Crack Team of Scientists Assembled to Stop Oil Gusher

It is unbelievable that the oil gusher in the ocean bottom has not been plugged as BP says they have over 500 specialists working to resolve the problem.

Perhaps BP doesn't want to plug the hole? After all, they spent millions getting it open-and there is obviously millions of dollars worth of oil down there. Could it be that BP is trying to figure out a way to capture all of that oil and natural gas and until they resolve that, the volcanic gusher will be allowed to continue spewing oil into the ocean.

Today, it occurred to me that oil and water might possibly be separated in the same way that a patient's blood is filtered with a dialysis machine. If this were feasible, would not that be a better cleanup method than using chemicals and sorbents to clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill?

Another method might be to siphon the ocean water into a tanker, then partially freeze the oil and water. Repeat this as often as needed, discarding the 1/4 to 1/3 unfrozen water. The principle here is that the crystal structure of water [ice] with all those hydrogen bonds is complicated and doesn't allow impurities into the lattice spaces. An example of this is to freeze some distilled or deioized water in the fridge. You will find about 1/2 of the ice cube is crystal clear -- pure water -- the other half will be opaque, because the water becomes saturated with atmospheric N2 and O2. Repeat this experiment with freshly boiled water (de-gassed) and note the difference.

Well, apparently, someone else had a similar idea. Kevin Costner, world famous Hollywood actor and environmentalist, his brother, and a team of scientists have developed a machine that extracts oil from water at a speed of 200,000 gallons a minute, removing 99% of the oil. Costner and his business partners at Ocean Therapy Solutions have been giving demonstrations of the device in the South Louisiana area. The machine will be demonstrated to BP Saturday, May 15. (Huffington Post)

All well and good that there might be a better way to clean up the ocean. But, the gusher still needs to be plugged or contained.

That problem may be solved by Nobel prize winning physicist, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and his handpicked group of seven men. Since men made the mess, perhaps Chu figures men should clean it up, as not one woman has been included in his crack team of physicists, mining engineers and a hydrogen bomb expert assembled to tackle the Deepwater Horizon undersea oil disaster.

Each member of the team has experience in solving complex problems. Chu also wants them to come up with five backup plans.

Members of the team include:

Richard Garwin, a consultant who helped design the first hydrogen bomb in 1951.

George Cooper, a civil engineering professor at the University of California-Berkeley who worked with NASA to modify mining techniques for use on Mars.

Alexander Slocum, a mechanical engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who holds dozens of patents for devices related to biotechnology, robotics and computer science. He also studies nanotechnology and enjoys scuba diving, Bloomberg reports.

Jonathan I. Katz, a physicist at Washington University in St. Louis who has written about the Mpemba effect, the observation that warmer water freezes faster than colder water in certain circumstances.

Tom Hunter from Sandia Laboratories, which conducts research for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.

Katz and Garwin are members of the JASON group, a think tank dedicated to researching complex problems on the government's behalf.

Garwin held a symposium in 1991 that included scientists, explosives experts, firefighters and oilmen to study how to stem oil flows from hundreds of wells Iraq set on fire in Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War, Bloomberg says.

The team's mission is secretive -- Katz, a member of the team, saw some confidential and proprietary information at a Houston meeting with BP executives. (Bloomberg)

Maybe that's the reason there are no women on Chu's team. He thinks women can't keep secrets.

Sources

Deep Horizon Water Response, http://www.deepwaterresponse.com

Jessica Resnick-Ault and Katarzyna Klimasinska Obama Sends Bomb, Mars Experts to Fix BP Oil Spill (Update1),http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ao_GFutnMAHY

Jessica Lazss, Senior Press Secretary at the National Resource Defense Council, Louisiana Official says Kevin Costner will fight gulf gusher, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jessica-lass/louisiana-local-official_b_574699.html