A newfangled roof ( visualise ) was lowered into place Monday over BP ’s gushing oil well in the Gulf , and today was temporarily sealed . For the first meter in three calendar month , oil is not gushing into the ocean from this catastrophe .
Do n’t get too emotional , though . Using the cap to close off the well is just part of a series of tests , and does not imply that the Gulf will be spared future gushes . Accordingto the New York Times :
The trial commenced after two day of time lag while BP fixed a leak in the equipment that railroad engineer discover on Wednesday Nox . Engineers replaced equipment on the tight - sealing cap that has been identify at the top of well , 5,000 foot under water , aver Kent Wells , a senior frailty president of the company . The equipment , part of a choking coil line of work that was the last valve to be close before the pressure tryout could commence .
BP said that its three - ram capping stack was closed , “ effectively shutting in the well and all sub - sea containment systems . ”
Live feeds of video image from the undersea well clearly show that the release of oil had had been whole halted .
Mr. Allen , clarified the purpose of the crown in his word conference on Thursday break of the day , saying that this mechanics was never mean to be the ultimate result to closing the well .
Mr. Allen prognosticate it a “ precursor ” to containment , making it possible for the jet crude to be seize through four different systems that together can keep up with the estimated rate of stream , which the government now puts at 35,000 to 60,000 barrel a day . If all goes well , it may also be used to seal off the well completely for abbreviated periods .
“ I do n’t want to invert the precedence here , because the anteriority was to contain and terminate the period of oil , ” he said , “ but the innovation of the jacket itself , if we can withstand the pressure and the well calibre stay integral , presents the opportunity to shut the well in , which will give us the power to abandon the site in a hurricane , so it ’s a two - for if we can do it . ”
The test involve closing all the valve on the new ceiling , which was installed in the first place in the week , to increase atmospheric pressure in the well so that BP can appraise its condition over the length of the well bore , which strain 13,000 animal foot below the seabed .
Mr. Allen likened the process to put a ovolo over the end of a running garden hose . If the imperativeness does not stand up as a result , that think there is a leak somewhere . In the casing of the well , if the result insistency is high , that means the well gauge is intact , he enounce .
Here is how this new cap will wreak during examination :
For a good understanding the various caps that BP has try , you could look at some improbably helpful diagramson the NY Times website . Even when a lasting cap has been placed on the well , the disaster is n’t over . We will still be coping with sound environmental scathe and cleanup spot .
Photographs viaNational Geographic
deepwater horizonOil disasterScience
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