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00:00I'm headed for one of the most remote places in the world where engineers will be.
00:12Here we go.
00:2180 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico there is another world waiting for us
00:27where I'm going to investigate a brand new man-made structure that lies miles off the Louisiana coast.
00:35And there it is, one of the largest and most advanced deep water oil and gas production platforms in the world.
00:48And it's built slap bang in the middle of an area notorious for 100 mile an hour winds and waves the size of houses.
00:58What does it take to engineer and then offering something this fast in one of the most hurricane streamed places on earth?
01:08Here I go.
01:14I'm Richard Hammond.
01:16Hello.
01:17And I'm on a mission to explore the really, really big.
01:21Awesome!
01:22Top ten list of insane things I've ever been involved in doing. This is number one.
01:26And yes, I know everything seems big to me.
01:29Am I climbing into an engine? I feel like I've been shrunk.
01:33I'll uncover the incredible ways engineers have supersized our world.
01:38I'm not sure it's supposed to be this close.
01:40I looked over my shoulder. I shouldn't have done that.
01:43We feel that sometimes it's the tiny things that make the Titanic possible.
01:49I'm stealing their power!
01:52I could not do this for a job.
01:55And meet the heroes who design, build and live big.
02:01If I do it wrong, are we all blown to pieces?
02:04Maybe.
02:19I'm surrounded by nothing but the Gulf of Mexico.
02:22Except that in any moment now, I'm going to land on something very, very big and made by engineers.
02:39Well, first impression, yeah, it's big, but you can tell how new it is because for something that lives at sea,
02:47it's incredibly clean.
02:49And now we're going to explore it, all of it.
02:53This multi-billion dollar platform delivered its first oil in 2019.
02:59It's called the Appomattox, after the town in Virginia where the American Civil War came to an end.
03:05And it's one of the most extreme deep water projects ever attempted.
03:10Weighing a colossal 124,000 tons, almost ten times the weight of the Brooklyn Bridge,
03:18it draws hydrocarbons like oil and gas from under the seabed, separates them and pumps them ashore.
03:25This isn't just the story of a massive structure built in the middle of the sea.
03:30This is the story of how humankind has made the seemingly impossible possible.
03:37I'm here for the next four days.
03:39So first, I need to get my bearings from the man that runs the place, Todd Coulon.
03:46Hey, Richard, welcome aboard. Todd Coulon.
03:48Nice to see you.
03:49Welcome aboard Appomattox, man.
03:50And you say welcome aboard. You're basically the captain here, aren't you?
03:53I'm the OIM, the offshore installation manager of Appomattox.
03:57Now, if you're from Louisiana and fluent in Cajun, then you're probably following this conversation just fine.
04:03But just in case you're not, I've asked for subtitles. Sorry, Todd.
04:07Well, I mean, yours is a pretty unusual job.
04:09Before I did this, I worked on shrimp boats, so I've been working in the Gulf since I was 12 years old, man.
04:13Shrimp boats?
04:14Shrimp boats.
04:15Since you... So then that is just gulf running through your veins?
04:19That's it. It's in my blood.
04:20This is where you are.
04:21That's it. I've got salt water in my blood.
04:23So talk me through what's what?
04:25Over there, you see the process module.
04:27So the process module is where we produce the hydrocarbons and do the separation before we export it.
04:31So that's the business end?
04:32That's the business end.
04:34And we've got utility modules over here.
04:36We make our own nitrogen, make our own water, we treat our own sewage,
04:40and then we've got a power module over here where we make our own power.
04:44Here's the living quarters, and we've got over 30 miles of pipe on this facility,
04:50it's just unbelievable how big this thing is.
04:56The platform's design of four multi-level modules built around an open square with a crane in each corner seems simple enough.
05:04The real challenge for the engineers was the extreme depth of the sea it would stand in.
05:10The ten-year-old me would have said, it's easy we just build big long legs that go down to the sea bottom.
05:16But each of those legs would have to be about five times the height of the Empire State.
05:20That's correct. 7,400 feet of water. This is a floating facility.
05:24So this, all of this? All of this, it's floating.
05:27Talking about 137,000 tons in the original design, and this thing's sitting there floating.
