Sunday, June 8, 2014

The 4th Law of Thermodynamics

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Hello World


7 lbs., 20.5".  Hey Marie!

CSB Video on the Macondo Blowout


The CSB has shed some new light to the subject.  The report is a very interesting read.

I still don't buy that the CSB thesis on the BOP failure (buckling via effective compression with an operable Deadman) is more plausible than the one suggested by the USCG (no working Deadman, pipe string buckling via rig drift off, BSR activation most likely by the ROV intervention), but it is plausible and there is some data to support the CSB version.  Both are completely plausible and it's mostly a judgement call on which is the more likely culprit (something not at all unusual, given the paucity of hard data).

Overall, there isn't much new that would effect BP, Transocean, etc. (although Transocean's maintenance people look like a bunch of Bubba's that don't know what end of a wrench to turn), but it raises some serious questions about BOP design that the industry at large needs to answer.