jimh@welch.jhu.edu (Jim Hoffman) (03/16/91)
To: Alan Kilian Take a look at USA Today Cover story for 3/15/91. " Kuwait blazes compared to Agent Orange" Jim (jimh@welchlab.welch.jhu.edu)
bill@dmntor.UUCP (Bill Kyle) (03/22/91)
In article <1991Mar15.200104.22445@welch.jhu.edu> jimh@welch.jhu.edu (Jim Hoffman) writes: >To: Alan Kilian > Take a look at USA Today Cover story for 3/15/91. > > " Kuwait blazes compared to Agent Orange" > >Jim (jimh@welchlab.welch.jhu.edu) ooooo....USA Today, what a stellar journalistic enterprise they are!
jimh@welch.jhu.edu (Jim Hoffman) (03/23/91)
In article <1991Mar21.221842.21321@dmntor.UUCP> bill@dmntor.UUCP (Bill Kyle) writes: >In article <1991Mar15.200104.22445@welch.jhu.edu> jimh@welch.jhu.edu (Jim Hoffman) writes: >>To: Alan Kilian >> Take a look at USA Today Cover story for 3/15/91. >> >> " Kuwait blazes compared to Agent Orange" >> >>Jim (jimh@welchlab.welch.jhu.edu) > >ooooo....USA Today, what a stellar journalistic enterprise they are! Don't believe the quotes from our soldiers there either, do ya? I quess you think the oil spill is a great for a day at the beach!!! Jim
bill@dmntor.UUCP (Bill Kyle) (03/25/91)
In article <1991Mar22.201442.2759@welch.jhu.edu> jimh@welchlab.welch.jhu.edu (Jim Hoffman) writes: >In article <1991Mar21.221842.21321@dmntor.UUCP> bill@dmntor.UUCP (Bill Kyle) writes: >>In article <1991Mar15.200104.22445@welch.jhu.edu> jimh@welch.jhu.edu (Jim Hoffman) writes: >>>To: Alan Kilian >>> Take a look at USA Today Cover story for 3/15/91. >>> >>> " Kuwait blazes compared to Agent Orange" >>> >>>Jim (jimh@welchlab.welch.jhu.edu) >> >>ooooo....USA Today, what a stellar journalistic enterprise they are! > >Don't believe the quotes from our soldiers there either, do ya? >I quess you think the oil spill is a great for a day at the beach!!! > >Jim You have slaved yourself to an industry who's primary function is to make money, not inform. I take very few newspapers seriously. I bet you think "60 Minutes" is really profound.
jimh@welch.jhu.edu (Jim Hoffman) (03/27/91)
In article <1991Mar25.142946.10777@dmntor.UUCP> bill@dmntor.UUCP (Bill Kyle) writes: >In article <1991Mar22.201442.2759@welch.jhu.edu> jimh@welchlab.welch.jhu.edu (Jim Hoffman) writes: >>In article <1991Mar21.221842.21321@dmntor.UUCP> bill@dmntor.UUCP (Bill Kyle) writes: >>>In article <1991Mar15.200104.22445@welch.jhu.edu> jimh@welch.jhu.edu (Jim Hoffman) writes: >>>>To: Alan Kilian >>>> Take a look at USA Today Cover story for 3/15/91. >>>> >>>> " Kuwait blazes compared to Agent Orange" >>>> >>>>Jim (jimh@welchlab.welch.jhu.edu) >>> >>>ooooo....USA Today, what a stellar journalistic enterprise they are! >> >>Don't believe the quotes from our soldiers there either, do ya? >>I quess you think the oil spill is a great for a day at the beach!!! >> >>Jim > >You have slaved yourself to an industry who's primary function is to make >money, not inform. I take very few newspapers seriously. I bet you think >"60 Minutes" is really profound. First, there is BIG difference in exhaust from a car and the exhaust form those fires. Not all the materials that are being release over there are being release form your car. Remember leaded gas? Second, we have NO idea of the global effects. Read up on chaous! This is ONE planet that supports lifes everywhere based on the same environment. Third if you want to respond to this, go to sci.environment. Good day Jim :-)
rivero@dev8.mdcbbs.com (03/28/91)
I don't know why this group is covering this subject, but Okay, would be firefighters, let's see what we really face. 1. The normal pressure at the wellhead is well over 100 PSI, with an extremely high flow rate (figure most wellhead pipes are about 10 - 16 inches in diameter). That eliminates any slow approach to controling the well fire. 2. The heat of burning petroleum is enough to not only melt the top of the wellhead pipe itself, but to turn the sand in the immediate vicinity to glass. That means that whatever event happens must happen quickly to withstand the short exposure to heat, and at the same time prevent the possability of reignition. So, how about we simply take a long lead cone, lift it with a very tall crane, aim well, and drop it into the open wellhead pipe. It's own mass and intertia "drill" it down and seal the pipe instantly. Mike
gregc@cimage.com (Greg Cronau) (03/31/91)
In article <1991Mar28.143241.1@dev8.mdcbbs.com> rivero@dev8.mdcbbs.com writes: >I don't know why this group is covering this subject, but > >Okay, would be firefighters, let's see what we really face. > >1. The normal pressure at the wellhead is well over 100 PSI, >with an extremely high flow rate (figure most wellhead pipes are >about 10 - 16 inches in diameter). That eliminates any slow >approach to controling the well fire. > >2. The heat of burning petroleum is enough to not only melt the top >of the wellhead pipe itself, but to turn the sand in the >immediate vicinity to glass. That means that whatever event happens >must happen quickly to withstand the short exposure to heat, >and at the same time prevent the possability of reignition. > > So, how about we simply take a long lead cone, lift it >with a very tall crane, aim well, and drop it into the open >wellhead pipe. It's own mass and intertia "drill" it >down and seal the pipe instantly. > > > Mike The problem with this is that the wellhead presure is not just "well over 100 PSI" it is more like well over 1000 PSI. Your lead cone would not only have to *very* heavy, and therefore *huge*, it would have to be dropped from a great height to have enough kenetic energy to overcome the tremendous presure coming out of the wellhead. You couldn't get the acurracy you would need to hit the pipe from the altitude you'd have to drop it from. While I'm at it, I'll put in my $0.02 on the Dome-covered-with-shuttle-tiles- over-the-fire-idea. The problem I see here is that alot of people still seem to be confusing the concepts of temperature and heat. The shuttle tiles are designed to withstand a very high delta T, but they are not specifically designed for a large quantity of *heat*, and that's what you have with an oilwell fire. Also, those tiles are *fragile*! Even if the dome was made of 16 inch thick steel plate to withstand the tremendous pressures present, the layer of tiles attached to the dome would be disintegrated by the jet of oil coming out of the well as soon as it hit them. It would look like leaves blowing around in fall! gregc@cimage.com P.s. I just thought of a scale experiment. Get your garden hose. Mount it so t points straight up. Turn the water on full. Now try dropping very heavy weights into the stream to block the flow. I'm betting they will all be knocked aside by the flow.