05:32So this really is a floating, self-contained city?
05:36That's correct.
05:37Running this incredible city is a crew of up to 180 men and women, demanding a sizeable accommodation module,
05:51with some pretty strict rules about keeping the noise down.
05:55On account of the shift system, half of the people on board are always sleeping, whilst the other half are working.
06:03So, it says day sleeper on the door.
06:05Uh, two-three-two, two-three-four, that's me.
06:08Home sweet home. Aha.
06:11Uh, hello. You are?
06:14I'm Byron.
06:15Does that mean we're roomies?
06:16Yes, it does.
06:17Thank you for having me in your room.
06:19Oh, that's no problem.
06:20That's very kind. Byron, what do you do here, then?
06:22I'm a crane operator.
06:23Right.
06:24Right.
06:25So what do I need to know about the room rules?
06:27How do we run this now?
06:28Well, that's your bed, that's your house.
06:32Okay.
06:33Mine, yours, you have your locker over there.
06:36Yeah.
06:37And you guys spend a lot of time here, because you're two weeks on, two weeks off.
06:41That's correct.
06:42So this is as much home as home, then?
06:44Actually, this is more home. You're here more than you are at home.
06:47What about socially? Is there anything I could do that is the big...
06:50You do not do that on the oil platform.
06:54You're welcome to just keep your clothes on.
06:59Um...
07:00Right, well, I'm going to unpack and move in.
07:02I don't take up much space.
07:04And my clothes are smaller than everybody else's.
07:06See? Look.
07:08I won't leave that there. I'll put it away.
07:10Okay.
07:11Okay.
07:13We'll see you at a while.
07:14Bye, then.
07:15Um, I shan't kiss you goodbye.
07:17Wish I hadn't said that.
07:20I'll...
07:21I'll unpack.
07:22The crew here works 24-7 to produce an expected 175,000 barrels of oil and gas on a daily basis.
07:37To put that into perspective, the planet currently consumes 100 million barrels of crude oil a day.
07:44There is an elephant in the room here. And I'm not being rude about Byron.
07:49The fact is, in a world right now ever more concerned with climate change, oil production is a controversial issue.
07:56And I'm not here to cast opinion on any side of that argument.
08:00I am here to examine the amazing engineering behind how they get the stuff out of the ground.
08:06And it's got out of the ground to be used for far more than simply powering your family car.
08:12Oil-derived products include my hard hat, these safety glasses, all of my clothes right now, this hairbrush, deodorant, my pen.
08:25The television you're watching this on.
08:28Tennis rackets.
08:29Waterpipes.
08:30Shampoo.
08:31Shower cut.
08:32Bicycle tires.
08:33Vitamin caps.
08:34Surfboards.
08:35Anteceptics.
08:36Aspirin.
08:37I could go on, but I shan't, because the list extends to literally thousands of products and things.
08:46It's 6am, and I'm joining the crew for the daily briefing run by Todd Coulon.
08:52Good morning.
08:53Good morning.
08:54I want to talk about the incident we had yesterday with the board and choke.
08:57You know, the guys were troubleshooting that board and choke.
08:59Today, a serious problem dominates proceedings.
09:02A vital choke valve has gone wrong.
09:05Something sheared in there and it started rattling, making a bunch of racket, shut the whole facility in, but that's the right thing to do.
09:12Oil and gas from the wells on the seabed enter the platform through choke valves, and production has been halted until the fault is identified. The pressure is on engineer Justin Traylor to fix it.
09:25There was a flange nut that was sheared inside of that choke. We were able to get it off, remove it, and see what's wrong with it.
09:33All right, thank you Justin, appreciate it man.
09:35A replacement part for the valve urgently needs to be taken from a storage deck to the process module.
09:41And like anything heavy around here, the only way to move it is by crane.
09:48Which is why I'm tracking down my new roommate.
09:51Do you know which crane I'd find Byron?
09:54If he's a crane, one, this one.
09:56Unfortunately for me, Byron's control booth turns out to be up a flight of stairs, the height of a 16 storey building.
10:06Oh good.
10:18Every time.
10:19I've just got the really high ladder, Richard.
