DESIGNING A CAPPING SYSTEM TO STOP THE OIL LEAK:
MY FIRST OFFICIAL ACCURATE MEASURE OF THE FLOW RATE
To design a capping system to stop the discharge of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico 5000 feet deep below the exploded Deepwater Horizon oil rig, an accurate measure of the flow rate of oil discharging was needed. Below is Figure 4 from our National Academy of Sciences paper I co-authored with USDG Director Dr. Marcia McNutt. The true flow rate (the blue band around a dotted-line) was measured when the leak was capped by using the capping system as a venturi meter.  I developed the first accurate official measure of the flow rate (the green line labeled NETL), followed by Lemont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO)and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

OFFICIAL ESTIMATES OF THE OIL FLOW RATE DURING THE CRISIS

In the email to the right, I report my first accurate official measure of the flow rate as 80,000 barrels per day.  But this was at a depth of 5000 feet and included methane that was dissolved in the oil.   

The fine under the Clean Water Act is calculated using Standard Barrels of Oil at standard temperature and pressure at the sea surface.

When the expansion of oil from 5000 feet pressure to the sea surface is accounted for and when the methane is excluded, the flow rate of crude oil is around 55,000 bpd.   The calculations are explained in detail in my paper with my colleagues at UC Berkeley:

Determining the discharge rate from a submerged oil leak jet using ROV video ,  
Frank Shaffer, Ömer Savaş   Kenneth Lee, and Giorgio de Vera,
UC Berkeley, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Journal of Flow Measurement and Instrumentation, 43, 34–46, 2015

MY PUBLICATIONS THAT LED TO THE $20.8 BILLION FINE

Visualization of submerged turbulent jets using particle tracking velocimetry, Franklin Shaffer, Eric Ibarra and Ömer Savaş, UC Berkeley Department of Mechanical Engineering, Journal of Visualization, Feb 15, 2021

On the near field interfaces of homogeneous and immiscible round turbulent jets ,     Eric Ibarra, Franklin Shaffer, and Ömer Savaş, UC Berkeley Dept of Mech Engr, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Volume 889, February, 2020

Underwater oil jet: Hydrodynamics and droplet size distribution ,   Lin Zhao, Franklin Shaffer, Brian Robinson, Thomas King, Christopher Ambrosea, Zhong Pana Feng, Gao Richard S. Miller, Robyn N.Conmye, Michel C.Boufadel, Chemical Engineering Journal, Vol 299, Pages 292-303, 1 Sep 2016

Determining the discharge rate from a submerged oil leak jet using ROV video ,     Frank Shaffer, Ömer Savaş   Kenneth Lee, and Giorgio de Vera, UC Berkeley ME Dept, Journal of Flow Measurement and Instrumentation, 43, 34–46, 2015

Dynamic morphology of gas hydrate on a methane bubble in water: Observations and new insights for hydrate film models ,     Robert P. Warzinski, Ronald Lynn, Igor Haljasmaa, Ira Leifer, Frank Shaffer, Brian J. Anderson, Jonathan S. Levine, Geophysical Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL061665, September 20, 2014

Hydrates in the Ocean beneath, around, and above Production Equipment ,   Karl Anderson, Gaurav Bhatnagar, Daniel Crosby, Greg Hatton, Philip Manfield, Adam Kuzmicki, Nevil Fenwick, Juan Pontaza, Moye Wicks, Scott Socolofsky, Cole Brady, Steve Svedeman, Amadeu K. Sum, Carolyn Koh, Jonathan Levine, Robert P. Warzinski, and Franklin Shaffer, Energy & Fuels, 26, 7, pages 4167-4176, June 19, 2012

Review of flow rate estimates of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill ,   Marcia K. McNutt, Rich Camilli, Timothy J. Crone, George D. Guthrie, Paul A. Hsieh, Thomas B. Ryerson, Omer Savas, and Frank Shaffer, Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, Special Feature Perspective, 109   (50)   20260-20267, December 11, 2011

Estimate of Maximum Oil Leak Rate from the BP Deepwater Horizon by the National Energy Technology Laboratory ,   Frank Shaffer, Nathan Weiland, Mehrdad Shahnam, Madhava Syamlal, Geo Richards, Plume Team of the Flow Rate Technical Group of the National Incident Command, Deepwater Horizon Release Estimate of Rate by PIV. Report to the Flow Rate Technical Group, July 13, 2010