Track the latest breaking news from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, subscribe to eBoom's RSS feed.
The streaming video below is a feed starting earlier today. According to NPR and PBS who are hosting the feed, it is live:
Here's a live feed of the oil spill webcam on BP's website.
This is another feed of the oil spill webcam live on the US Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming site.
Since EnergyBoom first posted this video of the oil gushing from the main pipe at the Deepwater Horizon, people have been asking what the exact size of the pipe is.
A source at BP has just confirmed to us that the pipe in this video showing the main leak is 20" (almost 2 feet) in diameter.
Specifically, the outer is 21"; the inner is 20", according to BP.
Don't miss Energy Boom's BP oil spill story compilation for further details.
In case you missed it earlier, this footage below shows the failed attempt last weekend to lower a 100-ton, 4-story "cofferdam" dome over the top of the main leak. As the dome is lowered onto the leak, you can see the oil gushing out on the sides, offering a better sense of the volume of oil pumping into the Gulf of Mexico:
Brendan DeMelle is a freelance author and researcher focusing primarily on clean energy and has over a decade of experience in energy and environmental issues. He most recently served as Research Associate for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Any opinion contained in this article is solely that of the writers, and does not necessarily shapes or reflect the editorial opinions of Energy Boom.
Energy Boom content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be advice regarding the investment merits of, or a recommendation regarding the purchase or sale of, any security identified on, or linked through, this site.
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Limiting the flow
The flow of the oil spilling can be drastically reduced by pumping a few thousand pounds of steel ball bearing into the pipe. The round shape will slow the flow as they fall to the lowest point. The round shape will keep the balls from log jamming and this method could lower the flow of oil to the equivalent of a broken 3 inch pipe.
not an engineer also
With today’s technology, engineers, etc …etc they can not stop this… this is a insult or this is a cover-up Obama approve the drilling for oil two weeks before this occur (no comments) How do they connect these pipes? So why they can not do the same…..only by adding a valve on the end of the pipe and turning this off
holes size's
i really haven't heard how big the leaks are all the figureing and calculating want tell you anything if you don't know the holes sizes someone please tell the hole size's in the pipe and can you say for sure if they can perform under water welding.
Read the article
Did you bother to read the article?
It quite clearly states the pipe is 21" outside and about 20" inside. Right after the leak started they said the end of the pipe is only about 85% of the leak, the other 15% comes from a different leak in the pipe.
In reality, the leak has spewed out more than 800,000,000 gallons over the course of the month! It is really some pretty simple math... a 2.5 inch fire hose can put out anywhere from 150 gallons to more than 250 gallons per minute with about 60 PSI above ambient pressure. A 20 inch pipe inside diameter is some SIXTY-FOUR times bigger than a 2.5 inch fire hose!
not an engineer
but i am a pipe fitter and pipe welder and i have worked building oil rigs they are much bigger pipes than 21in.on oil rigs.the thing that bothers me though is that bp should have had people in place years ago to be able to deal with this type of disaster very quickly instead of waiting until it happened and flying blindly.that 21in.is close to 3/4- 1 in. in thickness .maybe they could drill some holes in behind the leaks and relieve some of the pressure on the larger leaks and then put a valve on it to turn it off oh i forgot they don't know how to change valves.how are these other oil companies going to fix thier leaks not if but when they happen.scary to think about huh.
20,000 barrels a day!
Wow. So experts on a task force are saying BP was off by about 15,000 barrels a day in their estimate and KNEW ALL ALONG. People go to jail for less.
Oil Spill
If remotely controlled submarines are capable of operating near the ocean floor at the depth of the ruptured B P pipe, they may be the answer to capping and stopping the oil flow. With alterations the largest and heaviest of these subs could have an escape hatch diameter (several times larger than the pipe diameter) fabricated on the very bottom of the sub (below the sub’s center of gravity). Also, the interior atmosphere of the sub should be as close to a vacuum as possible. In this configuration, the sub could be maneuvered directly over the gushing pipe and then allowed to settle over the ruptured pipe as the large escape hatch diaphragm is remotely opened - sucking the gushing oil and the ruptured pipe into the sub. At this point, it might be possible with today’s technology, for the collar of the escape hatch to be remotely controlled to seize and seal itself around the pipe, well below the rupture of the pipe. Later, long flexible pipes from oil tankers on the ocean’s surface could be maneuvered and attached to the sub, by remote control, to siphon the oil from the sub to the tankers. It is my understanding that the ruptured pipe is only 21” in (inside diameter). Therefore, skillful maneuvering of a large, heavy sub combined with the timely opening of the sub’s escape hatch diaphragm should be able to overcome the pressure of the gushing oil and cap the ruptured pipe.
size of pipe
seems to me this oil leak is pathectic the pipe is only 20 inches in inside dia. i was thinking it was a whole lot bigger.with deepwater robots they could possibly stop this oil gusher i think fairly easy compared to what they are trying.a twenty inch pipe may have a whole lot of pressure but thier experts already know how much.i think all they would have to do is take a steel plate and wedge it in the pipe to cut the flow of the oil coming out if need be cut a hole in the pipe with a saw or underwater machine and slip a metal plate in the cut much like mining for gold. this it not rocket science just plain old common sense.people better speak up soon or we may not have any gulf to fish in or eat from plus the wildlife they are killing each day. please comment i want to hear from you citizens please speak up this is our south they are killing. best regards gary
Pathetic?
You mean in the sense that BP is pathetic b/c they can't stop up a hole in a 20" pipe right?
Size of Pipe/Flow Rate
"seems to me this oil leak is pathectic the pipe is only 20 inches in inside dia. i was thinking it was a whole lot bigger."
"Pathetic!?" Just what size pipe would you consider sizable or substantial?
The leak rate shown on the opening page seems a bit off to me. It appears to be an estimate of about 11 gallons per second by the flow rate meter. In reality, a 20 inch pipe can carry FAR more than 11 gallons per second.
A 2-1/2 inch fire hose has a surface area of about 4.9 square inches and handles between 150 and 250 gallons per minute at about 60psi. A 20 inch pipe has a surface area SIXTY-FOUR time greater! If the medium flow rate of 200GPM of a firehouse is multiplied 64 times, it would indicate a flow rate of at least TWO HUNDRED and THIRTEEN gallons per SECOND or 12 THOUSAND gallon per MINUTE! That would be nearly twenty times the estimated rate which would mean some 17 MILLION gallons per day has been flowing into the Gulf.
Scale
That really gives you a sense of scale, as one person commented on YouTube: "This ain't no garden hose."
BTW, this video is on the YouTube homepage and is at over 108,000 views and growing exponentially every minute.