Fresh water will be used to put out Mont Cuet hotspot
Thursday 12th March 2009, 2:29PM GMT.
WORK has started on the project to extinguish the Mont Cuet hotspot.
Workers are drilling boreholes, which will be used to inject fresh water into the base of the site and to extract gas.
Public Services minister Deputy Bernard Flouquet said the holes are vital.
‘This is the initial phase of the operation, and will be fundamental to its success,’ he said. ‘We have undertaken a full risk analysis to identify potential problems and safety is our top priority.’
Seven of the pipes will be used for water injection and Rob Roussel (pictured), the senior project manager, is aiming for them to reach the base of the site, 40 metres below the surface.
‘The problem is moisture can make it hard to dig out the holes,’ he said.
It takes a day to create each of the holes, which will house a pipe 60cm in diameter. The pipes will then be secured into their holes using gravel and bentonite to prevent gas and water escaping.
Thirty pin wells and 13 gas boreholes will be inserted between six and 10 metres below the surface to collect gases produced, including methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide.
‘Suction pumps will channel the gases through pipes to a flare, where they will be safely burnt off at a temperature in excess of 800C,’ said Mr Roussel.
‘In the long term, it is hoped we might generate electricity from the methane given off.’
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Why on earth are they using fresh water when they have millions of gallons of sea water just a few hundred yards from the site??? Don’t understand their thought procedure behind this one at all!!
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My sentiments exactly Andy! Does it have something to do with the chemical reaction to produce methane, CO2 etc?
I dont really know much about this problem except from whats been printed. We are being led to believe this is a temporary problem but then there is a statement such as “in the long term, it is hoped we may generate electricity from the methane given off” – so it looks like this problem is going to go on for decades.
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Everyone knows salt water is flammable!!
Or am I thinking of petrol….
Nah
- the thought process of the states
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Isn’t this going to cause more problems in the future? Sooner or later it will filter into the surrounding area and contaminate it with toxins which may eventually do more damage. And the thought of the polluted water at the bottom of the tip sounds very undesirable.
It sounds a bit of a high risk solution.
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Its my understanding its the hydrogen sulphide-(H2S) gas the seawater is full of ions which would create this smelly and ( in high enough quantities) deadly gas- its what already (with other gases) causes the tip to hum so beautifully- though at very low concentrations. Freshwater has less so not a problem ( apart from to our wallets!)- although i would have thought sourcing the water from the Vale Pond still wouldn’t be perfect as surely its quite brackish and (relatively) saline still?
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For goodness sake, will Deputy Flouquet or someone else with half a brain cell from Public Services leap in here and explain exactly why fresh water is required.
All this heavy chemistry stuff is doing my head in
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Salt water is never used in chemical experiments (possible due to the chemistry of salt) as it often causes an undesired reaction.
“In the long term” etc. doesn’t just mean that this hotspot will continue to grow or even create a new hotspot, rather it means that as everything decomposes it creates methane gas, instead of burning this and wasting it (thus adding to the overall greenhouse gases in the atmosphere) they will try to harness this natural source for out benefit, almost in a friendly way as it will reduce the possibilty of a) the landfill exploding due to too much gas build up. b) another hotspot being created.
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Sea water is higly inflammable. Don’t smoke near the sea, everyone know that.
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Starscream – perhaps we should then be lobbying public service only to use distilled water then to avoid the chance of such undesirable reactions? It’ll cost a bit more but when did that ever stop the states!
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Starscream
Salt and water is often used in chemical experiments. Testing metals against corrosion is one of the very many.
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I fear there is a darker horse lurking in the idea of using the Vale pond to extiguise the fire.
For a long time various States have looked upon the vale pond for many reasons
Possible use after draining- Housing ghetto; Land fill after all the quarries are full.
I hope when the time comes that the present States are kicked out for good; let us have a controlling body that will listen to Guernsey people who know their Island better than all the immigrants. This is not a racist thought but honest to goodness statement of the present situations
Get rid of them now.
With all these millions they have wasted, we could already have had a working combined sewage and rubbish affair, But no these stubborn States must have their own way, or they’ll cry as one has already done.
Come off it States get your butts off those seats and do something useful for a change.l think many feel as I do about this terrible wastage of our resources. In far less reasonable countries these States would now be on trial; the sentence already written down. Guernsey People are too lenient with these spendthrifts.
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Farcical; Is the only way to describe the workings of the States of Guernsey.
And not only nowadays; what they do now has been to accelerate the facial way they use their Status as politicians. It’s disgraceful, that a handful of seemingly clever people hold the peoples of Guernsey to ransom.
They do things without consultation (buying of ships for egoism-
Some years ago it was a salt water plant; it cost millions; it was never used.
The way they behave is nothing short of criminal waste of OUR money.
Even clowns put up a better show, so we can’t call them clowns.
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I’m sure I read somewhere that only the Vale Pond OVERFLOW ( the water running out onto the beach ) will be used
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