10:22It's just up there, Richard.
10:24Yeah, it's up, which means it's high and I...
10:27Oh no, you're joking.
10:29Small man.
10:30Big job to do.
10:31Oh.
10:32Oh no, no, you're kidding.
10:37What's wrong with a staircase or a lift?
10:40Very unhappy indeed.
10:42Oh.
10:44Oh.
10:47Oh.
10:48Byron.
10:49Hey, Romy.
10:50Come on in.
10:51This is where you go when you leave home in the morning.
10:55This is my office.
10:56Can I have a go?
10:57No.
10:58What can go wrong?
10:59What can go wrong?
11:00To your left right there is the turbines.
11:02Oh yeah.
11:03That's what powers this whole thing.
11:05You hit one of those and we're out of luck.
11:08Oh, we're ready to go.
11:10We're moving.
11:11We're moving, everybody.
11:12We're moving.
11:13I'm quite alarmed.
11:14Oh.
11:15Oh.
11:16Byron.
11:17Keep the damn thing still, man.
11:18About as still as we get.
11:19Oh.
11:25Here we go.
11:26That's the valve.
11:27That is the valve that Justin was working on earlier.
11:29So you've got it, whatever it is.
11:30Yeah.
11:31Now we swing all the way around.
11:33How long do you spend in here on a typical day?
11:35We six to eight hours, depending on what we have going on.
11:36Eight hours?
11:37Yes, sir.
11:38What if you need to, you know.
11:39I've always wondered about, about a crane drive.
11:40We have a relief.
11:41We'll get them to come up and relieve us.
11:42You're not an empty bottle or something like that?
11:43Oddway.
11:44You're clear, go ahead.
11:45I'm clear.
11:46Go ahead.
11:47I'm clear.
11:48I'm clear.
11:49I'm clear.
11:50Go ahead.
11:51I'm clear.
11:52I'm clear.
11:53I'm clear.
11:54I'm clear.
11:55I'm clear.
11:56I'm clear.
11:57I'm clear.
11:58I'm clear.
11:59I'm clear.
12:00I'm clear.
12:01I'm clear.
12:02I'm clear.
12:03I'm clear.
12:05I'm clear.
12:06Yeah, that was nothing.
12:07It's just job done.
12:08Moving on there.
12:10Next, I get my hands dirty, helping to fix the faulty valve.
12:16Look at that.
12:18Quality parts.
12:20And the platform produces oil again.
12:23It's quite pungent, isn't it?
12:26Yes, that was a case of a mountain gas.
12:27I'm a plant-based oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico.
12:37Now, this is where things get serious.
12:39The processing module.
12:41Everything else that happens on the platform is in the Gulf of Mexico.
12:42the Apomattox, the biggest oil and gas production platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
12:48Ah, now this, this is where things get serious, the processing module.
12:53Everything else that happens on the platform is in pursuit of what happens on here,
12:58processing the raw oil as it comes in from the fields.
13:01This is what the place is about.
13:04Today, there's a problem.
13:11When oil and gas reach the platform from the wells below, the pressure can be dangerously high,
13:17which is why they have choke valves to reduce that pressure to a safe level.
13:22But today, one of those valves has malfunctioned.
13:27It's shut down production, and that could cost over $400,000 an hour.
13:33So engineer Justin Traylor needs to repair the valve quickly and safely.
13:38This is our first point of control coming from the subsea wells flow line.
13:44This is the first piece of equipment with pressure control that it hits.
13:48There's something disconnected between this actuator and the choke.
13:52Okay.
13:53We're not, we're not relieving any pressure whenever we go to open the valve.
13:58This is what allows your flow to come in through the boarding valve choke.
14:02Oh my God, what's that made of?
14:05That's tungsten carbide.
14:06That is also beautifully made.
14:09Do you know, this could be my small thing that makes a big thing possible.
14:12This is what controls the flow of oil coming in to this whole vast enterprise.
14:18Normally, fluid flows into the valve through holes in the cylinder.
14:25When a sleeve moves over the cylinder, fewer holes are exposed.
14:29Doing this increases the friction the fluid is subjected to, and the more the flow is choked.
