PAPER PIPES FOR WATER OIL, AND GAS

Evening Star, Issue 16625, 7 January 1918, Page 2

PAPER PIPES FOR WATER OIL, AND GAS

Ike shortage of iron and toad in Germany has led to the invention of paper pipes as conduits for water, oil, and gas. Two different processes of ma-king these are employed, and they have ■ been submitted to an extensive series of tests at the Royal Institute for Testing Materials. Their merits and demerits are set forth in the official organ of tho institute, the • MiUc-ilungen, der Koniglich© Material Prufungsamt.' In the process of Mr A. Von V aiois the tubes are made by rolling the sheets of paper around a mandrel of the desired dimensions until the required thickness is obtained, solidifying by means of a suitable adhesive, and covering with I a layer of a special coating. These tubes I are not appreciably affected by the' pro- ! longed action of illuminating gas, and those which were allowed to stand full of water for several weeks did not swell nor exhibit any loss of resistance. They not only weigh far less than pipes of iron or lead—in fact, only from one-sixih to onetenth as much—but they resist three or four times as much pressure for a given thickness. The joints are made by slipping sections of other tubes over the ends of the pipes and filling in the spaces by a suitable composition. Unfortunately, the jointed' pipes burst at a much 'lower pressure than do- the- separate tubes; hence, they sometimes give way at the joints. Tests of their resistance to exterior pressure give- an average considered sufficient to resist the pressure of the earth, provided the tubes do not gradually become soft. Other tests were made with the socalled " Portinax" tubes, which are made of a paper impregnated with synthetic resin and rolled under tension. Their absorption of water makes their use inadvisable for that liquid, but they gave excellent results when used to earn' oil, a fact which is explained by the well-known resistance of synthetic resins to oils. Finally, another series of tests showed that these pipes are not fitted for construction uses, since, while their resistance to traction is sufficient, their resistance to compression and their elasticity are both too feeble. ;