Page 147 - Crystals News Today

That pipe. this is a massive pipe. its about 22 inches wide. so that gives you some perspective on how much oil is coming out. but you also see a white cloud of gas. and that gas was responsible for forming those crystals inside the dome and essentially clogging it up. so theyre hoping to avoid that problem today, as they try this new smaller dome and possibly that pipe, if the first dome doesnt work. >> david, congressman ed markey yesterday in congressional hearings basically accused bp of mak...

Any hope? >> reporter: well, fredricka, when you look at that video, we see the black cloud of oil coming out of that massive pipe, as well as a spray of gas coming out. its sort of a lighter color. that gas was actually forming crystals inside that larger dome they tried last week and clogged it up. thats why they had to set that aside. so now what tear doing, they have the smaller dome calling the top hat. and theyre thinking that the smaller dome, the way its kruted, alkrut constructed, they ...

>> that dome, that little tome, thats what we have been calling the top hat, right. >> that is the top hat, thats the small dome that they decided to use after that big 40-foot dome failed last week when they tried to lower it over there, it filled up with crystals and clogged up, they feel like this smaller dome has a better chance of succeeding rather than the larger dome. but today they decided to go with inserting that pipe and then using the dome as a backup if that doesnt work. >> when wil...

The surface, but weve also got new information about just whats coming out of the pipe. a bp official told me today theres much more natural gas coming out of the hole than they originally thought. now, in some of this video you can see how the gas -- how the material coming out kind of changes texture. theres some light material there. one bp official said that appears to be gas, and another bp official told me that could mean that less oil is accumulating on the surface than they thought befor...

They felt some pressure. they knew there might have been an issue with the well. they went ahead with the drilling. >> yesterday, the interior secretary, ken salazar, said tomorrow, thursday, could be a key day if that top hat -- >> thats right. >> -- the containment actually works and stops some of this. what are you hearing about this? >> what were hearing its a smaller dome, it will be capped on there like the larger dome, what happened with the larger dome, the crystals that we talked about....

Fingers crossed this smaller containment dome, which apparently has its own heating element or ability to melt those crystals if they should form, hopefully that will work. >> reporter: absolutely. and if it does work, im sure well know right away. i mean, theyre ready to give out some good news. were talking about bp, of course. as soon as theres any word of success, im sure well hear about it right away. failure, well, were going to hear about that, too. the thing theyre trying to save is quit...

That is a fraction of the size of the other one, only about five feet all the, four feet in diameter, and theyre taking it out to do the same thing the larger dome did be, they hope to be able to avoid getting the crystals forming inside and clogging it up the way they did the larger one. then theyre going to follow it up about ten days to two weeks later with something they call a junk shot. that junk shot is essentially something theyre going to inject solid material down into the piping that ...

The gas burns as the ice melts and releases it. that is the culprit that is stopping up this funnel from stopping this leak in the bottom of the ocean. >> so i understand theyve considered using a smaller dome. how would that be any better? >> an interesting question. the reason it would be better perhaps, the researcher tells me, it might allow them to focus a heat sources around here to prevent those crystals from clogging the spout. but fire ice is a tricky thing. vast beds of this stuff on t...

Well, this is what they are. a thousand feet or more beneath the oceans surface, molecules of water freeze like little cages, like those in red around each molecule of methane creating this slush called fire ice. why do they call it that? look. you can set this ablaze. the gas burns as the ice melts and releases it. that is the culprit that is stopping up this funnel from stopping this leak in the bottom of the ocean. >> so i understand theyve considered using a smaller dome. how would that be a...

Basically a big block of concrete, over the spill and funnel the oil to the surface. that didnt work. there was some slush created because of how deep and cold it is down there, so now theyre going with something smaller than that. >> reporter: thats right. and that setback has cost us about a week here. what theyre trying now is a smaller containment dome that you described accurately. theyre calling it a top hat. its only about five feet tall, about four feet in diameter. a fraction of the siz...