Fun With Numbers

McClatchy reports that BP will try to cement Deepwater Horzion well today

BP reported earlier Wednesday that a “static kill” had succeeded in forcing what oil remained in the Deepwater Horizon’s well bore back into rock formations 13,000 feet below the sea floor and that oil was no longer flowing into the well. If that’s true, then the cementing Allen authorized on Wednesday should seal the well — weeks before the relief well will be in a position to try to do the same thing.
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Wells said the “static kill” had gone as smoothly as engineers could have hoped. The procedure, which began at about 4 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, lasted eight hours and required, Wells said, 2,300 barrels — 96,600 gallons — of drilling mud. At a weight of 13.2 pounds per gallon, the mud weighed nearly 1.3 million pounds or more than 637 tons.
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He said there was no evidence that the mud had gone anywhere but straight down the drill pipe — suggesting that oil was not flowing in the well’s annulus, the empty space between the outside of the pipe and the rock wall of the bore. Allen has said sealing the annulus is the primary reason for completing the relief well.

Well, OK, except, the numbers don’t say what Wells wants people to believe they say.

After the fold some Solid Geometry will take place, so it’s not safe for multinational marketing or government spokesweasels.

To find the volume of a cylinder you use the formula Πr²h, where r is the radius of the cylinder and h is the height.

The cylinder is the 21-inch casing pipe, and the well goes through 13,000 feet of rock. That means that r = 10.5 inches and h = 13,000 feet. After converting all measurements to feet and running the formula the pipe hold approximately 31,268.66438 cubic feet, which is the equivalent of approximately 233,905.854 gallons.

BP pumped in 96,600 gallons of mud which fills about 5,368.826725 feet of the pipe. That tells us that there is still oil in the casing and possibly the well bore, the bore being larger than the pipe. The cement at the top is all well and good, but the bottom plug is suppose to ensure that the well bore itself is filled with cement, not just the casing.

In other words – I don’t want to drive a stake into the Well from Hell, I want an oak stake from a tree struck by lightning on midnight of a Halloween, harvested at noon on the Summer Solstice, and soaked in holy water and lemon juice. I want it pounded in with a silver cross under a full moon. The dancing Munchkins are optional, but would be nice.