UPDATE 4: From the comments, Fishgrease says:
Out of all the ideas I've seen for capturing this leak, this is by far the best. BY FAR.
If you ask me, the BP cap is not working. But I imagine at this point it would be near impossible to get them to remove it in order to install the Permeable Cone version 3. That said, here's what the bottom portion of the device could now be shaped like:
The notch inside of the C-shaped bottom ring now allows it to be lowered over and around the riser pipe and cap already in place.
I emailed this image to Fishgrease before posting. His reply:
Looks great!
The permeable cone method avoids the unpredictable chemistry involved in deep sea high-pressure capture efforts by making the tube between the ocean floor leak and the water surface permeable. As a result, this method allows some oil to escape, but more or less contains it within the cone, while letting dangerous gasses dissipate naturally.
As in version 3, the top part of the cone is secured at the ocean surface by a single floating oil rig or drillship, with auxilliary tugboats if neccessary. Any number of tankers could get nearby enough, using buoyed fuel lines and pumps to siphon out the oil collecting at the top of the cone:
original diary (with larger image and discussion) here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
version 2.0:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
The importance of my new 4.0 version is that I believe it is still politically feasible to install. Let BP claim whatever they want about how much the current cap is collecting. We just want to place this device around what they're doing to collect most of the rest. We would even happily slide the permeable cone aside temporarily when BP switches to what they claim is a better fitting cap - a move I heard they want to perform next month.
A quick patent search reveals there are two critical ways in which the Permeable Cone is unlike any thus far patented concept (see here: http://www.patentsurf.net/... )
- The material is PERMEABLE
- The cone orientation is upside-down, widening as it ascends to ocean surface.
Fishgrease's latest bit of advice regarding the fabric:
...you need to look at cotton cloth. Simple, strong, cheap.
UPDATE 1: From the comments, xaxado writes:
You're basically building a semi-permeable membrane, just like a cell wall. Suspended in a fluid, communicating with the atmosphere at a special function node -- the biological analogy is very strong.
I'm a textiles manufacturer, but not in this field. The US has ample resources to build and deploy what you have described here. The concept is excellent -- creating a tensile structure with malleable shape. This will make history and change the world in many ways -- there should be hundreds of engineers and suppliers lined up to contribute, for free.
This cone is the subsea version of the first man in space -- support should be pouring in, just for the honor of being involved. This is the only thing that will prevent a long term ban on deep water drilling, so the oil industry should cough up a few spare billion to get you going.
UPDATE 2: A fellow blogger by the name of Shoq Value has been working on a nearly identical solution to this one (some of his team's literature refers to me as 'originator of the idea' - so that's cool)
Shoq Value's blog is here: http://shoqvalue.com/...
It has even gotten some attention over at Crooks and Liars:
http://crooksandliars.com/...
Fishgrease has told me that if Shoq and I can officially join forces, he'll get behind it, promote it, tell Maddow's people about it, and all that good stuff.
At this stage of the game, Shoq & I just have a couple design detail differences, that although minor, could make or break whether this thing works. I'm fairly certain Fishgrease would like it to look a bit more like my version. So I'm talking to Shoq right now via the tweets. As Kossack Unenergy recently informed me, the concept can be tweeted about at the hashtag #corral.
Cheers.
UPDATE 3: From the comments, dr fatman writes:
I am a scientist and in short this design will work much more effectively than all current permutations that are being batted around by 'Those morons inside the BP Group Think Picnic'.
Simply stated it conforms to the 21st century KISS model: Keep It Smart and Simple as opposed to the 20th century framework we all grew up being beaten about the head an neck with KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid.