An oil recovery technique for emergency response in deepwater blowout accidents

The risk of blowout accidents is threatening the safety of deepwater oil and gas activities. Fortunately, response techniques can be applied to mitigate the consequences of blowout accidents. Due to time constraints, efficient response techniques are preferred. In this paper, an oil recovery technique, so-called the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) cap, has been studied. It is the most efficient subsea oil collection technique used in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (or Macondo) accident. Current works of the LMRP cap focus on the heat transfer process, however, they have not discussed the relationship between the hot water flow with the oil and gas flux, which can be pragmatic for practitioners in emergency situations. In addition, no literature has been found to study the quantitative design of the operation process and the mechanical model of working scenarios of the LMRP cap system. The operation of the LMRP cap has been quantitatively designed. Based on the mechanical analysis, its operability envelope (i.e., the working limit under different platform offsets and surface current velocities) has been determined. Moreover, the risk of hydrate formation during the oil recovery operation has been evaluated.