Shoot a dud torpedo that gets jammed into the pipe, or something else that is steel or iron to jam it, then shoot a second torpedo armed with termite to weld it into place. Termite works without O2, and oil shouldn’t explode underwater.

The problem with blocking this pipe is due to the immense pressure of the oil escaping.

I believe you could get aorund this by adding a tubular cap to the end. (Like an extension of the pipe.) This extension will have space for slats to be placed in.
I don’t clame to be knowledgeable on the details of this spill so i can’t tell you how many of these gaps i expect it to need.
Into each of these gaps you should insert a grid that fills the extension. This grid will have little enough surface area so as to go across the oil jet without being pushed off. This should then be repeated with grids of varying positions. Eventually filling the extension and slowly blocking the pipe. Because each grid has limited surface area the pressure will not affect any single one, hopefully allowing each part of this blockage to stay in place untill it is completley filled.
I may not have explained this very well, if it sounds like it would work i would be happy to elaborate.

VACUUM MANIFOLD CAP CONCEPT
By Douglas Trumbull, June 25, 2010.

There is general agreement that the flow of oil from the broken riser pipe on the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer is approximately 50,000 barrels per day. That is equal to 2,100,000 gallons per day. If the diameter of the riser pipe is 20 inches, and there are 231 cubic inches per gallon, there are 15.5 gallons per foot of pipe. Dividing the flow of 2,100,000 by the number of seconds in a day (86,400) results in a figure of only 24.3 gallons per second. At 15.5 gallons per foot, 24.3 gallons are moving at a rate of about eighteen inches per second.
It is not reasonable to expect that this flow from a 20-inch diameter pipe could be handled by a single 6-inch riser as in the BP LMRP cap. However, by dividing the 300 square inch area of the 20 inch pipe by (say) 6, the flow could be handled by six risers of 8 inch diameter at the same flow rate and pressure(or some other number of adequately sized risers totaling 300 square inches).

There seems to be significant confusion about pressure vs. flow rate. It is possible that even though this flow rate is relatively slow, the pressure within the failed blowout preventer could be quite high (several thousand psi) due to some restriction caused by, say, a failed and partial closure of valves or shears. This may be why any attempts to cap the well have failed. The relatively slow flow may conceal a high pressure if capped.

The only near-term solution may be to capture 100% of the oil by exerting enough vacuum to the riser pipe so that no significant force is applied to the pipe or the fragile state of the blowout preventer, and no back pressure is exerted that could exacerbate an already fragile state.

Limitations imposed by present circumstances include: Fragile BOP due to fatigue, possible high pressure below restriction in BOP, poor or nonexistent cementing of the well casing, stuck BOP, danger of ripping BOP off well as a result of “bottling up” possible high pressures by successfully closing BOP or capping the top flange assembly.

A “VACUUM MANIFOLD CAP” is proposed that is designed to offer multiple riser pipes, each of which is connected to a powerful surface pump aboard one or more surface oil storage barges or ships. The combined vacuum power of these pumps would provide more total flow than the well provides, thus overcoming the positive pressure of the oil with total negative pressure of multiple vacuum pipes or hoses connected to a manifold to be placed directly above the blowout preventer’s upper flange assembly.

The vacuum manifold cap’s design is such that (in this iteration of six) multiple hoses or pipes are connected radially to a central cap that is configured to seat onto the edges of the flange assembly, clearing the bolt heads, and having a rubber seal around the edges. At the top of the cap are multiple supplies of pressurized and heated methanol whose purpose is to limit hydrate formation, if it occurs. This may not be necessary, since the reduction in pressure and exclusion of seawater may prevent formation of hydrate clogs.

By providing adequate vacuum to the vacuum manifold cap, the cap could be readily positioned over the rising oil plume, since it would have adequate vacuum force to literally “suck” itself onto the flange without being forced off by pressure. It could continue to be held in place by such vacuum, while additional clamps could be activated around the lower rim of the cap to hold it in place.

At the beginning of the operation to install the vacuum manifold cap, multiple pumps connected to the multiple riser pipes or hoses would be activated to draw seawater to the surface. Flow and vacuum force would be measured to ensure that the flow and pressure exceed that of the well. Then the vacuum manifold cap is lowered onto the flange, at which point the oil and methane gas would be drawn to the surface for processing. Once this is accomplished, it could be considered that the weight and pressure within the multiple risers might be adequate to continue the flow of oil and methane up the risers without further pumping.

I have built a scale demonstration, including a saltwater tank, plumbing, and pumps to simulate pressure and flow:

I built a scale model of the VACUUM MANIFOLD CAP:

I built a scale model of the blowout preventer flange, with broken off riser pipe:

This is the VACUUM MANIFOLD CAP seated on the flange:

You can access my website http://www.douglastrumbull.com to find a video of this proposal (BP SPILL FIX). If you email me (douglashtrumbull@gmail.com) and include a way to email back, I can also send you a link to my Wistia FTP site, with the video, technical paper and press release. The video BP SPILL FIX – TRUMBULL is also on Vimeo, YouTube, and others.

Thank you for your consideration.

Douglas Trumbull

Whatever the circumference of the widest part of the wellhead, create a thick length of (concrete? steel?) tubing with, naturally, a slightly greater circumference, whose end is adapted to allow for the further atrachment of similar lengths of such tubing (maybe like drainwater/sewage pipes, an open angled end allowing for easy connection). Slip the initial lenth of tubing completely over the wellhead, which would obviosuly extend the height at which the oil is escaping from, then add further peices of tubing, securing firmly to the piece already in place as you go. At some point you copuld either (1) add so many lengths that the pour out was reaching the surface to be copllected by whatever means without the sea being disturbed, or (2) you could add a piece that was naturally capped itself (although obviously I’m unaware if the subsequent build-up of pressure from the gushing oil inside the now whatever length of connected tubing would com[promise the strength of the nature of the attachments between the pieces of tubing at such ocean depths.