Perspectives on Innovation

The issue that develops with the bubbler is that it can reduce the density of the water. As the bubbled or foamed water looses density, it will drive the coagulated oil, which has a fixed denisty deeper down the water column, rather than attaching to the coagulated oil and floating it up to the surface. That could gather more oil at the oceans bottom.

With heavier blobs of oil, it might be easier to reverse the process and drive the blobs down to some sort of net.

Cut a steel pipe in two peaces by cutting lengthwise. Put a valve that is connected to one half of the pipe and place aroud leaking pipe. Place other half of steel pipe so now a steel pipe is made over the leaking pipe. Because we had the valve open when placing the two half pipes against leaking pipe there is less resistance froam oilflow out of pipe on the pipe to be placed. When both half pipes are placed and secured the valve can be closed.

Erik van Vliet
tel:0031-6-30264550
The Netherlands

Thinking of bubbly flows in terms of decreasing the local density of the water column is similar to the kind of intuition that I had when I started working in the field, but I found the experimental reality to be a bit different. I recommend the thesis here: (http://e-collection.ethbib.ethz.ch/view/eth:24317) as a great analysis of the subject. In short, the pressure drop is much more related to induced flow (Bernoulli-type) than reduced density. This is similar to the pressure drop seen under large moving ships due to the induced flow beneath their bow. TA worked with Dr. Bruce Denardo of the Naval Postgraduate School to describe the bubble dynamics, who has authored a number of papers on very high volume fraction bubble fields in closed containers. In open water, the induced flow near the bubble plume is upwards and materials are drawn up with that flow. At the David Taylor Model Basin where TA did their scaled testing of the system, debris from the basin bottom were clearly brought to the surface and subsequently removed by the filtration system. The Navy personnel on hand remarked how much cleaner the basin (about 20′ wide 20′ deep and 1/2 mile long) was after testing (though that was not the intent of the test!).

See more about BubbleSquid at http://www.templemanautomation.com.

Thanks for the comment.

The comment on the density of the oil being great enough to sink in the bubble column is valid, but this is not an insurmountable obstacle. Simple inject a flotation agent into the bubble column which will cause the bubbles to adhere to the oil and float the oil to the surface. Similar technology is routinely used in the mining industry to float and recover heavy minerals from raw ore. The choice of flotation agent might be problematic, but you never know until a few candidate agents are tested in the lab.

A talented materials science person specializing in surface chemistry should be consulted.

A Possible Solution to Stop the Deep-Water Oil-Leak

The method I am proposing is to flood or inject the leaking pipe(s) and/or damaged blowout preventer with liquid gallium metal.

Gallium is a very unusual element. It will melt in your hand (and is non-toxic) and molten and behaves as a liquid at approx. 85 °F (29 °C). You can hold molten gallium in your hand, pour it from your hand onto a cool surface, and watch it quickly solidify. It also has one of the longest liquid ranges of any metallic element (boiling at about 2175 °C). This makes it easy to control in the liquid state so it can be easily transported, and it also makes a very durable solder.

With a specific gravity of 5.9, it is also much denser than saltwater or oil, and when it solidifies from the liquid state, it gains volume, becoming less dense and expanding slightly (about 3% in volume). This means that it can form very tight seals in and on almost anything. This also means that it can be injected as a warm non-toxic liquid metal, and when it cools below 85 °F, it solidifies and forms a tight plug.

Gallium is easy to control as a liquid and is a rigid, strong metal when it is solid. Injected into a pipe, it will solidify and form an extremely tight plug due to this expansion on solidification.

Gallium has the advantage of solidifying and expanding at conditions that currently prevail at the Deep Horizon blow-out site. The pressure at that depth would lower the freezing point by only about 2 °C if gallium behaves anything like water. That would still mean you could pretty easily deliver molten gallium to the site and have it freeze on contact with the water at ~18 °C, well below the ~27 to 29 °C freezing point of gallium.

Apparently one of the main reasons the Deep Horizon leak is so challenging is because the gusher wants to blow everything away before you can get it in place. Since BP already tried to inject the blow-out with low density debris (they called it a junk shot) and drilling mud, I know it is possible to inject the problem area at that 5000 foot depth.

Because of the low temperature at that depth in the ocean, if liquefied (heated) gallium were used, I feel a successful plug would be formed as the gallium would flow along the inner wall of the pipe and solidify on it, gradually reducing the inner diameter of the pipe and eventually choking off the flow of oil. The density of the gallium itself would also facilitate this operation as gravity would be working in favor of such an effort: gallium is denser that ocean water or oil, and would be less prone to be swept from the pipe by the oil, gas and saline brine. Gallium in liquid form could even be mixed with finely powdered iron or lead that would serve as a carrying agent, creating a colloidal mixture with an even higher specific gravity than pure gallium.

I know this is entirely theoretical but it seems that we need to “think outside the box” here. If you think this approach might have some merit, please pass it along to anyone that you feel might help.

Sincerely, John Koivula

PS: I have also thought of two plausible hydraulically-powered piston-driven delivery systems for the gallium. While I don’t have detailed schematics of the actual blowout or the present condition of the existing hard structures, I do know the basics, that there are two vertical pipes (one going to the surface and the other into the seafloor) with a damaged blowout preventer between them. I feel that this structure, regardless of present damage, could be successfully injected and plugged with liquid gallium.

An environmentally green solution is proposed. A very low-density, very-high porosity granular nanocrystallite, referred to as CrystalGel (patent # 7750056, Daouud et. al.) with modified properties, which imparts very high hydrophilic properties. This material will be capable of rapid and significant degree of water and pollutant (oil) abosorption, followed by entrapment of oil droplets inside its highly porous nanostructure. Upon saturation of the nanocrystallite, it is collected and oil is recovered.

The method of imparting hydrophilic characteristics is simple and straightforward and is characterised as having many free hydroxyl groups (uncapped hydroxyl groups). The nanocrystallite may be sprinkled in predeterimined quantities into the pollutant-infested region, and allowed to perfom its task, namely absorption of the carrier (seawater) along with the pollutant (oil). Oil droplets are trapped inside the wet nanocrystallite, and collected by means of vacuum suction, scooping, or other suitable means. The oil-saturated wet nanocrystallite is solvent treated and oil is extracted (recovered) from its porous structure. The nanocrystallite may also be loaded into a fishing net with and the nanocrystallite-filled net is lowered into the oil-polluted seawater, allowed to absorb the oil-water phases henceforth entrap the oil, which is then recovered.

Michael White, Bubbler
I like this one. It uses readily available materials. As I understand it: it is no magic bullet, i.e., treating the whole problem with one “fix.” To me, it treats only one aspect of the problem, i.e., attacks only one phase.
As I understand it: crude oil is widely spread on the water’s surface. In effect, the bubbler acts as a broom, sweeping the smaller globules toward one spot. It concentrates them. Hopefully, a skimmer can be more effective against the concentrated globules when it doesn’t have to swallow the entire sea.

Frank Hawthorne, Gallium Plug
Kudos for thinking “outside the box.”
There is only one thing I can see wrong. Where is such an immense quantity of gallium to be found — quickly? I know nothing about gallium except as an element on the chemistry chart. Educate me.

Hello;
Note that there is a plenty of oil (6000 bottles for days).
How much material do you need?

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