14:35That's what reduces pressure from a dangerously high 2,500 PSI to a more manageable 350.
14:44Right here is shut.
14:45You have no holes exposed, no flow.
14:48Though as your choke increases, you start exposing holes.
14:52Can you believe the holes that small and a part that small?
14:56Holes this small and you can flow up to about 150,000 barrels a day through this.
15:04It's incredible to think that this huge facility is brought to a complete halt because of one little problem with one little part.
15:12We're going to go ahead and start taking it apart.
15:15Should this be coming out?
15:17Let's it all come out together.
15:22Well, there's our problem.
15:23Yeah, that's...
15:24Right here.
15:25Yeah, it appears that we sheared the shaft.
15:27So the rest of that shaft carries on, and that's what actually drives the choke.
15:30That's what drives the choke itself, yes.
15:33That's broken.
15:34Are we going to have a go at getting this off now, then?
15:36Yeah, we could go ahead and start pulling this off.
15:39We're just going to rock it back.
15:41Okay?
15:42Yep.
15:43And then if you want to come over here, I'll lower it to the deck.
15:46Nothing on your platform is lightweight, is it?
15:49Nothing.
15:50Everything here is massive.
15:51Everything here is massive.
15:52Here's a new one.
15:53Oh, this is the one we've broken.
15:55This is what we're going to put back in.
15:58Look at that!
16:00Quality parts.
16:01I've never worked on anything this important, Dustin.
16:04Nothing.
16:06We can see what's happened.
16:08It's sheared off, and there's the other half of it.
16:10It's on the inside of here.
16:14Oh, it just gets better.
16:16Stop it!
16:19This should take care of the issue we have.
16:21So what we're going to do now, then?
16:23We're going to start rebuilding it.
16:24Putting it all back in.
16:29Okay.
16:30That is it.
16:31It is fixed.
16:32We've done it.
16:33It's fixed.
16:34Done it.
16:35You've done it.
16:36Yeah, I hope it's out.
16:37Fixed the show.
16:38Well done us.
16:39We've just fixed a critical item.
16:40Yes, sir.
16:42So there we go.
16:43The flow is flowing again.
16:44Straight into these vast tanks where oil, gas and water are separated.
16:47And their sheer enormousness is one of the reasons this platform is so big.
17:02But before any of the separated oil is pumped ashore, its quality must be tested by chemical engineer Neil Brakefield.
17:12Today we're going to take some oil samples.
17:14Okay.
17:15From the wells all the way up to here, 7,000 feet, and we get to sample it right here.
17:19So this is farm fresh?
17:20This is as fresh as it gets.
17:21I want to see this, though.
17:22You want to see this?
17:23Well, I haven't seen any actual oil.
17:24Well, this is the flow line we're going through.
17:27Open that up carefully.
17:29And our goal is to get about that much oil.
17:33Oh, there's something coming out.
17:34Yeah, I see.
17:35This is actually oil straight from the well, pretty much.
17:38You are the first person to handle that oil right there.
17:41In millions of years.
17:42That oil has never been handled by a human being except for Richard Hammond.
17:45Look at that.
17:46Fresh from the source.
17:47Oh, it's got a strong punch in it, isn't it?
17:48Smells good, huh?
17:49Don't drink it.
17:50Okay.
17:51So hold this out, pull this in here.
17:52Yes.
17:53And what are we going to be looking for?
17:54We're going to be looking for water content.
17:55We expect to see a little bit at the bottom.
17:59They go into the machine with centrifuge right over here.
18:04And what are we going to be looking for?
18:09We're going to be looking for water content.
18:10We expect to see a little bit at the bottom.
18:12They go into the machine with centrifuge right over here.
18:15Close the machine.
18:19Turn the dial.
18:20And let it go for about four minutes.
18:27It's actually about a 0.2% water.
18:30So that's a very, very, very small amount.
18:31The clear portion at the bottom here, that is the water that's come out.
18:34Is that acceptable?
18:35Yes, it is.
18:36When the cruise shifts are over, everyone congregates in the recreation room.
18:51So this is about just making your own entertainment.
18:57Get together.
18:58And since booze is banned on board, there is no bar.
19:03I'm fine with that.
