Rank novice photography from OTC

OK guys and gals, I promised OTC pics and here they are in all thier blurry unfocused splendor and glory.

Here we are looking out across the exhibition hall.

Bet those people on the Titanic wished they had a few of these...

Ever wondered what the inside of a jet engine looked like?

Here we have the Blue Marlin carrying a part of the missile defense system, beautiful photo, but I would have preferred a pic of it bringing the USS Cole back from Yemen like this one,

but given the attendence of the show, that probably would have been rather impolitic.


I tell ya, Bell Helicopter has always built some pretty machines. Compare these pics with this Euro(trash)copter and you'll see what I mean.

Here is what all the "cool" divers are wearing these days.


Here is a pic of a decent sized Shear Ram Blow Out Preventer, and below is a pic of what it does if the well is unstable and pressure cannot be maintained any other way (this is a last ditch option to prevent a Blowout)


Here we see a model of various types of sub-sea wells, in the foreground is the method that everyone wants to go to, it is called an FPSO. Essentially instead of pumping the oil and gas onshore through a subsea pipeline, it is pumped aboard a modified tanker where it is processed, gas and oil are separated from the water, and the oil and gas are offloaded to shuttle tankers that ferry it back to shore. The advantage is that in the event of a hurricane, they can disconnect and find safe harbor for the ships, and the wellheads are on the bottom of the ocean where they are out of harm's way. Sub-sea pipelines also often plug up due to the very cold temperatures at the ocean floor, the moisture and the natural gas forms methane hydrate plugs and the wax and parrafin in the oil congeals out to form wax plugs too, especially when the flow stops for any length of time like you'd have during a hurricane evac.

And speaking of hurricanes, you can bet there are people that specialize in forcasting them for the offshore oil biz too.

And of course no trade show would be complete without "Booth Babes"....

Now for the real reason I went to the show... Yes Ladies and Gents, one of my projects was up for an award, we made it to the top 5, but in the end these guys won.

but at least we got an honorable mention (no it isn't blank, just redacted to protect my slim anonymity...)