THE DEEPWATER HORIZON INCIDENT
Data Sheet
Background Information Needed to Complete the Assignment:
• Diameter of the Deepwater Horizon drill pipe: 20 inches
• Average rate of oil moving through the pipe: 20 inches/second
• Area of a circle: πr2 (pi times r squared), where π = 3.14159 and r = the radius of the circle (1/2 of the diameter)
1. Calculate the interior area of the drill pipe using the formula for the area of a circle. Your answer will be in square inches (in2). Show your work below and record your answer in Table 2.
2. Calculate the volume of oil escaping the pipe every second by multiplying the interior area of the drill pipe (you calculated above) by the average rate of oil moving through the pipe. Your answer will be in cubic inches per second (in3/s). Show your work below and record your answer in Table
3. Calculate the volume of oil escaping the pipe each minute by converting your previous answer to cubic inches per minute (in3/min). Remember, there are 60 seconds in 1 minute. Show your work below and record your answer in Table 2.
4. Calculate the volume of oil escaping the pipe each hour by converting your previous answer to cubic inches per hour (in3/hr). Remember, there are 60 minutes in 1 hour. Show your work below and record your answer in Table 2.
5. Calculate the volume of oil escaping the pipe per day by converting your previous answer to cubic inches per day (in3/day). Remember, there are 24 hours in 1 day. Show your work and record your answer in Table 2.
6. Convert the volume of oil escaping the pipe per day from cubic inches per day (in3/day) to cubic feet per day (ft3/day). The conversion factor is 1 in3 = 0.000579 ft3. Show your work below and record your answer in Table 2.
7. Convert the volume of oil escaping the piper per day from cubic feet per day (ft3/day) to barrels per day (bbl/day). The conversion factor is 1 barrel = 5.61 ft3. Show your work below and record your answer in Table 2.
8. Find the total barrels of oil discharged during the incident by multiplying the barrels of oil escaping the pipe per day by the total length of time the pipe leaked (86 days). Show your work below and record your answer in Table 2.
9. Convert the total barrels of oil (bbl) discharged during the incident to total gallons of oil (gal) discharged during the incident. There are 42 gallons in 1 barrel of oil. Show your work below and record your answer in Table 2.