19:04It's not like I want a beer or anything.
19:07You're used to this.
19:08Yeah.
19:09Somebody said they call it the deep sea detox.
19:10That's correct.
19:1114 days to drown.
19:12I meant that to go back there.
19:13I didn't even see that.
19:14I let you have it.
19:15You let me have that one.
19:16I know you can.
19:17What if you all played with one arm?
19:18I'd do that.
19:18Oh.
19:23You all played with one arm.
19:25I
19:27Meant that to go back there. I didn't even see that
19:34I'll let you have it. You let me have that one. I know what if you will play with one arm
19:46Down here almost at sea level at the pace of one of the whole columns is the first time I've got a real sense of just how
19:52Exposed to the elements the platform is. I mean, there's the sea and out there is the weather which is today admittedly
20:01Perfect, but that can't be taken for granted particularly during the infamous late summer hurricane season
20:12Since 1900 hurricanes hitting the US from the Gulf of Mexico have killed more than 9,000 people
20:19One of the most devastating was hurricane Katrina in
20:242005 that year alone hurricanes destroyed over 100 offshore platforms and damaged more than 50 others
20:32So how does this?
20:34giant man-made floating structure
20:37Survives such brutal forces when some other structures fail
20:42Well according to project manager Mano de Jong small design decisions can make a big difference
20:49We put it this high up from the seawater level to make sure that even the largest waves don't actually hit
20:58Our platform and it's as simple as that. It's to stay out of the way of the rough sea
21:03It is to stay out of the way of the rough sea it does take a lot of
21:07Met ocean data better data to actually notice and a lot of calculation to make sure that it then actually happens
21:13Because the force with which that water could come through in a bad storm is mind-blowing
21:18Isn't I mean coming through here just with immense force that would be indeed immense and were we to have equipment at that low level?
21:25It would certainly be washed away easily if we would have a heavy tropical storm
21:30Hence we lift the whole platform up to a safe height and that's just done by adjusting the buoyancy in these
21:36Huge buoyancy columns. That's right. All of these four columns have a lot of buoyancy and we adjust the levels on each one of them by
21:45Playing with the level of fluid inside them
21:54Very large waves also have the power to capsize anything that's floating
21:59But that can't happen here because of another clever feature of the whole columns
22:04Here they're close together. They're each close to the center of gravity, which means slightest imbalance
22:11Doesn't work the solution to that
22:15It simply take exactly the same whole columns, but they're each further from that center of gravity
22:21and
22:22It's much much more stable same weight same amount of structure, but look at that
22:29That is inherently stable
22:31Next I discover how the Appomattox actually gets its oil
22:38This is the manliest thing I've ever done and they let me play with a robot submarine
22:43That's the coolest thing I've ever done
22:45Right on bro
22:58I'm investigating the Appomattox, the newest and biggest oil and gas production platform
23:05In the Gulf of Mexico and it's a place that's full of surprises
23:10One thing you won't see here is the thing possibly most synonymous with the oil industry the giant tower holding the drill
23:21That's because there isn't one the Appomattox doesn't do any drilling
23:28The platform actually processes oil and gas from 18 different wells
23:33But moving it around to drill all those wells would be impractical
23:40So that job is done by this a ship called the deepwater proteus the only way to get there is by helicopter
23:48So I'm flying over to meet ship master cyrus dimmock
23:57Watch your step richard. Thank you. So where are we going?
24:01So Richard we're gonna head up to the top of the derrick. That's as high up as we can go
24:07354 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty
24:10Okay, up to you
24:12Thank you captain
24:14All right
24:24All right Richard wrote the top of the derrick
24:27This is the definitive image of the oil industry really the derrick. Yes, right
24:33When we drill a hole we have to use tubulars or pipe drill pipe. Yeah, we screw three drill pipes together
24:39Yeah, and they're up this way
24:42So we have to be able to have somewhere to store the drill pipe
24:45Of course you do. But what we should stress is it's not like the height of the derrick is the whole drill
24:51Obviously, correct
24:52So you send some down and then you add more on and more on and more on and this is where the figures just become mind-blowing
24:59They're amazing not so how how far down from here can this thing and does this thing drill?
