Technology
Assessment & Research (TA&R) Program
| Project
Number |
32 |
| Date of Summary |
June 30, 1984 |
| Subject |
Recapture of Oil from Blowing
Wells |
| Performing Activity |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Principal Investigator |
Dr. Jerome Milgram |
| Contracting Agency |
Minerals Management Service |
| Estimated Completion |
Complete |
| Description |
The objective was to perform a
theoretical and experimental investigation into the collection of oil from a blowing
wellhead. |
| Progress |
Complete. In 1979, the Brown and
Root `Steel Sombrero` subsea collection device was placed over the blowing Ixtoc I well in
Campeche Bay, Mexico. Subsequent experiments on collectors were performed in the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology laboratory at 1:20 scale. Confirmatory field
experiments were performed at 1:4 scale, in the Navy underwater acoustic test facility at
Bugg Spring, Florida. Results determined conditions for collecting various percentages of
oil. One design, the `double collector`, was configured for excess gas choking the
collector making it inefficient. The new configuration uses two concentric collectors and
separate risers. As the center collector becomes gas choked, the excess gas spills outward
into the outer collector, lifting the blowing oil through it. Test results indicate
collection efficiencies of over 90% using the double collector positioned twenty feet
above the wellhead. Additional parts of this study include bubble plume dynamics
(partially supported by the industry), and methods for suspending a collection system from
a large tanker. See Project No. 85. A documentary
film is available. |
| Reports |
AA (29 pages)
 |
Milgram, J. H., Determination of
Methods for Collecting Oil as a Subsurface Location Above a Blowout, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts,
October, 1979. |
| AB (65 pages)
|
Milgram, J. H., Burgess, J. J.,
Subsea Collection of Oil from a Well Blowout, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, received undated, July 1981. |
| AC (28 pages)
|
Milgram, J. H., VanHouten, R. J.,
Plumes from Subsea Well Blowouts, Proceedings from the Behavior of Offshore Structures,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 1982. |
| AD (32 pages)
|
Milgram, J. H., The Collection of
Oil from Subsea Well Blowouts, Presented at the Oil Spill Symposium, Oslo, Norway,
December 1982. |
| AE (23 pages)
|
Milgram, J. H., Measurements of
the Floor in a Relatively Large Bubble Plume, Presented at the Oil Spill Symposium, Oslo,
Norway, December 1982. |
| AF (46 pages)
|
Milgram, J. H., Mean Flow in
Round Bubble Plumes, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Volume 188, 1983. |
| AG (10 pages)
|
Burgess, J. J., Milgram, J. H.,
Experiments with Scale Models of Oil Collectors for Subsea Well Blowouts, Applied Ocean
Research, Volume 5, No. 1, 1983. |
| AH (10 pages)
|
Milgram, J. H., VonAlt, J.,
Burgess, J. J., Experiments with Scale Model of Oil Collectors for Subsea Well Blowouts,
Applied Ocean Research, Volume 5, No. 1, 1983. |
| AI (6 pages)
|
Milgram, J. H., Burgess, J. J.,
Measurements of the Surface Flow Above Bubble Plumes, Applied Ocean Research, Volume 6,
No. 1, 1984. |
| AJ (5 pages)
|
Milgram, J. H., Erb, P. R., How
Floaters Respond to Subsea Blowouts, Petroleum Engineer, pp. 64-72, June 1984. |
|
|
|
