Soviet disaster logic: "Let's set it on fire!"

"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures) 10/08/2013 at 12:16 • Filed to: None

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Otherwise known as the Door to Hell and the Derweze gas crater, the crater is found in Turkmenistan and is 60 meters wide and 20 meters deep. The hole was created when a Soviet drilling rig accidentally tapped into a massive underground natural gas cavern, causing the ground to collapse and the drilling rig to fall in. To prevent poisonous fumes from escaping into the atmosphere the Soviet geologists decided to set the pit on fire, hoping the fire would use up its fuel in a few days.

Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 12:18

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It was those Commie bastards!

Agrajag > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 12:20

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I was hoping to see one of these at the bottom.

jsmizira > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 12:22

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UserNotFound > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 12:23

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There's got to be some way to turn that in to a power station.

Party-vi > Agrajag 10/08/2013 at 12:24

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MY GOD

ZeroOrDie - Powered By MZR > UserNotFound 10/08/2013 at 12:25

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Right hot air spinning fans. Apparently it'll run forever.

Casper > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 12:26

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So much wasted natural gas...

Mason-Dixon > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 12:27

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Some guys on the Mongol Rally took this:

Dusty Ventures > Casper 10/08/2013 at 12:39

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Seriously. The amount of fuel being wasted is absurd

Bruno Martini > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 12:40

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1 - Put a dome on it

2 - Put out the fire?

3 - collect said gas

4 - profit?

Dumbasses....

sfmikee > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 12:42

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Couldn't they design a cap to put over the hole and suffocate the thing? Maybe even create a vacuum. Cap it, flip on the vacuum, fire out.

Dusty Ventures > Bruno Martini 10/08/2013 at 12:49

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The problem there would be attempting to construct a dome over 200 feet across while dealing with multiple-hundred degree temperatures the whole time. You can't pre-fab it and move it in one piece because of the size and the heat would be virtually impossible for workers attempting to build it on-site

Dusty Ventures > sfmikee 10/08/2013 at 12:50

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Hard to build a cap of that size in those temperatures

MikeMeade > Bruno Martini 10/08/2013 at 12:51

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That would only work if it was somehow surrounded in a non porous soil. The fire is strong enough that it would likely draw air from the surface through the soil and rock. I imagine that it would be a very challenging fire to put out.

OtherBarry > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 13:00

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Screw it. Let it burn. At least they were thinking of their comrades and wanted to prevent toxic gas clouds that would still have been coming out. Laterial drill that thing and draw it down. Although they might not have that tech over there...

Bonhomme7h > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 13:06

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They have some experience though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl…

Atomic Buffalo > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 13:11

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Sunnydale just isn't the same since Buffy.

efme > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 13:13

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sounds like a job for the fantastic four!

FLAME ON.

i got nothing.

Gasolinelollipop > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 14:04

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We have this in the States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia…

Bruno Martini > efme 10/08/2013 at 14:24

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You could build it out of reinforced steel and move it ontop when done. Its dificult but not impossible.

Bruno Martini > MikeMeade 10/08/2013 at 14:25

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An explosion ontop the fire would kill it. As for porosity, you could soak the ground around the fire.

Dusty Ventures > Gasolinelollipop 10/08/2013 at 14:32

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Very interesting. I kinda want to go there now

D > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 14:44

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Just add water (and you've got steam)!

Gasolinelollipop > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 15:06

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I haven't been but I find it interesting how humans can destroy areas and make them uninhabitable

Dusty Ventures > Gasolinelollipop 10/08/2013 at 15:22

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We are why we can't have nice things

SteyrTMP > Dusty Ventures 10/08/2013 at 19:49

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If they were to tap the gas from another point, and draw the gas for use elsewhere, wouldn't that lower the pressure? Perhaps make it a little more manageable?