Manteca machinist Gary Duran says he has the answer to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and has built a prototype to prove his theory.
“I’ve been watching the news, and nothing they have been doing is going to work,” he insisted Monday afternoon.
He is basing his thinking on a 2-inch-thick stainless steel cylinder that would be 10 to 12 feet in diameter. Duran said it is impossible to build a workable prototype to scale without knowing the actual pressure of the water and oil and site as well as gallons per minute coming from the gusher.
The unit is being called a submersible, collapsible ocean sealing apparatus. A rubberized collapsible expansion joint some 2 inches thing mounted at the base would adhere to the ocean floor, he said.
Inside the 10-foot-diameter cylinder would be a second cylinder estimated to be about four feet from side to side that would be used to draw the oil to a connecting recovery line that would run to the surface of the ocean. The height of the cylinder would be dependent on the amount of weight needed to contain the pressure from the oil.
He said what they are doing now is running a line on an oblique angle from the surface for about 14,000 feet having to target a seven inch area on the bottom of the ocean that is similar to threading the eye of a needle.
Duran’s plan calls for sand to be lowered through a tube filling the bottom half of the cylinder followed by pea gravel for the upper half and capped off with concrete to add weight.
“I’m not doing this for the money,” he said, knowing there have been thousands of ideas submitted before his.
Business at his Duratec Manufacturing business has been slow at his Wetmore Avenue operation and it has given him time to think and question the failed attempts to plug the Gulf oil leak.
Duran said he has contacted BP Oil several times in the last three weeks – called them again Monday morning – and he can’t get past the clerks in the call center. Admittedly frustrated he has been told he can’t mail or overnight UPS a video he has of his proposal – it has to be sent on-line. He said his video file is too large to be sent on line.
“BP just shut the door. They wouldn’t let me overnight my video to show them what would work,” he said.
“I’ve really been working hard on this. I don’t want them dropping a nuke down there,” he said.
Duran said he got his passion for machine work from Ron Castle who was a well-respected shop teacher at Manteca High School years ago. In fact Duran and another former student of Castle’s had a small reunion with him after 30 years in Los Gatos recently.
“He was the teacher of the year and the best industrial arts teacher that the school ever had. He left for San Jose High School,” Duran said.
“I’ve been watching the news, and nothing they have been doing is going to work,” he insisted Monday afternoon.
He is basing his thinking on a 2-inch-thick stainless steel cylinder that would be 10 to 12 feet in diameter. Duran said it is impossible to build a workable prototype to scale without knowing the actual pressure of the water and oil and site as well as gallons per minute coming from the gusher.
The unit is being called a submersible, collapsible ocean sealing apparatus. A rubberized collapsible expansion joint some 2 inches thing mounted at the base would adhere to the ocean floor, he said.
Inside the 10-foot-diameter cylinder would be a second cylinder estimated to be about four feet from side to side that would be used to draw the oil to a connecting recovery line that would run to the surface of the ocean. The height of the cylinder would be dependent on the amount of weight needed to contain the pressure from the oil.
He said what they are doing now is running a line on an oblique angle from the surface for about 14,000 feet having to target a seven inch area on the bottom of the ocean that is similar to threading the eye of a needle.
Duran’s plan calls for sand to be lowered through a tube filling the bottom half of the cylinder followed by pea gravel for the upper half and capped off with concrete to add weight.
“I’m not doing this for the money,” he said, knowing there have been thousands of ideas submitted before his.
Business at his Duratec Manufacturing business has been slow at his Wetmore Avenue operation and it has given him time to think and question the failed attempts to plug the Gulf oil leak.
Duran said he has contacted BP Oil several times in the last three weeks – called them again Monday morning – and he can’t get past the clerks in the call center. Admittedly frustrated he has been told he can’t mail or overnight UPS a video he has of his proposal – it has to be sent on-line. He said his video file is too large to be sent on line.
“BP just shut the door. They wouldn’t let me overnight my video to show them what would work,” he said.
“I’ve really been working hard on this. I don’t want them dropping a nuke down there,” he said.
Duran said he got his passion for machine work from Ron Castle who was a well-respected shop teacher at Manteca High School years ago. In fact Duran and another former student of Castle’s had a small reunion with him after 30 years in Los Gatos recently.
“He was the teacher of the year and the best industrial arts teacher that the school ever had. He left for San Jose High School,” Duran said.
