I'll skip the game and - think i'll work on my business plan for a school for we (oh yes i have no passport, what a relief) Inglish to disguise our accents when visiting the US to avoid some horrible fate - which may be in store when people hear the sort of dooooomday predicktions of the video.
I'd like to know how much of this has factual basis but it will certainly have an effect on this country just in terms of the possible destruction of our largest company - if that's not being too self-concerned. No, losing to the Germans may not be the worst thing to happen recently - in fact, that may be beneficial.
- i think the threat from benzene may be being exaggerated as I'd guess that we city dwellers are getting a fair dosage anyway and have just checked on something i've been aware of for some time. The wonderous catalytic converter takes time to get to working temp. and in that time produces more pollutant than might have been the case if we'd gone down the lean burn route. Maggie for all her flaws, championed that technology in which we led - but no it had to be as the EU decreed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalytic_converter As for H2S - i recall that the Steel Works stank of it - but i don't recall it doing anyone any harm. Having said that, in high concentrations (as in farm slurry pits) it is certainly lethal.
Just to sum up - did a little calc. based on 50,000 US oil barrels (0.159 m3) per day and 20" (0.5 m) pipe and get under 0.5 metres per second mean efflux velocity. Hope I haven't screwed-up such a simple sum
That would seem totally inadequate to erode the pipe and did some searching based on the flow rate and 20" pipe diameter and found a figure of between 2 and 3 psi PER MILE pressure drop due to viscous losses (obviously temp has an effect). The pressure at the bottom of the well will be large, based on a head of 5 miles or so.
I conclude that the interviewer and interviewee are totally overstating the mechanical aspects of the problem - in fact what little video I've seen appears to show oil flowing at a fairly sedate rate. As for the prediction of boiling water and explosions - total guff.
Something smells very bad about this and it's not rotten eggs. I have a suspicion that national commercial interests are at work here. Yes, it's a big problem but I can't recall the hype when 160+ men got fried on a US rig in the north Sea.
I can think back to my childhood and recall this country continually coming off second best whether it's the EU or US, where commercial or national interests are at stake - but with our politicians and the people playing the market with other peoples' money instead of investing at home, that's not surprising. It's a pity when one considers that so much has been conceived here, that so little commercial benefit is derived here. Never mind - so much that's been sold off recently, could soon be worth so much less.
I'm starting to believe the conspiracy theories but which ones?
Here's a guy I always liked to hear but I would (i meant NOT
)want to try a conversation:
Looking into phenomena like the oil disaster gets one thinking a bit as i was trying to recall a topic known as 'fluid transients' where pipe system can suffer catastrophic failure due to sudden (too rapid) closure of valves, etc. I even attended a short course in the early 80s given by a guy who is still lecturing in the field. Similarly, I wondered if the explosion at the local BOC depot had been caused by static electricity as I recall the weather forecaster stating that the air was unusually dry - which might promote the build up of static charge.
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