The current testing of the capped well has engineers and scientists somewhat concerned and puzzled as to why the pressure is lower than expected. here's an excerpt form a report from the Associated Press:
Pressure readings after 24 hours were about 6,700 pounds per square inch and rising slowly, Allen said, below the 7,500 psi that would clearly show the well was not leaking. He said pressure continued to rise between 2 and 10 psi per hour. A low pressure reading, or a falling one, could mean the oil is escaping.
I was pondering this and after applying a bit of basic refrigeration I have arrived at a possible explanation for the lower pressure.
The main oil field contains a considerable amount of gases...ie, methane, natural gas, etc. All of these gases are likely mixed and/or dissolved in the oil in liquid form at equilibrium...much like the refrigerant oil mix we all see in a compressor crankcase.
In a crankcase, if we drop the pressure the liquid refrigerant begins to boil off, coming out of solution and as a result the whole mix cools down in an attempt to again reach equilibrium.
I see the same thing may have happened after 87 days of blowing off this oil/gas mix at a rate of thousands of barrels /day. I suspect the whole oil reserve has cooled to a point where the pressure/temperature of the mix is now well below what they expected. The slow rise of 10psi per hour is probably just the result of a slow reheating of the mix due to the surrounding earth's heating.
My bet is the well is OK...ie, no leaks.
