Oil Spill Containment, Remote Sensing and Tracking For Deepwater Blowouts: Status of Existing and Emerging Technologies. Final Report

摘要

This report evaluates the technical hurdles associated with the remote sensing, tracking, containing and recovering oil released from deep water blowouts. An analysis of oil-spill containment and recovery technologies that will facilitate overcoming these technical hurdles is provided. The report presents an overview of deepwater well control barriers that are used to develop deepwater blowout scenarios. A critical component analysis and consequence analysis follow these scenarios. A patent search of deepwater blowout control technologies was performed and the resulting patents evaluated to assist in the evaluation of potential deepwater blowout countermeasures. Although seven patents are identified that warrant further investigation, the report concludes that undersea recovery of oil from a deepwater blowout is unlikely for subsea releases. The best options for subsea blowout spill control seem to be technologies to facilitate vertical intervention to contain the flow using well control techniques, and technologies for speeding the process of natural degradation of the released oil using dispersants applied at the wellhead.