The Best Is The Enemy Of The Good

Kevin Costner (seriously!) successfully promoted a slick idea for separating oil from water:

It was treated as an oddball twist in the otherwise wrenching saga of the BP oil spill when Kevin Costner stepped forward to promote a device he said could work wonders in containing the spill's damage. But as Henry Fountain explains in the New York Times, the gadget in question — an oil-separating centrifuge — marks a major breakthrough in spill cleanup technology. And BP, after trial runs with the device, is ordering 32 more of the Costner-endorsed centrifuges to aid the Gulf cleanup. 

The "Waterworld" actor has invested some $20 million and spent the past 15 years in developing the centrifuges. He helped found a manufacturing company, Ocean Therapy Solutions, to advance his brother's research in spill cleanup technology. In testimony before Congress this month, Costner walked through the device's operation—explaining how it spins oil-contaminated water at a rapid speed, so as to separate out the oil and capture it in a containment tank...

The device can purportedly take in thousands of gallons of oil-tainted water and remove up to 99% of the oil from it.

But 99% is not 99.9985%, which is a problem:

In his congressional testimony, Costner recounted his struggle to effectively market the centrifuge. He explained that although the machines are quite effective, they can still leave trace amounts of oil in the treated water that exceeds current environmental regulations. Because of that regulatory hurdle, he said, he had great difficulty getting oil industry giants interested without first having the approval of the federal government.

Obviously, what we want is a machine not yet invented that separates the oil and dumps pure water back into the gulf at a high flow rate.  But for purposes of the current exercise, Costner's device ought to be better than nothing; fortunately, the Feds seems to have figured that out.

A CAVEAT:  The linked Times article includes this:

BP said last week that it would buy 32 of Mr. Costner’s machines to help clean the oil spill. But the machines work much better on fresh oil than weathered oil, so it is unclear how much of a contribution they will make.

Comments

[sylvia]

Well I just googled it and it seems the diamter of the oil spill is about 21 inches. That doesn't seem like a lot. So they can't put a two foot pipe there to get it? I don't get it.

Here's an interesting comment on yahoo:

Let me see if I can help BP figure out the reason that there is still over an estimated 8309.52 barrels of crude oil per day still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico at the riser where BP put a containment cap.

The Horizon deep sea crude oil platform collapsed and sank into the Gulf of Mexico bending the well pipe above the riser at about a 90 degree angle. Thereby closing the 22 inch diameter pipe to an estimated 15.7 inches ir less inside diameter while doing so the feed pipe split near or at the area of the stress of the 90 degree angle bend in the pipe.

At the area of the split in the well pipe, just above the riser, crude oil, at an estimated 2500 psi, started gushing out into the Gulf of Mexico. Someone at BP, miscalculated that the estimated the crude oil leak to be at less than 10,000 barrels a day.

A short six weeks or so, (cough, cough, BP should have stopped that crude oil leak on day one)someone at BP came up with an idea to put a containment cap on the riser or well head after the well pipe above the riser had been cut. So BP sent down to the well head/riser a saw and cut the pipe. In doing so, the pipe opening is now 22 inches in diameter; the crude oil is still gushing out at 2500 psi.

BP now armed with the knowledge from one or more of its employees are now set to place a containment cap that has a capacity of 10,000 barrels a day to redirect the gushing crude oil to the surface where an oil tanker ship will receive the crude oil.

The problem is that the crude oil gushing out of the 22 inch diameter well pipe, at 2500 psi, is now leaking between 18,000 and 19,000 barrels of crude oil because of the larger opening at the well head/riser pipe.

Sorry BP, but given the figures/statistics that BP provided that its estimate of 20,000,000 gallons of crude oil has gushed out of BP’s Horizon deep sea crude oil catastrophe site there on the Gulf of Mexico.

And the fact that an estimated 8,309.52 barrels of crude oil is still gushing out of the pipe there at the Horizon deep sea crude oil catastrophe after BP’s containment cap was said to be in place and working ‘capturing an estimated 10,000 barrels of crude oil a day’. I have to believe that the US engineers estimates are more accurate than that of BP's.

