A potential solution to the oil spill problem came to me in meditation this morning. In all humility, I am asking everyone to help make this suggestion more plausible, possible, and probable:
I have read the biography of Red Adair, and this suggestion is coming with the experience of learning to cut our losses before our losses begin to cut us. This is actually a great opportunity, if the US can allow BP 2 approach Russia, (or welcome them,) to test-fire one of their Shkval missile-exhaust-forward Air-Tipped bubble-riding Torpedo’s, down the well-shaft. These are “supercavitating” torpedoes, which create their own cavity, or fluid-free-path, by deflecting a part of the missile exhaust forward, from close to the tip.
These torpedoes ride on a self-created bubble of air.
This will more easily work against the outward pressure of the turbulent gunk currently exploding out of the deep well-pipe. Another reason we want a missile-propelled bubble-riding torpedo instead of the conventional kind is that in case it veers off, we want it to reach as deep as possible before it blows. The odds of capping the well increase the further down a conventional detonation occurs. Red Adair would be proud! This is an approach with a built-in backup, in case it cannot be rigged to work vertically, or within the limited confines of a mine. If need be, it could even be fired from a temporary-rig pointing it straight down the hole: the Russians can surely manage that.
There is the obvious computation required to take into account the rising pressure as the rocket dives deeper under water, and at what point the supercavitation created by the diverted rocket-exhaust will fail, causing the rocket-propelled torpedo to turn into something more akin to a conventional one. Whatever that depth may be, it will be further, and thus better than, the discarded a consideration of firing a conventional torpedo down the tube with steady fluid-pressure pushing it backward. Even if our Shkval fails, it will be at a greater depth than anything else that has been considered at this time. It could either cause a cave-in of rock & debris of sufficient weight to cap the flow, or else it will clear out easier and safer than the oil itself, being dirt. Yet if it works, it could travel all the way down the well, (or as far as the experts permit) & plug the hole where we want it. If that is what we indeed want. The question to BP is do we want this, given the ongoing environmental catastrophe?
Overall, I am sharing this publicly as a test of my own credibility, and the desire of a do-gooder to do some more good than anyone else is practicing the courage to attempt. Does this idea make sense to you? You are being asked for feedback, & to help propagate the thought.
[Specifically, I am asking: How do we bring this idea to the attention of those who can make a difference? I am open to suggestions, leadership, or guidance:]
(This idea originated from my Google buzz, so I retain ownership of the general concept, but I am sharing it now in the public domain under GPL, the General Public License, which means that you are welcome to use it, but be so kind as to link back to this post, as I’ll continue refining it as more is learned.)
Appreciative note: Image courtesy of Orbital Vector, “The Speculative Technology Database.”
