Log 9/29

Today, I worked on my brainstoming and research for part of the class. I had a meeting with DA about the progress of my blog and we discussed what still needs to be done to it. DA showed me blogs from previous years students to show me what my blog should resemble.

Brainstorming

Getting the oil out of the water:

• Water vacuum system
• Oil skimmer
• Oil sorbent
• Manually

Moving the oil from the rig:

• Small barge (if only a small amount of oil needs to be moved)
• Small tanker
• Large tanker (moves massive amounts of oil)

Drop off

• Port (tankers need to fit at the port)
• Catenary Anchor Leg Mooring (CALM) buoy

Transportation on Land

• Pipelines
• Trucks
• Trains

On land

• "Battery" (Treaters)  à refinery à consumer
• Refinery à consumer

Background Information/ Summer Research

On April 20, 2010 the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded about fifty miles off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. A picture of the explosion can be seen in Figure 1 below. It sank two days later causing the pipe that connected the wellhead to the platform to bend. Four days after the explosion two leaks were discovered, almost a mile underwater, coming from the pipe (Corum et al.). About 185 million gallons of oil were spilled in the Gulf, making it the biggest oil spill in American history (Shapley). Some of the oil, which looks dull gray in the picture, can be seen in Figure 2 below.

 Figure1: A photograph of the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20,2010.

(Credit: Gerald Herbert/ Associated Press)

 Figure 2: An image from NASA showing the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill.

(Credit: NASA, Goddard, MODIS Rapid Response Team)

Offshore drilling began in the late 1800’s, after people noticed that the wells near the ocean were the best oil producers (NOIA). In 1891, the first offshore fresh water oil wells were drilled in Grand Lake St. Marys in Ohio. Then in 1896, the first offshore salt water oil wells were drilled in Summerland, California, as can be seen in Figure 3 below (Wikipedia). In 1947, the Kerr-McGee Corporation drilled the first well from a fixed platform offshore out of sight of land (NOIA). One of Kerr-McGee's out of sight of land rigs can be seen in Figure 4 below.

 Figure 3: An image of the oil wells in Summerland, California pre-1906.
(Credit: G.H. Eldridge)

Figure 4: A photograph of Kerr-McGee Rig 16.
(Credit: Petrobras)

            Oil can vary depending on the location, but classification of crude oils by location is not very useful. Instead, oil response workers classify oil based on toxicity, physical properties, and changes over time. Class A oils are classified as “light, volatile oils.” They are usually fluid, clear, strong in odor, flammable, and evaporate at a high rate. These oils are able to spread fast on water and they are able to penetrate porous surfaces, such as dirt and sand. They are extremely toxic to humans, plants, and animals. Class B oils are classified as being “non-sticky oils.” This means that the oils have a waxy/oily feel to them. These oils are less toxic and can stick better to surfaces than Class A oils. When the temperature rises, these oils penetrate porous surfaces more often.

 Figure 5: A photograph of the oil that spilled in the Gulf of Mexico just eight days after the spill.

(Credit: Chris Graythen/ Getty Images)

Figure 6: A photograph of the weathered oil found in the Gulf of Mexico.

(Credit: NOAA)

            The evaporation of Class B oils may lead to Class C or Class D oils. Class D oils are classified as being “heavy, sticky oils.” These oils are very sticky and tarry. They are usually black or brown in color and are harder to remove from surfaces. Class C oils do not penetrate porous surfaces as easily and often sink. These oils have a low toxicity, but if contaminated, animals can be smothered or drowned. Class D oils are classified as being “non-fluid oils.” These oils are usually non-toxic and do not penetrate porous surfaces. They are usually black or dark brown and melt when heated, making them very hard to clean. Class A includes most light crude oils, Class C includes medium to heavy crude oils, and Class D includes most heavy crude oils. The weather and water temperature influence the behavior of the crude oils in the environment (EPA). Both Figure 5 and Figure 6 above show the spilled crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico, but unlike the image in Figure 5 that was take only eight days after the explosion, Figure 6 shows the oil about two months and ten days after.