This is the best explanation I can come up with; all this mathematical evidence suggests that BP has made nothing but short of its estimates ever since it applied for a permit to drill the Horizon deep sea crude oil site to this current date and time!

BP – I suggest that BP stop that crude oil leak at the Horizon deep sea crude oil catastrophe site there in the Gulf of Mexico, forthwith!!! BP should have stopped its drilling operation when the Horizon deep sea crude oil well "started kicking" some six hours or so before it exploded.Reply

[rse]

But isn't fresh oil becoming available everyday?

What's the matter NYT? Afraid that this might interfere with that useful crisis atmosphere?

Yet another lovely day in the Panhandle surf with still white beaches that are much less congested than usual.

No. One beach in Pensacola is not the entire Panhandle although you'd never know it from the broadcast media.

[Clarice]

Jayzuz, Sylvia, Would you please put your name at the top of the posts? I spent 5 minutes trying to figure out that post and didn't realize why it made no sense until I got to the end of it.

[sylvia]

Link for that comment and others on yahoo. LUN

[sylvia]

Calrice, you really need to refresh your reading skills. It was another person's comment on a yahoo site. Complain to that guy/girl if you don't like it. However, it may have been a little confusing, but he/she did provide some technical details on the subject which are usually in short supply. But I suppose that was too complex for you.

But again, speed reading Clarice, speed reading... How on earth did you get through law school without speed reading? Are we sure you are not a cybot too? I'm starting to wonder now. Now that would be a big joke.

[sylvia]

man is typepad slow today

[dale]

Sylvia, the government low balled the leak estimates. They took data from BP and their own scientists and published the lowest possible estimate. That's right...they were Obama's numbers, used to get the heat off his absolute lack of response to a situation he is responsible for resolving under federal law.

[hit and run]

man is typepad slow today

Sexist.

[sylvia]

Yes Dale I am starting to get conspiratporial about it all. It just doens't make sense to me that this can not be capped. For instance, where are all the technical details on this? They are hard to find, and the ones we do get seem to be wrong.

I am wondering if they could have capped it but didn't, to preserve the well. And the Obama administration was in on it. The preservation may be a valid reason, but we should at least be told about it.

[Ignatz]

--Are we sure you are not a cybot too?--

This would appear to be an admission against interest.

[Clarice]

Heh, ignatz.

I know. The problem with the bp leak is that it appears mostly *ugh* disgusting men with testosterone are trying to fix it. We need more fems on the rigs. Maybe a lot of womens studies majors instead of engineers. Yeah--that'll do it.

[Captain Hate]

it seems the diamter of the oil spill is about 21 inches. That doesn't seem like a lot. So they can't put a two foot pipe there to get it? I don't get it.

I believe the 2500 psi pressure over a mile down might have something to do with it

[narciso]

"It's just like shooting womprats in my T-16 back home

[DrJ]

I am wondering if they could have capped it but didn't

That's the first thing they tried to do, and it didn't work. And the means by which it didn't work indicates that the well casing itself is leaking. Plug the top of the well, and the well casing would fail catastrophically.

The best way to extend the life of the well casing was to relieve the pressure on it by cutting the top and capturing the released oil.

The only way to plug the well is by using relief wells, and plugging it from the other side.

Yes, details are being withheld by both BP and the government. By and large BP seems to be doing the right things to stop the flow, at least as best I can tell from the skimpy information. To treat their engineers as idiots is just misplaced.

Now how the feds have "responded" is a whole 'nother story.

[Danube of Thought]

Clarice, I find Sylvia's posts as easy to spot as Anduril's. I very rarely read past the first two lines of either of them.

FNC is airing a one-hour special on Petraeus at six PDT tonight.

[hit and run]

Clarice:
The problem with the bp leak is that it appears mostly *ugh* disgusting men with testosterone are trying to fix it. We need more fems on the rigs. Maybe a lot of womens studies majors instead of engineers. Yeah--that'll do it.

