According to the article, the leak didn't develop until 2 days after the explosion. The rig didn't sink immediately, but when it did, the pipe was damaged and the oil began leaking.
Is it possible that the pipe could have been detached from the platform and this leak prevented? Or can future designs have this capability?
It seems like there was time to act to prevent this from happening. And even if there weren't, perhaps future designs can be built to detach safely when an explosion has occurred.
For example, there are doubled lined tankers, why not a pipe within a pipe? One highly flexible not very good at maintaining pressure for pumping to handle accidents, but surrounding one that is optimized for normal operation.
Valves that automatically shut off when a pipeline's management system can no longer sense parts of the pipeline would also be good.
I realize that I do not understand the physics of how these systems work and welcome explanations of it. But certainly there is room for innovation in this area, especially considering the high costs of these disasters.
The pipe has a valve at its base called the blow-out preventer which is supposed to seal off the flow entirely. At the moment, this doesn't appear to have been fully closed again probably due to the damage caused by the sinking platform.
I'm sure there will be lessons learnt from this incident.
Is it possible that the pipe could have been detached from the platform and this leak prevented? Or can future designs have this capability?
It seems like there was time to act to prevent this from happening. And even if there weren't, perhaps future designs can be built to detach safely when an explosion has occurred.
For example, there are doubled lined tankers, why not a pipe within a pipe? One highly flexible not very good at maintaining pressure for pumping to handle accidents, but surrounding one that is optimized for normal operation.
Valves that automatically shut off when a pipeline's management system can no longer sense parts of the pipeline would also be good.
I realize that I do not understand the physics of how these systems work and welcome explanations of it. But certainly there is room for innovation in this area, especially considering the high costs of these disasters.