In 20 April 2010, Deep water Horizon explosion incident occurred and ended in 19 September

2010. This becomes history and people questioned on how it happened that is why they did
some research and study the cause of explosion.

In the explosion of Deep water horizon, there are some factors that caused the explosion. One
of the major reasons is the cement. They used low quality cement. According to the
investigation of US Presidential Commission, since they used low quality cement it will result an
unstable performance on the field. This negligence also caused the leakage of oil and gas in the
surface then the system starts to malfunction. The crew tried to prevent the potential cause of
ignition but since the system malfunction they’ve lost contact in the surface and the situation is
out of control. According to Arthur B. (2010) here is the chronology of incident in this
catastrophic event below:

Chronology of Incident

1. On April 19th of 2010 the production of deep water horizon reached 13,293 ft. depth
below the seafloor. The production casing at the seafloor had been put in the hole and
cemented it in place.
2. There are 51 barrels of cement will be used according to the well plan but this was
insufficient to make sure the 7 inch production casing properly and also the 9 7/8 inch
protection casing.
3. It started good in the beginning of the operation where in the drilling process resulted a
good reservoir quality. An interval of lower pressure can result an enlarged wellbore or
washout. It might have been hard to create the best cement in the casing and formation.
It is also impossible to ensure the effectiveness of the seal without a cement-bond log
and this was not done.
4. Nitrogen additive in cement makes it lighter, so the cement used in here flows more
easily and fill the area of the casing and lost circulation-washout zone but there’s always
a counter part of using nitrogen additive, since it makes lighter the cement the effect of
these may decrease the sealing effectiveness.
5. Cement is being waited for the mean time on April 20 th, Displacement of drilling fluid in
the wellbore begun with the riser and seawater before setting cement plug and moving
off the area. The mud is being pumped into tanks until onto a platform vessel supply.
6. The supervisors in drilling know that there is a gas in the drilling fluid because gas flares
can be seen in photos probably came from the diverter line of the riser.
7. The riser and upper 3,000 feet of the wellbore were totally displaced with saltwater by
20:00 on April 20, according to the chart of drilling data for the last two hours before the
blowout. The mud pit volume continued to expand 10 minutes later, at 20:10, most likely
due to gas inflow. The volume had risen to the point where the recorder had to be reset
four times. The mud pit volume reduced after the crew stopped circulating at 21:08,
which may have addressed some concerns regarding the gas influx.
8. They ceased flowing again around 21:30, but the pit volume continued to grow. Between
21:30 and 21:42, the standpipe pressure raised and reduced twice (standpipe pressure
generally reflects bottom hole pressure). This, along with a constant increase in mud pit
volume, shows that a gas column below the wellhead and outside of the 7-inch
 production casing was supplying surges of gas to the drilling fluid. Gas had most likely
flowed through the well's insufficient cement work near the bottom and had now reached
the seals and pack-offs separating it from the seabed riser.
9. The rate of standpipe pressure and mud pit volume went of the scale then the water flow
is being measured in the surface at 21:47. Between the time of 21:47 and 21:49, the 7
inch production casing is behind the gas. They overcome by sealing wellhead and pack-
offs the separated wellbore in the riser but instantaneously, the gas shot the water and
the derrick’s crown then the gas ignited and exploded.

The explosion blew away the control lines that the team was using to stop the blowout
preventer's safety valves. The blowout preventer did not close because one system had a dead
battery and the other had a faulty switch.