Patent ID: 8205678

Claim:
A blowout preventer, comprising: a funnel having a smaller end and a larger end, with the larger end being dimensioned and configured to be placed over an open end of a pipe through which a first fluid is escaping; a return pipe connected to the smaller end of the funnel; and a high pressure pipe passing through the return pipe and the funnel, suitably dimensioned and configured to be insertable into the pipe through which the first fluid is escaping; wherein, when a second fluid is pumped through the high pressure pipe at a pressure greater than that of the first fluid, the first fluid will be separated by the second fluid in a space adjacent to an end of the high pressure pipe that has been inserted into the pipe through which the first fluid is escaping, and a portion of the first fluid that is not held back by the greater pressure of the second fluid will flow through the funnel and the return pipe at an accelerated velocity, but at a reduced pressure due to the Bernoulli effect, thus sucking the funnel down onto the pipe from which the first fluid is escaping.