25:04So right now we're in 7,000 feet of water and we're going to drill down another 30,000 feet total
25:1230,000 feet into the earth
25:14That's unimaginable. So that would be taller than mount everest
25:20At the base of the massive tower is the drill deck where derrick and ricky bowman is going to show me how they use some seriously heavy
25:28engineering to connect 9,000 meters of pipe together into what's known as a drill string
25:35Whoa this thing's gone crazy that is the actual drill that's coming down that's right sorry
25:41I can get very excited trump yeah, that's the drill
25:44Yeah, that's the drill
25:47What are they doing so now the roughnecks are coming out to set the slips that is a that's what's going to hold the weight of the drill string
25:54That is like a chalk that goes in so the drill weird yeah, yeah, yeah
25:58I got it so the drill string is sitting in on that. That's right. So now we're gonna bring the iron roughneck out
26:04Would you like this opportunity? Oh, yeah, there's something I'll do. Yeah, okay. Will I destroy it or anything?
26:14The iron roughneck is a huge robotic clamp that comes in and basically screws the pipes together with colossal force
26:21And somehow they're letting me work it. This is the manliest thing I've ever done
26:27I've got hair growing on my eyeballs right now. I'm that manly
26:39That is like the roughest toughest machine I've ever operated
26:43We're going to clamp at 70,000 foot pounds. No, that's tight. It's really tight. So now clamp it on clamp
26:51Yes, sir. Just press it
26:55There you are
26:56Okay, all right, so it's like a torque wrench that I use on my car. That's correct
27:00Right make I'm gonna hit make. Yes, sir. Nothing's happening
27:05Okay, so you somehow we've we've turned it off. It got a ball
27:10I'm trying to look more manly, Ricky. We have not helped
27:13Mate, this is not helping my case
27:16We'll cut this one out
27:18This is roughnecks looking man. Come on
27:22Okay, go ahead now hitting make I'm doing a thing. I'm doing a thing. I'm doing that and that's gonna stop
27:29Now retract. Yes, sir. I'm retracting
27:32Oh, what a machine my new favorite thing
27:36So to make it to where we was going to go you would have to do that another
27:40271 more times. It's a long day before is that hard? It gets it's long 12 hours
27:46I'm gonna go grab some food
27:49All right. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you my friend. I'm so tough
27:56In fact drilling is just one of the things this incredible ship does
28:01It also installs and maintains massive structures on the seabed over
28:062100 meters below to regulate the flow of oil and gas coming out of the wells and up to the Appomattox
28:14But it's far far far too deep for a human diver
28:18So problem there is of course a solution
28:21And it's this you probably have seen rovs remote operated vehicles before but this is different
28:31It's a work dedicated one which means it's bigger. It's more powerful. It's tougher
28:37This high-tech submarine is bristling with cameras and thrusters and at the front two high precision robotic arms
28:46This is its toolbox. It's got huge complicated devices for cleaning faces on parts before they're joined
28:52It's got more subtle delicate things. I think this is for adjusting valves and it's got simpler tools and i'm not joking
29:00That is part of its toolkit
29:03Oh, stuff's happening
29:06Looks good right there
29:07Closing latches
29:09For today's mission pilot gary dykes is taking the rov down to inspect a critical thing called the tubing head spool which connects the wellhead to the pipe above it
29:26You are not sitting at a giant computer game there are you this is the real deal this is it
29:31So what is your inspection of this telling you all right?
29:34I'm looking to make sure that a fishing boat hasn't come in for something some kind of structure has gotten dropped from another vessel and come down
29:41And tangled up on anything or bent any of the tubing
29:45Today all looks well
29:48You do have the best toys ever it is pretty cool. Oh, it's just it's just i would i need one of my own
29:54What a do with it, but
29:57And there's until that's exactly the tool kit
30:00And just when i thought my day couldn't get any more exciting gary offers to let me take over the controls well away from anything breakable
30:09Obviously what you're going to have to go yeah why not why not
30:14Well, so you just bump it like that right you got no reputation right now
30:22You might not have one once you finish as well, you know
30:25I have a legitimate job to do here and it's to pick up a maintenance tool but and here's the challenging part
30:32Without crashing it into anything put your fingers around that controller all right
30:36You got two buttons on the top one go ahead and press that top one
30:41All right, see it open that jaw right yeah, okay the bottom one's going to close that jaw
30:44So how would i then turn the manipulator okay, so if you give a little bump to the left on the controller like pop pop remember that
30:55Move that shoulder okay, that's as far as we're going to take that
30:58Now imagine taking that controller and twisting it
31:01See it
31:07That's the other thing you're almost there
31:10So now you see go ahead and twist that on the way you think it's going to line up for that paddle, right?
