and lost....    doom and gloom...

[Palehorse]

While we're waiting to hear whether this latest procedure will finally plug the oil gusher at the bottom of the Gulf, and viewing the "mud" they say has now replaced the crude in the cloud, I got to wondering. . .What is this "mud" made of?

A little poking around and I ran into this: . . .  http://www.cetco.com/cdp/Bentonite/Properties%20of%20a%20Drilling%20Fluid.pdf
. . .

So. . . what are they using and will it be just as bad or worse? 

I should have know better than to expect anything near intelligent dialog surrounding this explorative inquiry! 

[Henry Hawk]

I'm sorry PH, I have become EXTRMELY cynical on here....certain cast members on this forum brings out the worst in me....

bad, bad, bad...henry..

[Locutus]

I'm no engineer, but it sure seems to me like the 'effin thing is spewing more than ever.   

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

[Palehorse]

Yes it does and is, and that is why I expressed some concern surrounding just what the hell they are using to make this so called "mud".

I understand they have to overcome the force of the oil with stronger force in order to stop it, but the fluids, materials, and chemicals they are using may very well serve to magnify the problem within the areas in which it travels, and they are pumping it out at higher levels than that which the oil achieved. . .

[The Troll]

well it looks like you two scientist have it all figured out now....we might as well open up the drilling agian....everything is already destroyed and lost....    doom and gloom...

  Henry, you forgetting about the relief well they're drilling.  Old BP isn't done yet.  The poor babies are going to have to pump that pool of oil for years it keep in from coming out of that old pipe.

  Why don't you put in your application for a job to pass out money to the people that BP has damaged down there.  I'll bet you could save BP a lot of money, screwing those people out of the damages.  Hell, they don't need that money.  They just need to get a job and quit crying and leave BP alone.   Right Henry.

[Palehorse]

25 hours of operation topkill and still spewing. . .

[Locutus]

Yes it does and is, and that is why I expressed some concern surrounding just what the hell they are using to make this so called "mud".

Here's more information on it:

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/05/26/4366250-can-mud-work-a-miracle

[Locutus]

This kind of shit right here REALLY pisses me off. 



BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf Oil Spill
Photographers say BP and government officials are preventing them from documenting the impact of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Gerald Herbert / AP


As BP makes its latest attempt to plug its gushing oil well, news photographers are complaining that their efforts to document the slow-motion disaster in the Gulf of Mexico are being thwarted by local and federal officials—working with BP—who are blocking access to the sites where the effects of the spill are most visible. More than a month into the disaster, a host of anecdotal evidence is emerging from reporters, photographers, and TV crews in which BP and Coast Guard officials explicitly target members of the media, restricting and denying them access to oil-covered beaches, staging areas for clean-up efforts, and even flyovers.

Last week, a CBS TV crew was threatened with arrest when attempting to film an oil-covered beach. On Monday, Mother Jones published this firsthand account of one reporter's repeated attempts to gain access to clean-up operations on oil-soaked beaches, and the telling response of local law enforcement. The latest instance of denied press access comes from Belle Chasse, La.-based Southern Seaplane Inc., which was scheduled to take a New Orleans Times-Picayune photographer for a flyover on Tuesday afternoon, and says it was denied permission once BP officials learned that a member of the press would be on board.

"We are not at liberty to fly media, journalists, photographers, or scientists," the company said in a letter it sent on Tuesday to Sen. David Vitter (R-La.). "We strongly feel that the reason for this massive [temporary flight restriction] is that BP wants to control their exposure to the press."

The ability to document a disaster, particularly through images, is key to focusing the nation's attention on it, and the resulting clean-up efforts. Within days of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, pictures of dead otters, fish, and birds, as well as oil-covered shorelines, ignited nationwide outrage and led to a backlash against Exxon. Consumers returned some 10,000 of Exxon's 7 million credit cards. Forty days after the spill, protestors organized a national boycott of Exxon. So far, no national boycott of BP is in the works, despite growing frustration over the company's inability to cap the leaking well. Obviously, pictures are emerging from this spill, but much of the images are coming from BP and government sources.

