THIS IS MY SOLUTION FOR SEALING THE BP OIL LEAK If British Petroleum does decide to cut the up-riser off, this will expose the raw shaft into the well. It is vertical without any bends or debris and this will give them a straight shot down the well. This metal rod is telescoped in design so that it is smaller on the tip and gradually graduated into a larger diameter. The final diameter is fairly close tolerance to that of the well pipe. This end of the metal rod has a series of O-rings or seals that will help to seal the final stage. The top of the rod will basically have an oversize head on it so it will stop the rod from descending any further down the well than is desired. The rod I have shown is tapered or telescoped so it will allow the oil pressure to bypass the rod initially upon insertion. Once it has entered the pipe, the weight of the rod is more than adequate to overcome any of the oil pressures being exerted as it is approximately 20 to 25 feet long, and about 21 inches in diameter at the sealing end. The well pipe will guide the rod accordingly down the throat due to the telescoping shape of the rod. Once it bottoms out against the head and the top of the fresh cut pipe, the seal will be complete. The well will be plugged permanently but the rod still has the ability to be removed if needed. The rod can be made of stainless steel or whatever is best for this application. It can be solid or if desired it can be hollow for the purpose of still pumping oil. The ring on top would still need to be present for any continued modifications or repairs. A ball valve would need to be implemented into the design as shown in the diagram and a series of in-flow ports would need to be added along the lower extremities of the rod for the oil to enter and flow through the rod. It would be a good idea to have two ball valves, (not shown), one on top of the other in case of failure of one or the other. If the rod is hollow, then it needs to be longer so the loss in weight would be regained. The weight needs to be sufficient to force the rod into the well pipe and cause it to seat. This would seal the well as there would be no place for the oil to find a by-pass. I have other solutions that will work if the decision is to plug the up-riser and the pipe that has currently been the focus. JuliusBC Inventor/designer added by: JuliusBC
