Chile mines more than 3x more copper than any other country except for its neighbor, Peru, and they are also a major source of other critical resources such as lithium, nitrates, and iodine. A lot of water is used to process these minerals, and due to shortages of continental water many of Chile’s mines are turning to ocean.
Long distance pipelines are required to transport the seawater high into the Andes where most of the mines are. Whether it’s raw seawater or desalinated water, both are corrosive to the interior of steel pipelines and internal coatings are required to ensure the pipelines last.
Additionally, we suggest reading out, “Automatic Welding with FlexSleeve”
Asset owners and contractors are closely studying LPS’ FlexSleeve® to facilitate construction of the internally coated pipelines, and one mine recently installed a 16” diameter test spool with a FlexSleeve® welded joint. The pipeline transports highly corrosive brine and the FlexSleeve joint will soon be evaluated to prove its effectiveness.
Contact LPS for more information regarding FlexSleeve®
Watch This Video of the demonstrations and trial installations in Chile
