Top kill

Scheme of the 'kill lines' in a blowout preventer

The English term Top Kill describes a process to stop a blowout of an oil or gas well and bring it under control.

With the top kill, drilling fluid is injected into the borehole. If the borehole can be sufficiently filled with it, the hydrostatic pressure of the mud column stops the flow of gas and oil. Then the borehole z. B. be sealed with cement.

application

Top kill was z. It was used, for example, to seal the burning oil fields in Kuwait , which were set on fire by the retreating Iraqi troops during the second Gulf War . The process also gained prominence in the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico . During this process, drilling mud was brought in over many hours to close an oil well on the seabed, but this was unsuccessful.

Web links

• kill-weight fluid . In: Oilfield glossary by Schlumberger (English)
• Animation of a top kill operation ( Deepwater Horizon )
• The Gulf Deepwater Oil Spill - the Top Kill Attempt. theoildrum.com (English)
• Kent Wells Tech Update. BP (English, Flash Video)
• BP: Deepwater Horizon: Top kill procedure. BP (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ New tactic might seal leaking well sooner . (English)
2. ↑ What is a “top kill” ( Memento of the original from May 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) 
3. ↑ BP struggles to stem gush of reproach. (English)