TPi October 2010

events calendar

A vital lifeline

Welcome to the latest issue of Tube Products International. Tubes and pipes are offering a vital lifeline to the Chilean miners who are trapped for months below ground. The thirty-three miners trapped 2,300 feet below ground are depending on food, medicine and supplies being dropped to them through a 4-inch-wide tube.

2010 26-30 October

EuroBLECH International Exhibition www.euroblech.com

2-4 November

Fabtech / AWS Welding Show International Exhibition www.fabtechexpo.com

What comes out of that tube will have to sustain the men both physically and mentally for a long time – perhaps four months, experts say – while a shaft wide enough to pull a man through is drilled. Chilean rescuers at the mine that collapsed last month have already started sending down five-foot long tubes called palomas, or “doves” in Spanish, to the miners. Rescuers have packed the tubes with rehydration tablets and a high-energy glucose serum to nourish the miners’ starved and fragile digestive systems. Reports also indicate that a long hose was used to line the bore holes with a “metallic gel” to reinforce them and lubricate the passage of the palomas. A hardening material such as gunnite, which sees service in shoring up weak walls in mines, is often used for the same purpose creating what is essentially an ‘instant tube’. Mine workers often also “case” straight up-and-down bore holes in the US and elsewhere, meaning they insert steel piping down the shafts to insure them against crumbling and to provide a smooth delivery canal to people below. With three bore holes now functioning, the government has baptised the three tubes. “The first is ‘Hope’, the second ‘Perseverance’, the third ‘The Hand of God,’” saidWalter Herrera, the manager of Geotec, a firm which has been instrumental in the drilling. “It was almost impossible to get to the point where we are, we had many problems with [drill holes] deviating. It was God’s will that guided us.” The drilling of these holes in order to pass pipes down is an incredibly precise business, with even a tiny deviation meaning that the whole and the pipe would emerge many feet from where the miners are located. The operation, which could take three to four months, will be using the state-of-the-art drill Xtrata, especially brought in from South Africa. The machine is making an initial hole with a diameter of around 25 centimetres, which will later be enlarged to 66 centimetres. That space would be enough to pull the miners up to the surface. But drilling that vertical 700-metre hole only solves part of the problem. Rescue teams also have to finish drilling three further holes to fit more tubes into, about 10 centimetres wide, through which they are to provide the miners with further food and water to keep them healthy during their ordeal. We wish them luck. I hope you enjoy this latest issue of the magazine and please make sure that you send us your latest news for the next issue. The editorial closing date is 26 October. We have features on OCTG and pipeline products, profile materials for tube making and a show feature on Boru 2011 as well as all of the latest industry and technology news.

30 November – 2 December

Valve World Expo International Exhibition www.valveworldexpo.com

2011 8-11 January

Tekno / Tube Arabia 2011 International Exhibition www.tube.de

11-14 January

SteelFab (Sharjah, UAE) International Exhibition www.steelfabme.com BORU 2011 International Exhibition www.borufuari.com

3-6 March

23-26 May

Tube Russia International Exhibition www.metallurgy-tube-russia.com Tube Southeast Asia International Exhibition www.tube-southeastasia.com

13-15 September

19-24 September

EMO Hannover International Exhibition www.emo-hannover.de Tubotech (Brazil) International Exhibition www.cipanet.com.br

4-6 October

13-16 November

Fabtech / AWS Welding Show International Exhibition www.fabtechexpo.com

Tolexpo (Paris) International Exhibition www.tolexpo.com

TBA

For further information on any of the above events please contact INTRAS Limited UK office (address and contact details on page 4)

Rory McBride Editor

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Tube Products International October 2010

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