Works Cited

"About NOIA." NOIA.org. National Ocean Industries Association. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.  

        <http://www.noia.org/website/article.asp?id=123>.
Baskin, Liza. "Weathered Oil" 2010. Photograph. NOAA.

Corum, Jonathan, Al Granberg, Mika Grondahl, Xaquin G.V., Haeyoun Park, Sergio Peçanha, and
       Graham Roberts. "Efforts to Stop the Leaking Oil in the Gulf of Mexico." Nytimes.com. New York
       Times. Web. 13 Sept. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/25/us/20100525-
       topkill-diagram.html>.

"Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill" 2010. Photograph. NASA. Connect-green.com. Connect Green. Web.
       25 Oct. 2010. <http://www.connect-green.com/latest-nasa-satellite-image-of-gulf-of-mexico-
       oil-spill/>.
Eldridge, G.H. "Oil Wells Just Offshore at Summerland, California" Photograph. Wikipedia.
       Wikepedia The Free Encyclopedia. Web. 26 Oct. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org
       /wiki/File:Oil_wells_just_offshore_at_Summerland,_California,_c.1915.jpg>.
Graythen, Chris. "Leaked Well Oil in the Gulf of Mexico" 2010. Photograph. Getty Images.  
       Theepochtimes.com. The Epoch Times. Web. 26 Oct. 2010. <http://www.theepochtimes.com
       /n2/content/view/34441/>.
Herbert, Gerald. "Deepwater Horizon Explosion" 2010. Photograph. Associated Press. Nytimes.com.
       New York Times. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/25/us
       /20100525-topkill-diagram.html>.
"Kerr McGee Rig 16" Photograph. Petrobras. Geoexpro.com. GEO ExPro. Web. 26 Oct. 2010.
       <http://www.geoexpro.com/brazil/pioneering/>.
"Offshore Drilling." Wikipedia.com. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. 

       <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offshore_drilling>.

Shapley, Dan. "So How Big Was the BP Oil Spill?" The Daily Green. Web. 13 Sept. 2010. 

       <http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/bp-oil-spill-size-0528>.

"Types of Crude Oil." EPA.gov. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 13

       Sept. 2010. <http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/learning/crude.htm>.

Testing Procedures

The end result will model the transportation of captured well oil to a refinery or any other containment facility. In order to test the effectiveness of the system, the amount of the oil-like substance will be measured before and after the transportation stage. The amount of "oil" lost will show how bad the system is, since the purpose of the project is to transport the oil-like substance without adding more to the environment. In order to document the results accurately multiple videos should be taken from different angles during the testing.

Sample questionnaire for testing:

1. Was more "oil" added to the water during transportation?
2. Did the transportation stage run smoothly?
3. How convenient is the method of transportation chosen to transport the oil-like substance?
4. Is there a simpler way to transport the substance?

Specifications and Limitations (Team)

Specifications

• Location: the Systems Engineering I classroom
• Environment: inside a fish tank
• User: the Emergency Oil Response Project team and the Systems Engineering II professors

Limitations

• The size of the end result will be limited to the size of the fish tank available.
• The amount of power used in the end result will be limited to the amount of power available in the classroom where it will be tested.
• The oil-like substance used in the model will be limited by what we are physically allowed to work with (i.e. nothing toxic).
• The project itself has a time limit and must be finished by the third marking period.

Design Brief

Team (written by BR)

To design and model a system to be used by government agencies (such as NOAA or the Coast Guard) or oil companies to operate in the open ocean and immediately respond to underwater oil gushers whenever the need should arise.

**Revised Group Design Brief**

Design and create an educational system to model the capture and transport of oil from undersea gushers.

Individual

To design and construct a model of a device capable of transferring an oil-like substance to a retrieval storage device.

First Post

9/15/10
The basics of blogger.com were explained in the media center to everyone in the Systems Engineering II period 5/6 class. Blogs were then created.

9/17/10
Calendars were due today. I started working on my calendar yesterday and I finished it today.


**Unlike this log post, the ones from now one will be posted seperately by day and not by week. This was originally just a test post that read "test," but it didn't look very proffesional so I decided to add a log instead.**