Freezing Crude Oil

[RonsPics]

I know this topic has been addressed before, but this question is in a different context.

 

Is there any scientific reason that introducing either liquid oxygen or liquid nitrogen into the well-head of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico would not temporarily seal the leak?

 

I would think that the temperature of either substance would be cold enough to almost instantaneously freeze the oil and make it into a temporary cap, but I am not sure if the pressure at the depth of the well-head would alter the freezing point of the crude enough to make this unviable.

[AlphaSheeppig]

Increased pressure will drop the freezing point of the water and raise the freezing point of the oil, as far as I know, which helps your case... I think the difficulty here comes in applying the liquid nitrogen to the gap underwater. Also, the temperature drop liquid nitrogen causes is because it absorbs a lot of energy because it cools down rapidly as it approaches room pressure and tries to expand to become a gas. It is actually not cold, which is a point a lot of people miss. When it is not being used, it is stored at high pressure and can be stored at room temperatures... The high pressure down there would cause a huge drop in the amount of energy the liquid nitrogen would absorb, and I'm not sure it would drop the temperature by much. Probably not by enough to cause the oil to freeze.

[John Cuthber]

"When it is not being used, it is stored at high pressure and can be stored at room temperatures"

No it can't

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_point_(thermodynamics)

[AlphaSheeppig]

I've never dealt with liquid nitrogen, only liquid oxygen, which was stored in what I always assumed were pressurised tanks... I asked one of the lab technicians earlier and he said it was just a really well insulated tank... I guess I should know by now not to make assumptions.