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  • From: bobf <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Gas explosions
  • Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:08:50 -0800 (PST)

On an oil rig, when the drill is being pushed, every "X" seconds an
announcement comes over the loudspeakers alerting everyone to the gas
pressure per inch (if my memry is right). If the (I believe it was called
GPI) spikes, everyone stops what they are doing for a minute and gets real
nervous. Evacuation drills for 'blowouts" are mandated my the MMA ( MMS?--
acronym might be changed or wrong, but it is the feds, the same people that
do spot pee checks and actually watch you pee in the cup to make sure you
didn't buy 'clean' pee)

------------------------------------------------------------------------


--- On Wed, 1/14/09, EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:

> From: EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
> Subject: Re: [Homestead] Gas explosions
> To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 1:50 PM
> Gene GeRue wrote:
> > On Jan 14, 2009, at 12:40 PM, Lynn Wigglesworth wrote:
> >
> >> We have so much natural gas that there are stories
> of wells
> >> exploding from natural gas and an electrical spark
> from the pump.
> >
> > Have many Irish there? Such stories are blarney. Pumps
> are not
> > enclosed in buildings, which is where conditions for
> explosion are
> > most common. Natural gas does not burn (explode is
> just real fast
> > burn) unless it and oxygen are at certain levels. From
> my Pacific Gas
> > & Electric days I vaguely recall the number being
> about fourteen
> > percent, either way.
> >
> > I used to put on a fun show for my fellow workers and
> spectators when
> > our crew would be out fixing a bad leak where the gas
> was blowing
> > hard. I would casually take a deep drag on my ciggie
> and then, with
> > the ciggie end glowing brightly, wave my arm over the
> gas. The
> > sidewalk supers would fade back. Not to fear. The
> pressure disallows
> > ignition.
>
>
> Maybe not blarney, and I think the Irish might know.
> The words natural gas are kind of generic. The very type
> of explosion
> Lynn mentions from drilling could very well be caused by
> methane
> hydrates which can often be found on coalbeds or near oil.
> I doubt the
> sparks have anything to do with it(unless the methane was
> trapped in a
> coal storage silo or boxcar or other 'container' ,
> but the sudden change
> in pressure from drilling causes the methane to explode.
> This has
> wrecked quite a few oil wells off Ireland and in the North
> Sea.
>
> If we can figure out a way to safely process methane
> hydrates into fuel,
> we are set for the next 500 years. As the permafrost in
> Alaska melts,
> these hydrates are being released.
>
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane_clathrate
> From Wiki:
>
> >> Methane clathrates (hydrates) are also commonly
> formed during
> >> natural
> > gas production operations, when liquid water is
> condensed in the
> > presence of methane at high pressure. It is known that
> larger
> > hydrocarbon molecules such as ethane and propane can
> also form
> > hydrates, although as the molecule length increases
> (butanes,
> > pentanes), they cannot fit into the water cage
> structure and tend to
> > destabilise the formation of hydrates. Once formed,
> hydrates can
> > block pipeline and processing equipment. They are
> generally then
> > removed by reducing the pressure, heating them, or
> dissolving them by
> > chemical means (methanol is commonly used). Care must
> be taken to
> > ensure that the removal of the hydrates is carefully
> controlled,
> > because of the risk of massive increases in pressure
> as the methane
> > is released, and the potential for the hydrate to let
> go with high
> > velocity as it is exposed to a high pressure
> differential.
> >
> > It is generally preferable to prevent hydrates from
> forming or
> > blocking equipment. This is commonly achieved by
> removing water, or
> > by the addition of ethylene glycol (MEG) or methanol,
> which act to
> > depress the temperature at which hydrates will form.
> In recent years,
> > development of other forms of hydrate inhibitors have
> been
> > developed, such as Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitors (which
> dramatically
> > slow the rate of hydrate formation) and
> anti-agglomerates, which do
> > not prevent hydrates forming, but do prevent them
> sticking together
> > to block equipment.
>
> I clipped this because it might apply to the article Lynn
> posted.
>
> Bev
>
>
> --
> "Nothing in this world can take the place of
> persistence. Talent will
> not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with
> talent. Genius
> will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education
> will not; the
> world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and
> determination alone
> are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved
> and always will solve
> the problems of the human race"
>
> ~ Calvin Coolidge
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