Focus problem template to solve: - The minimum and maximum penalty for BP was (s
ID: 3185425 • Letter: F
Question
Focus problem template to solve:
- The minimum and maximum penalty for BP was (show calculation)
- The settlement amount was (state what percent of the maximum fine the settlement was with calculation)
- The final amount, state the midrange and how you calculated it
- At the time of the spill the value of the oil that BP lost was (fill in the amount of oil lost, as well as its value at the time and its value now. Convert quantities to units that help make sense of them)
- A pipe with diameter (show how to calculate the rate of the volume of oil flowing through the pipe. Convert it to cubic feet per second and then to cubic feet per day. Compare it to an estimate of number of gallons per day ,and explain where there is a difference)
CYCLE ONE The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems -Theodore Isaac Rubin The BP Oil Spill Focus Problem 0 For 87 days in the spring and summer of 2010, British and maximum penality for BP. What percent of this maximum Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon spilled millions of gallons of was the final settlement? is the final amount clover to the crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in one of the largest minimum, the maximum, or the midrange (mean oil spills in the history of the United States and one of the largest unintentional oil spills in history Do you think the penalty imposed by the judge in the thin phase of the trial was fair? Explain your response and include some information you learned from researching the topic in In addition to the cost of cleaning up the spill and compensa news reports tion to those affected, BP was also responsible for penalties under the Clean Water Act, which calls for fines of $1,100 per barrel, for simple negligence, up to $3,000 per barrel, What was the value of the oil BP lost in the spill at the time of the spill? What would the oil be worth now? Convert the number fines should go as high as $4,300 under the Environmental Protection Agency rules. prosecutors argued that the of barrels of oil spilled to gallons. Convert this amount to some thing practical to make sense of the size of the spill Some estimates of the size of the oil spill relied on analyzing the flow rate from the pipe as seen on video footage. If the circular opening of the pipe has a diameter of 21 inches and An important part of determining the appropriate fine was estimating the size of the spill. Experts offered differing opinions on the flow rate of the oil from the undersea well. Initially, an expert from BP insisted that the oil was flowing at a rate of only 5,000 barrels per day. It turned out that this the oil was estimated to be flowing at 30 inches/second, how many cubic feet of oil were leaving the pipe each second? Each day? How does this estimate compare to the other esti- was a gross underestimate of the flow rate, and the BP expert mates mentioned for gallions per day? Discuss some possible was eventually prosecuted for misleading the investigation. reasons for the discrepancy An expert in fluid dynamics studied the fiow rate on video and computed a rate of approximately 70,000 barrels per day (+/-20%). Compare the size of this oil spill to others in history to put it into During the third phase of the trial, a judge was left to weigh When we're trying to assign blame in the differing opinions and decide on a penalty for BP A finalter of unprecedented scale and there are settlement amount of $18.7 billion was eventually agreed upon. The trial took two years and was one of the most com- plicated civil cases in the history of the U.S. courts. an environmental disas- the line START? WHERE DO WE Use the fluid dynamics expert's range on the number of bar- rels per day, along with the allowed penalty range under the Clean Water Act and EPA guidelines, to calculate a minimumExplanation / Answer
Listing all the information :
1. No of days =87
2.Minimum fine under Clean Water act = $1100 per barrel
3. Maximum fine under Clean Water act = $3000 per barrel
4. Fine under Environmental Protection Agency rules = $4300 per barrel
5. Daily flow rate range according to fluid dynamics expert = 70000 barrels/day(+/- 20%)
6. Diameter of pipe = 21 inches
7. Flow rate through pipe= 30inches/second
Answer 1 (Minimum and Maximum penalty)
Minimum flow rate possible according to fluid dynamics expert
= 70000-(20/100 *70000)
= 70000-14000
= 56000 barrel/day
Maximum flow rate possible according to fluid dynamics expert
= 70000+(20/100 *70000)
= 70000+14000
= 84000 barrel/day
Minimum amount of fine under Clean Water Act = $1100
Maximum amount of fine under Environmental Protection Agency rules = $4300
Maximum fine possible = $4300/barrel * 84000barrels/day * 87 days
=$31,424,400,000
Minimum fine possible = $1100/barrel * 56000barrels/day * 87 days
=$5,359,200,000
Answer 2:
The amount of fine imposed finally : $18,700,000,000
Percentage of maximum fine =(18700000000/31424400000) * 100
= 59.51%
Answer 3:
Midrange of the fine limit = (maximum fine + minimum fine)/2
=($31,424,400,000 + $5,359,200,000)/2 = $18391800000
The final amount is closer to the mean.
Answer 4:
The amount of oil lost at most
= 84000barrels/ day * 87 days
=7308000 barrels
The amount of oil lost at least
=56000barrels/day * 87 days
= 4872000 barrels
As per value of oil /price of oil barrel given later in a comment:
The price of oil before per barrel is $84.92 and later is $67.88per barrel
Therefore the value of oil lost:
Maximum amount of oil that can be lost = 7308000 barrel
value of oil lost according to previous price = $84.92 *7308000 = $620,595,360.
value of oil lost according to later price = $67.88 *7308000 = $496,067,040.
Minimum amount of oil that can be lost = 4872000 barrel
value of oil lost according to previous price = $84.92 *4872000 = $413,730,240.
value of oil lost according to later price = $67.88 *4872000 = $330,711,360.
Answer 4:
Diameter of pipe = 21inches
radius of pipe = 21/2 inches
speed of oil flow through pipe = 30inches/seconds
oil flow(cubic inch /second)
= pi * (radius)^2 * speed of oil flow
=(22/7 )* (21/2)*(21/2) *30
= 10395 cubic inch/second
12 inches = 1 feet
1 inch = 1/12 feet
Oil flow in (cubic foot / second) = 10395 * (1/12)^3 =6.02(cubic foot/second)
1 day = 24 * 60 * 60 seconds = 86400 seconds
Oil flow in (cubic foot/day) = 6.02 * 86400 (cubic foot/day) = 520128 (cubic foot / day)
Now, 1 cubic foot = 7.48052 gallon
Therefore oil flow in gallon/day = 520128*7.48052 = 3890827.907gallons /day
No other estimates of oil flow is given in the picture, so the comparison can not be done.