There is loss of psi per vertical foot. For water, it's .434 psi/ft. which means 2000psi is not enough pressure to lift water up a mile long pipe against gravity, much less a more viscous liquid like oil. You see, not only do you lose pressure due to gravity, but you also lose pressure due to viscosity. P = V x Q ÷ 18,300 D4 where P is pressure loss, V is SSU viscosity at temp, Q is GPM flow and D is diameter of pipe.

Secondly the term siphon is use figuratively, as the true definition of siphon is a device that draws fluids downhill using stored potential energy provided by gravity.

Like it or not, there is going to be a pump involved.

ACoE didn't botch the levees, it was unwillingness to spend more money to rectify the situation.

Oh yeah? Well 89X3/(+u8708÷28)=PSI/sq.ft[50-0-8u]\12 to you, bubbah!

]:p

Thanks for the clarification.

Kat post does makes sense

However in this case - pumping -vs- siphoning has very little to do with it at all.

Consider what BP did was simply placed a Cork in a bottle if you will , with a straw in the middle .

Now if the Cork was a good seal <-- there would be no leak right ! ! but since the pipe is damage and not perfectly round , the leak persist .

Remember water hoses with a trigger end , they always leak after a period of time and when you press the trigger the leak slows down greatly but still leaks somewhat .

Anyway
Under current plan B - the only way to stop that leaking Cork is to pump out the oil at a greater rate than the pressure the oil is at -- there is no pump on earth that can pump that fast of volume .

That would be true if the pipe was in open air but in this case it's in the ocean. Since oil is lighter than water its always coming to surface and will come out of the pipe at the same pressure it goes in. When it hits the surface gravity wins and the oil stays at sea level. Escaping oil will sit on the surface of the sea and piped oil will collect in the tanker. You can see this effect in the kitchen - pour a teaspoon of olive oil into a glass of water - what happens to the oil? That's right, the oil comes immediately to the surface and is kept there by force of gravity.

I agree that 'siphon' has been used figuratively but I would also point out that using a pump would be otiose in the context of this operation i.e. they're collecting oil in the tanker for environmental reasons not commercial. The oil in the well is going to be extracted and sold in any event so the object is to stop the spill. If your theory were correct and there was not enough pressure to bring the oil all the way up the pipe so it stopped half way, that would be object achieved because it would nevertheless contain the spill. Obviously there's a leak at source but they planned for a perfect seal not a partial one so they'd only use a pump if they were thinking outside the box.

km

You are right about Salazar he really is kind of wimpy no push behind him at all. This is a terrible situation and hopefully it gets resolved asapJ

Oil in a pipe is not in the ocean, it's in a pipe. The oil does not care if the pipe is in air or water. If the pipe is sealed off, there is no water for the oil to be buoyant on. Oil doesn't float up pipes to drilling rigs, it's pumped.

Easy there, Sarge. You're blinding him with science.

Oh. Wait. You're just whipping him with common sense right now, but your earlier post? Definitely. Science.

So what? If you put an air filled balloon at the bottom of the ocean it rises to the surface... if you put an oil filled balloon at the bottom of the ocean it rises to the s... you got it!


Like I said, if the pipe is sealed off, they don't need a pump.

km