Page 148 - Crystals News Today

Bp who leased and operated the rig said it spent $350 million so far in clean-up and other costs tied to the spill. again and again, engineers have tried to shut off the gushing oil. nothing has worked. the latest attempt on friday. they lowered that giant four-story container over the leak to try to cap it but ice like crystals apparently doomed the effort. tom joins us to explain it and the next plans to contain it. >> remember this is happening in a very deep, dark and cold place. well below ...

Tom joins us to explain it and the next plans to contain it. >> remember this is happening in a very deep, dark and cold place. well below freezing, depending on how you look it a. so tiny crystals of ice and gas called methane hydrite have been rising all along. heres what happened. when the dome was dropped this teeny crystals started clinging to each other and the sides of the dome inside and gradually, they built up so much that they clogged the entire nozzle here so that the oil could not b...

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 the ocean floor can become highl...

>> remember this is happening in a very deep, dark and cold place. well below freezing, depending on how you look it a. so tiny crystals of ice and gas called methane hydrite have been rising all along. heres what happened. when the dome was dropped this teeny crystals started clinging to each other and the sides of the dome inside and gradually, they built up so much that they clogged the entire nozzle here so that the oil could not be funneled out to the surface. the question that you would as...

By turning me off? youll set the mood while using a lot less energy. maybe later you can hook me up with a cfl. it will show how much you care for the environment. [announcer] learn to speak the language of energy efficiency at bgesmartenergy.com, where youll find plenty of energy-saving tips. ahhhhh. the passion. environmental catastrophe in the gulf of mexico getting worse. more than 3 million gallons of oil have poured into the gulf since april 20. bp who lease asked operated the rig said i...

Dome. so far, the massive four-story structure hasnt worked as planned. hydrate crystals formed on it, blocking the top and causing it to float. meantime, tens of thousands of gallons of oil are still leaking out every single day, but our david mattingly told us, workers are willing to give it another try. >> reporter: bp is still trying to find a way to make this dome work. they say theyre going to take a couple of days to step back and figure out how to overcome this problem they encountered a...

Plan a, plan b, well, plan as failed. plan b is on deck. plans c, d and e are on stand-by and thats what bp is looking at now, trying to plug up the oil leak in the gulf. david mattingly, what happened to that giant containment dome? >> reporter: well, kyra, what bp is looking at how is since the larger dome didnt work theyre going to try to downsize and work with a smaller dome. when they tried to lower the 40-foot-tall dome over the largest of the two remaining leaks at the bottom of the gulf ...

Shooting garage into a gaping hole in the well to try to plug it up, but before they resort to whats being called the junk shot, bp energy executives plan to try something else. lets go to cnns david mattingly covering the story from louisiana. what else 1 going on over there? because it does not look good, david. >> reporter: wolf, this latest attempt to stem the flow of oil at the bottom of the gulf of mexico comes in the form of a device called a top hat. this top hat according to bp official...

♪ that blinding light this morning was the sun. a gorgeous shot of new york city this morning. >> very lovely. >> the first attempt to contain a massive oil spill in the gulf failed over the weekend. ice-like crystals clogged the containment dome as soon as it was lowered to the ocean floor. what happens now? bp is preparing a smaller dome to try to capture the spewing oil. >> meantime the situation is growing desperate. one coast guard official suggesting that crews may try to stuff the lea...

To find a way to make this dome work. they say theyre going to take a couple of days to step back and figure out how to overcome this problem they encountered as they were attempting to lower it into place a day or so ago. what they encountered was something called hydrates. these are crystals formed by gas combining with water under the deep pressure and under the cold temperatures down at the bottom of the ocean. it was forming sort of like a slush inside that dome and clogging it up. so they ...