Better Blowout Preventers

Lisandro Santiago
Windsor High School, Innovation STEM, Artemis

Abstract
By enforcing new laws and improving the blowout preventing unit we can stop another oil spill
in the world. Companies have to check their equipment before putting it underground or into the
ocean. The government can help companies with testing their equipment. Adding protection on
the pipe and making an antenna go inside the yellow and blue pods on the blowout preventing
unit can stop another oil leaked in years. This solution mostly focuses on the blowout preventing
unit, but over years if another oil spill happens these improvements can be applied on the
affected area and people wont have to come up with new solutions. With these improvements
there would be less animals being harm, dead and everyone will have a clean environment with
everyone full of happiness. Companies would not pay states money and the government under
the laws, if they add this solution to their pipes. This solution is not like others and it would not
leave anything in the ocean that can harm the animals and their habitat. Things would either be
inside the pipe or outside of the equipment that got improve. This solution doesnt require heavy
equipment to be brought to the ocean and everything can be done on land. Making new pipes
may take a long time to be build, depending on the material being used and the laws to be pass,
but at least in your heart you know that you are trying to help out and to keep the world clean.

Introduction
62,000 barrels of oil leaking every day, since the pipe broke, which is roughly the
amount oil consumed in Delaware every day(The DeepWater Horizon,2010). Making new
laws and better equipment can save many workers and animals life from an oil spill. Enforcing
new laws such as checking your equipment, their wiring and testing it more than once it can
prevent oil spill. Also, the government can built testing sites, so the companies can obey the laws
and wont complained that they dont have money to test their equipment before putting it under
the ocean. This laws would make kids and family members to not worry or cry that one of their
family member might die while working. Putting laws in action can be really hard and takes a lot
of people to protest, but if making this law's popular and putting it on social media we can
change people and companies minds. Second, on the night of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill the
workers lost their signal and one solution is to put a wireless antenna inside the pipe and in the
blowout preventing unit so they won't be able to lose connection with it again. Also, the pipe was
able to bend so it cause the leaked. Another solution is that companies have to to make or buy
their pipes that have a hard padding around the pipe or add rings made out of hard materials in
between the preventing unit, so even if oil is inside the pipe, it wont be able to move or bend.
Making the pipes better would take a lot of years, but this a small step to make the world better.
With this three solution companies would not lose billions of dollars to pay the government,
people are not going to see pictures of birds and other animals cover with oil and families
attending to the funeral of their love one, they lost in an incident with oil.

Background
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico occurred on April 20, 2010 when a pipe started to
leaked oil and thousands of gallons went into the Gulf. The leaked occurred when undetected oil
went up the pipe. The crew then activated the annular preventers and the bore or pipe rams.An
annular preventer is a device that can seal around any object in the wellbore or upon
itself(Annular Preventer, 2013). The annular preventer seal the oil going up the pipe, but oil
kept on coming in. With different pressures inside the pipe it cause the pipe to buckled due to a
mechanism known as effective compression(CSB Releases New Computer,2014). When the
final blind shear ram was then activated to stop the oil the two sharp blades ready to connect and
with the pipe misplace it cause oil to leaked out and cause the biggest oil spill. The leaked cause
an explosion, which killed 11 people and lasted for 87 days. The oil affected many ocean species
like fish, turtles, dolphins, birds, corals, squid, clams and many other species. With many species
dying it cause the population of species to decrease over the year. With people trying to help
species and cleaning up the ocean they became ill. Their lungs began to burn and skin began to
blister. Over the years people have tried to invent machines and solutions to clean up the oil.
Some people have made chemicals,organisms, and sponges to suck up the oil.

Description of Proposed Research

(2014). CSB Releases New Computer Animation of 2010 ... Retrieved November 5, 2015, from
http://www.csb.gov/csb-releases-new-computer-animation-of-2010-deepwater-horizonblowout/.
This article is relevant to my solution because in the video and article it explains and shows how
the oil spill was created or how it happen. This will be very important for my solution because I
want to build better blowout preventions and make laws for peoples safety and the video shows
how it happen and I can use it as picture to show my solutions. Lastly, it talk about how the
signal between the pods and the base were lost and I want to prevent this issue.
Mufson, Steven.(2015). New report on BP oil spill points to faulty blowout preventer ...
Retrieved November 5, 2015, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/new-report-on-bp-oil-spill-points-tofaulty-blowout-preventer-procedures/2014/06/05/eb3a6fce-ecc4-11e3-93d2edd4be1f5d9e_story.html.
This article is relevant for my solution because it talks about the pods that didnt work or
automatically turn on when the oil was in between the pipes. This also helps my solution to
make a law where they have to check their wiring before they put their equipment on the ocean
which play a role on the oil spill. Finally, the article explains how the pipe bend and I want to
create a pipe that can be bale to bend and modify the pipe.
Valentine, Katie (2015). Here's How The U.S. Plans To Prevent Another Huge ... Retrieved
November 5, 2015, from
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/14/3646695/offshore-drilling-rules-proposed/.

This article is relevant to my solution because it backs up the laws that I want to enforce and
companies have to test their blow out prevention equipments. The article mostly explain all the
rules that should be enforced and the department are missing the deadlines for laws and are
giving wrong dates and false promises. Finally, the article says that one other solution to solve
the problem is actually harming the environment.

Proposed Solution
Participants
The participant on this solution are the oil companies who drill on the ocean. Other participant
can be people and companies who want our ocean clean and probably environmental engineers.
Mechanical, structural and designing engineers could help on the pipes. Famous newspaper like
New York Times and Washington Post can spread the word on the solutions and laws. Finally,
federal agencies or companies with higher power that can talk to the government and help with
the laws.
Design
The solution is to make a better and improve drilling pipes. The first solution is to make an
antenna inside the pipe. The antenna could be place next to the yellow and blue pod on the
blowout preventing unit. Either they can be outside the pipe and in the water with a long cable to
the rig or connect inside the pods and can reach a long communication signal. The final solution
is to put a hard material or hard element around the pipe.
Procedure
The procedures would be finding the best material that can hold the pipe in place and wont
damage the pipe. Second, is actually putting the material in the pipe. The third step is to test the
pipe in a testing site. After the pipe is ready to be use the companies have to check their wiring
on the blowout preventing unit and when everything is good and safe they can start drilling.
With the laws the procedure would be putting the law into the public and making it so most of
the people can read it.
Results

The results from this solution would be that there would not be another oil spill in the world.
Second, ocean species and other animals population would increase because there wont be any
chemicals in the ocean to kill them. Third, companies would not lose any money for their
mistakes. Another result would be that hundred of oil would not be polluting the ocean. Finally,
there would be less death at oil drilling systems and and explosion wont happen again.

References
(2014). CSB Releases New Computer Animation of 2010 ... Retrieved November 5, 2015, from
http://www.csb.gov/csb-releases-new-computer-animation-of-2010-deepwater-horizonblowout/.
Mufson, Steven.(2015). New report on BP oil spill points to faulty blowout preventer ...
Retrieved November 5, 2015, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/new-report-on-bp-oil-spill-points-tofaulty-blowout-preventer-procedures/2014/06/05/eb3a6fce-ecc4-11e3-93d2edd4be1f5d9e_story.html.
Valentine, Katie (2015). Here's How The U.S. Plans To Prevent Another Huge ... Retrieved
November 5, 2015, from
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/04/14/3646695/offshore-drilling-rules-proposed/.