[quote=mike92104]I was wondering the same thing. I wondered if another blow out protector could be bolted in.[/quote]
This is being discussed at theoildrum.com, which I’ve been spending far too much time on after Arraya turned us on to it.
Folks there who claim to be knowledgable say the bolts were tightened to about 13000 ft-lbs on land, and that now underwater, if the lubrication has degraded (which it likely has), you typically need triple the torque to get ’em off.
Evidently tools of that capability that work in freezing water are not widely available. 🙂
Sawing the bolts off is an option. One person made the point though that one should not underestimate the flow. The flow is like 12000 PSI! Crazy. So you saw off a bolt or two, then you got these totally crazy oil jets hitting the robot, it’s gonna be kinda hard to get the other bolts out.
Basic point being, things are not as simple as they may seem at first. Even if we stipulate that *everyone* at BP is a complete idiot, which I highly doubt, even with that I imagine Obama has sent whatever smartest guys they can get from *wherever* national resources we have, in order to prevent being Katrina’d.
I’m sure they’re trying to be smart and fast, and it makes for gripping though sad viewing.