I'm the only one who has ever said:

http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2010/05/sunday-morning.html?cid=6a00d83451b2aa69e2013480514a33970c#comment-6a00d83451b2aa69e2013480514a33970c>If I had a nickel for every time I thought to myself, "why haven't we put sylvia in charge of this great nation?" . . .

Of course,after having said that,things went waaaay downhill.

::sigh::

[FeFe]

This sounds silly, but each time I see the leaking oil I just want to attach a massive fire hose to it for surface containment at least.

[Clarice]

well, Dr J. Its of course up to you who to rely on. As for me the anonymous post by someone on Yahoo repeated by Sylvia in all its incoherence is enough.

[narciso]

Well they have 'probably stayed at a Holiday Inn express once" so there's that for expertise

[Ignatz]

--I am wondering if they could have capped it but didn't, to preserve the well.--

Not capping the well costs BP scores of billions of dollars and loses a good portion of the oil.
Capping the well and drilling a new one would cost them millions of dollars and keep all of the oil intact.
It would take a lunatic to entertain the idea they can cap it but haven't, which explains just about everything, I suppose.

[Barry Dauphin]

The extra 1% of oil could be used for Al Gore's massages.

[matt]

clarice, you'll be happy to know that AT is now on the radar screen of the moonbat Left.

I received an e mail yesterday from a former colleague citing a hateful, awful, racist article by Dr.Geoffrey Hunt and condemning AT as a hate publication.

I e mailed back with some of Yglesias pieces and the news of the firing of that WaPo putz yesterday.

Damn, the facts are a bitch.....

[Clarice]

Whoppee//That's great news. matt.

[DrJ]

Goodness Clarice you are in a sardonic mood today!

[hit and run]

Posted by: DrJ | June 26, 2010 at 02:00 PM

Oh please. I would rather trust an anonymous comment on yahoo (probably a cyberbot!!!) than some,what's the word,oh yes,a . . . scientist.

[Thomas Collins]

Speaking of conspiracies, sylvia, given your obvious interest in men's sports (see preceding thread), do you think Ali-Norton III was decided by a cabal that needed Ali to win so that Ali-Foreman wouldn't be derailed? See LUN for interesting speculation on whether Norton should be ranked higher than Frazier among the all time great heavyweights.

I know, Jane, I plead guilty to feeding. As a result, I'm suspending myself from JOM posting until after the USA-Ghana gridiron classic (well, they do call it football, don't they). I hope the SCOJOM (Supreme Court of JOM) will deem that a sufficient punishment. :-))

[DrJ]

This has been making the rounds, but I've not seen a link to it here:

The BP leak is worse than you think.

[DrJ]

And the response from others in the business:

Bullsh*t!

[Pasadena Phil]

Another liberal runs into the blunt and ugly reality of big socialist government. That is why there are so many of us conservatives these day. Experience is the best teacher. Welcome to our side Kevin! You won't regret it.

[LouP]

Back to TM's headline: "The Best Is The Enemy Of The Good"

Just another example of the Obama way. "Good Enough" is clearly another excuse for not doing "comprehensive reform."

Take it from there...

[LouP]

Oh, and "good enough" is not sexy enough (apologies to Sylvia) for "historic" and "unprecedented."

[Clarice]

DoT, In my defense I can usually spot them, too, but she copied this one by another author.

[Jane says obamasucks]

US just tied Ghana at the world cup

[Danube of Thought]

I have always believed that Norton beat Ali in all three of their fights.

[Certain circles claim there's a kimbot out there.]

Calrice the Bot. Hah!

DoT, what I particularly like is that it seemed like sylvia, even though it wasn't sylvia. And yes, sylvia, there was useful information.
=============

[Only 75,000 barrels a day not double that.]

My goodness, DrJ, that last link to the Oil Drum is very useful and actually reassuring. I hope he's right.
============

[Rick Ballard]

DrJ,

Thanks for the links to the Oil Drum pieces.I believe that DougR may well be on Salazar's payroll as an "expert" in favor of a 500 year moratorium on drilling anywhere except Mars, maybe. The shredding administered by shelburn was a joy to read.