31:15Here's that paddle and you're doing like this
31:17So it's going to come out a little bit more just like that so up again yeah
31:21Oh a little too much
31:24One more time okay remember the jaw closed
31:29Can't remember the jaw closed it's going to be your bottom button for your thumb
31:32That one that one yeah
31:33Yeah, can i do it you got it
31:39Go ahead all the way until you see it grab on it all right now
31:41Now take your wrist and rotate your wrist a little bit just a wee bit that's the that's the little twist right
31:49There it is yeah
31:51You've grabbed your first all v-tool that's the coolest thing i've ever done right on bro
31:55thank you
31:58Next i put my life in the hands of byron the crane operator thing is byron and i had a little spat yesterday in the cabin
32:05And i'm only hoping he doesn't now take it out on me
32:08And i discover how the platform generates power using jet engines
32:15It's absolutely brilliant and unique this is the first of this guy
32:18It is
32:20I'm on one of the biggest offshore structures ever built the giant appomattox oil and gas production platform
32:39It's isolated out in the gulf of mexico 130 kilometers from land and that leads to some interesting challenges
32:48one thing it can't do obviously is grow food
32:51So for that and other supplies they have to bring them in not surprisingly by ship once a week the only thing is
32:59Getting those supplies and personnel on and off that ship is kind of a big job
33:07For a start the large supply ships have to come from port fouchon on the louisiana coast and take all night to get here
33:18Here it comes just like being at home supermarket delivery only much bigger
33:23But getting here is the simple part unloading the ship's contents onto the platform is where the fun starts because everything has to be crammed up
33:33I'm going onto the ship to help which means risking my life in this basket thing
33:39Taxis arrived oh goody up there is byron who's going to be driving it
33:45Gentlemen i always thought i'd put up more of a fight on my way to the gallery
33:49Does that stop me falling off oh yes it so does not it's just to make me feel better
34:00I'll be honest i've not done this before i suppose unless you were i'm sure you won't have done so
34:04i don't know what to expect all i know is it's going to be really high
34:07and really unusual
34:08you ready well yeah coming up
34:16i'm gonna do your better day
34:20spinning around doesn't help does it this is one of those things that
34:23is so ridiculous it's almost beyond being frightening because your brain is telling you
34:28no you can't be doing that
34:39i'm trying to convince myself i'm actually in a very small helicopter being flown by a very competent pilot
34:45rather than dangling off a crane being operated by byron who i was rude to yesterday
34:52he said i'll leave my socks lying around like a teenager and i got cross and i said some things and
34:56i'm only hoping he doesn't now take it out and turn me into a conqueror on a string
35:05still before my impending death at least i get a last good look at the platform
35:11it's huge look at it it is monumental
35:15hello by the way i'm richard
35:24how you doing i'm damien dorsey
35:26damien nice to see you thank you for getting me down safely
35:29what can i usually do because i like to get hands on
35:32i just need y'all to stay out of my way yeah but i apologize for that but i don't need anybody you
35:37know can i just like hook can i hook something up no stay out of the way wave my arms signal up or down or something
35:44just just move right away
35:52okay other way down here oh my way this way
35:57all over here
35:57hey thank you he loves having me on board you can tell that straight away joshing you know
36:08banter at sea that sort of stuff i'm going to stand here
36:15all the deliveries engineering parts chemicals and of course the groceries are packed inside heavy
36:21duty metal containers
36:39now i'm going back to the platform to help with the unpacking
36:42i'll tell you what it's a good job i was down there because i reckon damien the flagman was a
36:53bit short-handed and as it turned out there was a lot i had to do i was like his right-hand man
36:59the catering manager is james province known as jp because those are his initials when we receive our
37:06product our groceries we get it once a week you know we go through about 2500 eggs
37:1280 gallons of milk about 1600 pounds of uh fresh produce and fruits i want to open the box let's
37:18see what we got pajamas and lavatory brushes it's a disaster oh no uh mostly onions
37:29uh some sort of liquid very important
