Innovative ideas come to exist in all places of the world basically every day, but this one caught my attention:
TOHL is a project conducted by Benjamin Cohen and his group of Tech grads from Atlanta, Georgia that deals with the installation of a disruptive pipeline technology.
It aims at revolutionizing disaster relief efforts as well as water delivery infrastructure to the most remote areas, especially in Chile and all of LatAm.
So far our imagine of pipeline has not been very positive. It has actually been quite the contrast, because we think of pipelines as very expensive, difficult to install and destructive to the environment. Not positive at all!
It is important to note that they don’t always carry oil, but they can carry essentials like water, power and information to “the end of the world”! After the earthquakes in Haiti, the team decided that we really need this solution now. Here is TOHL’s pipeline technology:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vkmSIEaqiQ[/youtube]
So during the past two years, the team has been developing a new infrastructure installation method that can be deployed rapidly and inexpensively and with minimal environmental impact.
With the new innovation, pipelines of a length ranging from a few hundred meters to several kilometers can be installed easily and cost-effectively via helicopter. Now, they can reach areas which would otherwise be inaccessible, in Chile and all of LatAm
That way they can reach areas which would otherwise be inaccessible, in Chile and all of LatAm.
4 striking characteristics
1) Affordable
only costs a fraction of the price of conventional pipe-laying systems (implementation and operation)
2) Quick
1 km pipe in 9 minutes!!! (That’s almost 2 meters/sek)
3) Sustainable
the pipes can be recovered and used again, no need for water trucks to burn fuel
4)Mobile
via helicopters EVERY area can be reached
It works!
On July 15th, 2012 a demo test was realized near San Jose de Maipo in Chile, with a great success! A whole kilometer of pipe was laid out, running over mountains and facing the challenge of lots of wind!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLOrEY4VGzo&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
After the installation, it took 8 hours to set up the water pump and get a maximum flow rate of 12 L/min. With this amount of water they can sustain a whole community of 3.000 people!
Now, the TOHL team has to give proof to the government and private businesses that the technology is scalable, by permanently connecting a real, existing community in Chile to a water access. This tube will of course be wider and longer and also provide a much better flow rate than the demo tube. The soon to be connected community will be chosen in collaboration with the Chilean government.
What is to come?
Future plans include expansion of the application to all kinds of infrastructure solutions, such as fields like fiber optics, communications networks, mining operations, etc.
This also includes developing better pipes, lighter spools and a full-scale manufacturing process.
TOHL needs your help!
In order to be able to continuously grow this project and to especially launch an industrial scale version of TOHL’s disruptive pipeline installation technology, TOHL participates in Kickstarter, a funding platform for creative projects.
For this fund, each project creator has to set an amount of money that needs to be reached until a certain deadline. So this is an “all or nothing” funding.
The goal TOHL set for themselves is funding 30,000 until Sunday, September 23rd, 2012.