[sylvia]

Well Thomas I have no idea what you are talking about. I am guessing Ali refers to Mohammed Ali. And that is another silly one. All these people go around saying, "Wow Ali's the greatest"! And then I ask them, why? And they haven't the foggiest. They have no clue about what he did, other than he supposed to be some cool boxer guy.

Now maybe if the people were older, say over 50, they might know more about it, so I am talking about people who became adults after Ali was around.

[Ignatz]

--I have always believed that Norton beat Ali in all three of their fights.--

Same here. And Jimmy Young was royally robbed, as well.

[rse]

Thanks Dr J. Keep your links coming.

2005 on the coast made me feel like I'd minored in meteorology.

This year I seem to be learning lots about oil and gas.

Clarice- Your sarcastic comment about insufficient numbers of women is too tragically close to too much coming out of DC these days.

[sylvia]

I wanted to say the more I learn, the more I don't believe a 21 inch leak can't be controlled. Even with all the psi's. There must be a million simple ways to fix it.

One way is to make a pipe around the leak to the surface. Then it doesn't matter what the psi's are, as the force is directed upwards.

The oil companies and the gov just never bothered to come up with a suitable piping apparatus in advance. But something is weird here.

[DrJ]

You're welcome, Kim and Rick.

I do have an ongoing interest in the event. Half of the research group in grad school was studying enhanced oil recovery -- basically, using chemical additives of various sorts for tertiary oil recovery. To explain the lingo, the primary flood is when the well produces under its own pressure; the secondary uses water pumped between injection and production wells, and the tertiary flood adds pixie dust to clean out the remainder.

I was surprised that the GOM find was still a primary flood, but on reflection it makes sense because it is a new well. FWIW, we still have about as much oil in the ground as has been removed -- the remainder is just more expensive to get out. So much for peak oil.

I also spent many miserable years in the environmental business. The biological physical chemistry I'm in now is a lot more interesting.

[Sue]

But something is weird here.

Yes...

[DrJ]

One way is to make a pipe around the leak to the surface.

Uh, Sylvia? What do you think is being done *right now*? Have you read anything at all on the topic, or are you content to think they are all idiots?

[Clarice]

It's a male plot to suck all the estrogen out of the universe, Sylvia--lucky for BP only you know about it, and Hit is stalking you for them to keep you from letting the whole world know.

[SWarren]

Just came in from shopping, haven't checked the threads yet.
Anybody see what's going on in Toronto? My brother just called and said there's a riot and multiple police cars on fire.

[sylvia]

Well eventually they put a pipe on it, after it leaker forever. And what percent is being caught and what not? Where are the details on that? And the percent not being caught, why not? So, still weird.

[Jane says obamasucks]

Haven't seen a thing SWarren.

[sylvia]

that's "leaked"

[hit and run]

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20100626/g8-g20-black-bloc-100626/>Toronto

[Mountain View.]

Go Uruguay.
=======

[DrJ]

Sylvia,

The first few things that BP tried would have sealed the well and all subsequent releases would have been eliminated. When those didn't work, the "straw to the surface" was implemented. That's buying time until the well can plugged from the bottom.

For the other statistics, go to theoildrum.com. I wouldn't recommend that you post there.

[hit and run]

More http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/g8-g20/toronto/scuffles-break-out-as-police-redirect-g20-protest-march/article1619460/>Toronto

[Captain Hate]

Ahhh the peaceful left in Toronto...

Btw, thank you Ghana; my long national nightmare is over.

[narciso]

But let us remember, us Tea Partiers are the violent ones, they're just expressing the inherent violence in the system"

[hit and run]

Clarice:
and Hit is stalking you for them to keep you from letting the whole world know.

Somebody's gotta do it. And the pay is good.

[Twice in two weeks commenters here beat me on energy news.]

Many here were aware of the first link to the Oil Drum, DrJ, because Porchlight, I believe, linked it right away. I read it first here, and it's big news in the climate and energy blogosphere. I've noted the new one over there, so thanks much.
=================

[Your Pal.]

Actually, sylvia, I do recommend you post over there. You'll enjoy the experience.
============

[DrJ]

If my first TOD link was posted I sure missed it.

