RAPTORS DESIGN HAWK SAFETY TOOL FOR BLOWOUT PREVENTERS
- Technology Overview
- Origin: Deepwater Horizon
- Emerging Need
- How does it work?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Communities
- Entrepreneurship
- MIT Proof of Concept
Origin: Deepwater Horizion Accident
In 2010 Secretary of Energy Chu created a committee of industry experts and university experts to develop any viable way's to rapidly bring the BP oil spill under control. Prof. Slocum was asked to join the committee given his technical expertise in machine design, and numerous patents in the oil industry. Prof. Slocum was tasked with developing an emergency hydraulic connector, and a flex joint overshot tool. See more below.
Aside from carrying out his asigned tasks Prof. Slocum proposed to feed a continuous wire via the choke/kill ports to create a "hairball" like mass inside the BOP to effectively clog the BOP and reduce the flow rate. The slide below is the original slide presented to Secretary Chu's commitee.
At the time of the blowout it was perceived as unproven.
The committee was concerned with closing the well too quickly which had the potential to create a waterhammer effect and damaging the formation or creating a rupture disk failure.
Emergency Hydraulic Connections
Flex Joint Overshoot Tool
