Applications of science and engineering to quantify and control the
            <i>Deepwater Horizon</i>
            oil spill

McNutt, Marcia; Chu, Steven; Lubchenco, Jane; Hunter, Tom; Dreyfus, G.; Murawski, Steven A.; Kennedy, David M.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1214389109

Cited by 120 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Not wellintegrated initially, these teams became better coordinated in time through the NIC and the Principals' group (6 This paper provides an overview of the overall response and emphasizes information from the last two teams, other agency's scientific efforts, and papers in this Special Feature. Results from efforts of the first three groups are presented in the work by McNutt et al (7).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Science in support of the Deepwater Horizon response

Lubchenco

McNutt

Dreyfus

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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This introduction to the Special Feature presents the context for science during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response, summarizes how scientific knowledge was integrated across disciplines and statutory responsibilities, identifies areas where scientific information was accurate and where it was not, and considers lessons learned and recommendations for future research and response. Scientific information was integrated within and across federal and state agencies, with input from nongovernmental scientists, across a diverse portfolio of needs-stopping the flow of oil, estimating the amount of oil, capturing and recovering the oil, tracking and forecasting surface oil, protecting coastal and oceanic wildlife and habitat, managing fisheries, and protecting the safety of seafood. Disciplines involved included atmospheric, oceanographic, biogeochemical, ecological, health, biological, and chemical sciences, physics, geology, and mechanical and chemical engineering. Platforms ranged from satellites and planes to ships, buoys, gliders, and remotely operated vehicles to laboratories and computer simulations. The unprecedented response effort depended directly on intense and extensive scientific and engineering data, information, and advice. Many valuable lessons were learned that should be applied to future events.science-based decision making | Gulf of Mexico | Spill of National Significance | Macondo | Oil Pollution Act "We are fighting an omnidirectional, almost indeterminate threat here. We are trying to protect the entire Gulf Coast at the same time."Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen,

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confidence: 99%

“…An oil budget was developed and maintained by the NIC (8) specifically to target efforts to recover oil (7). The oil budget depended on estimates of flow rate, finally determined to be 62,000 ± 10% barrels per day (bpd) at the beginning of the event and 53,000 ± 10% bpd on day 87 at well shut in (7,9).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Science in support of the Deepwater Horizon response

Lubchenco

McNutt

Dreyfus

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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135

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“…A broach can also occur close to the wellhead. In the Macondo case, this broach could lead to soft-sediment erosion along the outside of the cemented casing/liner strings, with serious implications for wellhead stability (1). Underground blowouts leading to surface broaches and extensive cratering have also been reported in association with drilling of geothermal energy wells (10) and steam flood operations in oil sands (11) and have been implicated in formation of the Lusi mud eruption in East Java (refs.…”

Section: Geologic Setting and Risks Of Shutting In The Wellmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If annular flow was occurring and any of the rupture disks in the This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. 1 To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hickman@usgs.gov.…”

Section: Geologic Setting and Risks Of Shutting In The Wellmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Scientific basis for safely shutting in the Macondo Well after the April 20, 2010Deepwater Horizonblowout

Hickman

Hsieh

Mooney

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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As part of the government response to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, a Well Integrity Team evaluated the geologic hazards of shutting in the Macondo Well at the seafloor and determined the conditions under which it could safely be undertaken. Of particular concern was the possibility that, under the anticipated high shut-in pressures, oil could leak out of the well casing below the seafloor. Such a leak could lead to new geologic pathways for hydrocarbon release to the Gulf of Mexico. Evaluating this hazard required analyses of 2D and 3D seismic surveys, seafloor bathymetry, sediment properties, geophysical well logs, and drilling data to assess the geological, hydrological, and geomechanical conditions around the Macondo Well. After the well was successfully capped and shut in on July 15, 2010, a variety of monitoring activities were used to assess subsurface well integrity. These activities included acquisition of wellhead pressure data, marine multichannel seismic profiles, seafloor and water-column sonar surveys, and wellhead visual/acoustic monitoring. These data showed that the Macondo Well was not leaking after shut in, and therefore, it could remain safely shut until reservoir pressures were suppressed (killed) with heavy drilling mud and the well was sealed with cement. In mid-June, a Well Integrity Team (WIT) was created to make recommendations to the government on whether a shut in of the Macondo Well could be safely undertaken and if so, under what conditions. The WIT consisted of the authors of this paper plus engineers from the Department of Energy National Laboratories: Sandia, Los Alamos, and Lawrence Livermore. Although the WIT analyzed both the geologic environment of the Macondo Well and the hydraulic and mechanical performance of engineered components of the well (wellhead, casing flow paths, rupture disks, etc.), this paper deals only with geologic aspects of well integrity. In this paper, we summarize the WIT's assessment of the geologic risks of shutting in the Macondo Well and provide analyses of wellhead pressure and geophysical monitoring data during shut in. These analyses were essential for determining whether the capping stack, when closed, could remain safely shut until the well was killed. Geologic data analyzed by the WIT came from the Macondo Well and nearby wells (including relief wells) and consisted of in situ stress and fluid pressure measurements, geophysical logs, core, cuttings, and gas analyses, 3D and 2D seismic lines, seafloor bathymetry, water-column imagery, sidescan sonar surveys, and drilling records. Extensive discussions were also carried out with scientists and engineers from BP, industry experts, and other federal agencies and academia on lithologic and structural interpretations, reservoir and geomechanical analyses, oceanographic conditions, and well kill and cementing procedures.

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Advanced Sorbents for Oil‐Spill Cleanup: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives

et al. 2016

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Oil sorbents play a very important part in the remediation processes of oil spills. To enhance the oil-sorption properties and simplify the oil-recovery process, various advanced oil sorbents and oil-collecting devices based on them have been proposed recently. Here, we firstly discuss the design considerations for the fabrication of oil sorbents and describe recently developed oil sorbents based on modification strategy. Then, recent advances regarding oil sorbents mainly based on carbon materials and swellable oleophilic polymers are also presented. Subsequently, some additional properties are emphasized, which are required by oil sorbents to cope with oil spills under extreme conditions or to facilitate the oil-collection processes. Furthermore, some oil-collection devices based on oil sorbents that have been developed recently are shown. Finally, an outlook and challenges for the next generation of oil-spill-remediation technology based on oil-sorbents materials are given.

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Applications of science and engineering to quantify and control the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Cited by 120 publications

References 15 publications

Science in support of the Deepwater Horizon response

Science in support of the Deepwater Horizon response

Scientific basis for safely shutting in the Macondo Well after the April 20, 2010Deepwater Horizonblowout

Advanced Sorbents for Oil‐Spill Cleanup: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives

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