I do find it interesting that there are really good blogs on any conceivable topic. Sure, there are lots more that are rubbish. But it seems that TOD is a really good source.

[hit and run]

We are gushing folks; for how long even kim doesn't know.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

Have you ever considered that Sylvia and Bunkerbuster might have been the real inspiration for Dueling Banjos? A telephone pole (sans crossbar) as a family tree, six teeth between them and fewer IQ points than teeth?

[Pray for the relief wells.]

Sqawks from the Bull Wheel, Dr. J.
===============

[DrJ]

Kim, I don't understand.

[Clarice]

*facepalm,* Rick.

[As if, suckah.]

Sorry, jes' foolin' roun'. Squeaks from the Bull Wheel was the joke section of an old oil industry journal. Squawks(sp) are more authoritative than that. Yeah, The Oil Drum is good stuff.

The whole trick to the blogosphere is finding the authoritative blogs. Well, that's elementary school, anyway. There's more to it than that.
================

[DrJ]

I thought so, Kim, but that one was too obscure for me. I've never worked directly in the oil business, so I don't know the trade journals (or their columns!) at all.

Thanks for the explanation.

[There's been conjecture about peak oil from the beginning. This leaking gulf reservoir is a peek at our ignorance.]

My Daddy was an academic with a specialty interest in energy. I spent many happy hours in his office with 'Squeaks from the Bull Wheel'.
================

[sylvia]

Tom really needs to attract more real people to his page because the troll cybots are taking over here. You know when a page is full of trolls like this, I think the blog writer must be at least tacitly condoning it. After all, it is money in his coffer, real or fake. Sad that Tom had to stoop to that.

He should maybe work on cutting down on the troll termites, and even though he might get a temporary hit to his pocket book, more real people might come back here after that when it's cleared of the troll termites, and he could make his money in a more legitimate way.

[Rob Crawford]

If there's a "troll termite cybot" around, it's you.

[hit and run]

If I had a nickel for every time I thought to myself, "why haven't we put sylvia in charge of this great nation blog?" . . .

[DrJ]

Interesting, Kim. I always wonder how people get their interests and professions. Me, I'm a Pharma brat. I joke that Kaopectate put me through college, both through my father's employment and my working summers there as an undergrad.

[Andrew_M_Garland]

EPA Purity of Essence

A collection of news reports about the bonehead decisions of our EPA and government about handling the oil spill.

Costner's machine seems very similar in approach to the Dutch skimmer ships. They are proven technology, and are prevented from cleanup work by that same EPA directive that a ship must discharge drinkable water, even if the input water is filthy and oily.

[Clarice]

Sylvia, How much do you think TM makes on this blog? I figure it's a net loss after taking into consideration the ad revenue is negligible.

[DrJ]

Clarice,

I wondered the same thing in a thread some years ago. Tom popped in to say that he does not lose money on the site. At least not back then.

[Extraneus]

Census Bureau fires 2 managers in Brooklyn after they forged questionnaires

It is even possible that the forgeries were politically correct?

[Clarice]

I think typepad is free, Dr J, but there really is no money I can see in blogging. If there is I'd like to figure out how. I imagine at the outset of these things people thought thead revenue would be greater than it is.

I don't know if this will work but here is a pic of the wolverine and her babysitter's son.

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/2bb257b4b9cfe32cd5f6d297e838804fa4ac8f7.JPG>Wolverine

[Clarice]

Apparently it didn't work.

[DrJ]

there really is no money I can see in blogging.

I think that this is right. One way to tell is that the successful bloggers often move to more traditional media (newspapers, magazines). I know Pajamas is trying to change that, and perhaps they will, but at the moment I don't see any substantial revenue stream one can derive from blogging.

[Extraneus]

Sad. Via Instapundit.

Poll: Incumbent Senate Dem [Patty Murray] in Trouble in Washington

[hit and run]

Make it work,Clarice...make it work!

Or email it.

[Girls just wanna be bot a loo la.]

sylvia, everybody's a material, a material, a material.
===================

[PD]

I'll certainly be shocked if those managers are affiliated with ACORN.

[hit and run]

Typepad's not free. $10-$30 a month.

But I've programmed all my cyberbots to click the ads to help defray TM's costs.

It's the least we could do.

[DrJ]

hit,

It really costs that much? I suppose that sort of charge is necessary to run a business, but that is way more than it costs for a web site. And software is around that is free that can be set up to do the blogging.

[Clarice]

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/2bb257b4b9cfe32cd5f6d297e838804fa4ac8f7.JPG>Wolverine

Not TP keeps indicating this is up and then when I return it isn't.
HUMPH

[PD]

I have discovered today that there is not a lot to do in Kadoka, SD.

However, I did observe that Kadoka, SD, population 736, manages to have its own very nice municipal pool (discovered it while driving around), whereas Madison, WI, population 170K+, took YEARS and YEARS to figure out how to build *one* municipal pool that at best can serve a tiny fraction of the population.

I'm guessing Kadoka doesn't have a lot of government to get in the way.

[hit and run]

I'm going with the info from http://www.typepad.com/pricing/>here.

All I do is use blogspot (which is where TM started) -- and I have no idea what the difference is.

[hit and run]

Wolverine!

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/2bb257b4b9cfe32cd5f6d297e838804fa4ac8f7.JPG>

[One day he just decided he'd shot enough ducks. I've got his pink slip from a Detroit paper about the time his 3rd child was born.]

If you had a hammer, PD, I have a suggestion for some fine entertainment. Among our family lore is a picture of my father-in-law, a journalist for the South Dakota game commission at the time, kneeling over a dead antelope with a claw hammer in his hand.
====================

[To Infinity, and Beyond.]

C, may she have an Endless Indomitable Summer.
====================

[hit and run]

It goes without saying,but I'll say it anyway...I really hope some day hit and run jr and princess hit and run get to play with the Wolverine.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

The Wolverine seems to be right at home in the surf. She is precious.

[glasater]

This tweeter:

http://twitter.com/stephen_taylor

Is putting up all kinds of links to the mess in Toronto.

Thanks for the link Ext! Cheered me no end:)

[Danube of Thought]

I'm on the iPhone and so can't scroll or search very well. Is the Wolverine posing for us in Santa Monica?

Just in case Maguire is unaware, Derek Jeter turned 36 today. His 2,834 hits are about a hundred more than lowlife scumbag Pete Rose had on his 36th.

[Clarice]

There or Venice.

[Clarice]

hit, that would be so fun--maybe even this August in Jackson Hole. Who knows?

I have more pics of her taken the same day playing with a rather large (just fed) python but I don't plan to post those..Seems to upset too many people

[hit and run]

Wish you were coming to JH in July. We leave next Saturday and will be there a week and a half.

And DoT...haven't you heard? Celebrating an athlete's birthday is evidence of a primitive tribal impulse in which your testosterone is trying to rape and pillage. Rape. And pillage.

[Extraneus]

So glad to finally see the Wolverine! Thanks, Clarice!

[Clarice]

Thank you ext and jim and kim.

[daddy]

"Derek Jeter turned 36 today. His 2,834 hits are about a hundred more than lowlife scumbag Pete Rose had on his 36th."

DoT,

It really is amazing that I'm in the Taipei hotel room watching live Yankee Dodger's baseball (and Jeter just struck out to end the the 4th with 2 on and the Yanker's down 5 to 4). I recall in the early 80's when in Subic a huge Satellite phone station was installed, and you paid $27 to talk for 10 minutes to folks stateside, and that was amazing technology. Yet nowadays almost everybody has a cell-phone that they can use to call anywhere in the world the moment they step off the plane or get in the taxicab. The other day in Osaka discovered a potential fan blade problem on an engine, and since we couldn't resolve the issue ourselves, the Japanese guy simply took a shot of the blades with his cell-phone, instantly sent them to Maintenance headquarters in Memphis, and we got the info and answer we needed in about 3 minutes.

Astonishing the interconnectedness that has been achieved and delivered to us these past 20 years by the scientists and technical folks.