The U.S. Coast Guard insists that they and BP have gone to great lengths to accommodate journalists and "roughly 400 members of the media have been given tours of the spill on either BP-contracted aircraft or Coast Guard helicopters," says U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer David Mosley, who is based at the BP command center in Houma, La. (BP referred all questions to the command center). "I understand there may be some frustration [among the press], but there is a constant ongoing effort to fulfill media requests." Mosley defended flight restrictions as a necessary safety precaution. Since the flight restrictions were expanded on May 11, private aircraft must get permission from BP's command center to fly over a huge portion of the Gulf of Mexico encompassing not just the growing slick in the Gulf, but the entire Louisiana coastline, where oil is washing ashore. If a request is denied, aircraft must stay 3,000 feet above the restricted area, where visibility is minimal.

Photographers who have traveled to the Gulf commonly say they believe that BP has exerted more control over coverage of the spill with the cooperation of the federal government and local law enforcement. "It's a running joke among the journalists covering the story that the words 'Coast Guard' affixed to any vehicle, vessel, or plane should be prefixed with 'BP,' " says Charlie Varley, a Louisiana-based photographer. "It would be funny if it were not so serious."

The problem, as many members of the press see it, is that even when access is granted, it's done so under the strict oversight of BP and Coast Guard personnel. Reporters and photographers are escorted by BP officials on BP-contracted boats and aircraft. So the company is able to determine what reporters see and when they see it. AP photographer Gerald Herbert has been covering the disaster since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20. He says that access has been hit or miss, and that there have been instances when it's obvious members of the press are being targeted. "There are times when the Coast Guard has been great, and others where it seems like they're interfering with our ability to have access," says Herbert. One of those instances occurred early last week, when Herbert accompanied local officials from Plaquemines Parish in a police boat on a trip to Breton Island, a national wildlife refuge off the barrier islands of Louisiana. With them was Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of Jacques, who wanted to study the impact of the oil below the surface of the water. Upon approaching the island, a Coast Guard boat stopped them. "The first question was, 'Is there any press with you?' " says Herbert. They answered yes, and the Coast Guard said they couldn't be there. "I had to bite my tongue. That should have no bearing."

Local fishermen and charter boat captains are also being pressured by BP not to work with the press. Left without a source of income, most have decided to work with BP to help spread booms and ferry officials around. Their passengers used to include members of the press, but not anymore. "You could tell BP was starting to close their grip, telling the fishermen not to talk to us," says Jared Moossy, a Dallas-based photographer who was covering the spill along the Gulf Coast earlier this month. "They would say that BP had told them not to talk to us or cooperate with us or that they'd get fired."

Some Gulf Coast watermen find BP's desire to limit press access obvious. "If there was a major fire in a warehouse, would you let reporters go inside and start taking pictures?" asks Peace Marvel, a charter-boat captain in Venice, La. Job one, he says, is to clean up the spill, and running members of the press around only gets in the way and makes things worse. "Nobody wants this marsh saved as much as we do." Since the spill, Marvel has turned his 15 years of experience into helping coordinate the logistics of ferrying BP officials around the Gulf Coast to deal with the spreading disaster. His current contract with BP lasts for 30 more days, and he says he's making more money working for BP than he did as a charter-boat captain. "I'm hustling for business," he says.

So are the reporters and photographers trying to cover the worst environmental disaster in the history of the U.S. waters. They'll have to do it without the help of people like Peace Marvel, and against the will of BP.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/26/the-missing-oil-spill-photos.html

[Palehorse]

Here's more information on it:

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/05/26/4366250-can-mud-work-a-miracle

I just saw a graphic that says that BP is pumping 2,100 gallons a minute of this mud into the oil well. Doing the math and using the amount quoted in the article you posted, they should be running out any time now; even given a dilution rate of 50% to achieve viscosity. . .

That concrete enema should be started if it has not already.

[Henry Hawk]

I just heard on the radio, it will be this evening before they know if it may or may not work...

[Locutus]

Trouble is, with the information I just posted above, we won't know because of the sterilization of the news that's apparently going on. 

[Palehorse]

Trouble is, with the information I just posted above, we won't know because of the sterilization of the news that's apparently going on. 

Well that's been pretty much par for the course here now hasn't it!  Those jackasses had to be pressured to provide access to the fed in the first place, and have you noticed the only thing they are now showing is the preventer and not the sheered off riser that they showed spewing?!

I saw a clip yesterday evening on reporters being herded and told to shut off cameras, etc.