37:34processing oil and gas is a hungry business which is why before one meal's over the next is already
37:40being prepared to get an idea of the size of the task i'm joining jp's 18 strong team and the first
37:48concern is hygiene because a nasty bug out here could bring the whole place to its knees possibly literally
37:55and finally gloves i told him not to in the years nurse the screens
38:05once we finish breakfast we go right into the lunch but i mean breakfast is still there
38:10okay and this is because i suppose you've got the two shifts working so
38:14one lot of guys are having breakfast and the next lot are ready to have supper and finish their day
38:18absolutely right today we're making the crew's favorite dish a traditional louisiana style seafood stew
38:27we're making gumbo we go about 25 to 30 gallons a day on this when we make it it's that popular whoa
38:34this is industrial look at that one final touch right what are they these are crab claws right do
38:45i just put them in sure just throw them in yes sir here they come all of them all of them
38:54i'll have a go at that shot right so i just move it about let's stir it in stir it in and you put your
39:01portions of sensible because that'll go between two people won't it so that's yeah it's a lot of
39:08right okay we'll leave you to get on with that have good luck
39:19as well as the 24 7 catering and the relentless processing of oil and gas this industrial rabbit
39:25warren purifies its own water produces its own nitrogen and pumps chemicals into the
39:31wells all of which requires an enormous amount of power
39:38uniquely on this platform all of that power comes from electric motors they're everywhere
39:44even the giant cranes on the four corners they're electric does that make the appomattox
39:49a vegetarian running a burger shop
39:51the only way the platform can get all the electricity it needs is by generating it
40:00and uniquely among platforms like this the appomattox does that using four jet engines
40:08turbine engineer don lyon is going to show me one of them
40:13oh yes there it is
40:16this is a narrow derivative engine could be used as an aircraft engine but in this
40:23case it's used in an industrial application so this is the kind of engine you might see slung under
40:27the wing of an airline that you fly absolutely you built this for the most part i built the power module
40:34here that's a really big job but i'm guessing you don't look up you know the building structures on the
40:40internet to construct this do you it's not no traditional offshore facilities use generators
40:46and buy in countless liters of diesel to run them but these jets are fueled by a more innovative solution
40:53this comes from our process gas we clean it and compress it send it up here so that's done here
40:58that's done here so this is for free it's free power yes the appomattox is fueled by natural gas
41:05from its own wells makes sense when you think about it how much power are you making in the module that
41:12you build so we have the capability to make 150 megawatts put that into content so 150 megawatts on a
41:19on a normal day in america could power 100 000 homes but then there's another level to this right so
41:25the hot exhaust is recuperated above in a you know one time through steam generator that in that steam
41:32generator water is boiled to make steam and that steam is transmitted to the other side of the
41:37platform to the steam turbine so you could say that to an extent this incredible cutting edge
41:44right at the forefront of technology platform is steam yeah yeah steam or not this is one of the most
41:52efficient offshore platforms ever built so that steam turbine is using the byproduct of those jet engines
42:00which are using the byproduct of the process correct it's absolutely brilliant and unique this is the
42:06first of its kind it is it's my last night here and i can't help marveling that an industrial installation
42:15this big can operate day in day out so isolated from the rest of civilization
42:21on arriving and seeing this place for the first time it looks big yeah but also strangely inert it
42:36doesn't move outwardly there's little sign of anything actually going on at all but having spent
42:43some time here i've learned the fact that it doesn't move is incredible it's floating on the sea
42:48and i've met the team of people who call themselves a family because they spend more time together here
42:54than they do at home it generates its own power using jet engines and steam it does a job that would
43:02otherwise be impossible it is right now and who knows as the world changes maybe forever one of a kind
43:18again on discovery channel
43:42In Jesus' baby, not in him and in him.