Trapped Chilean Miners.

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
Discussion point: Is there any chance of any of the miners suffering or even getting a mild Bends (Decompression sickness) as they come back to the surface? After all they have been at about 66 millibars (Thats Hectorpascalls in silly speak) above surface pressure for a long time now. The Iris in their eyes will be working overtime when they surface as well.
 
Isn't their pressure environment effectively atmospheric as they have a smaller vent to them for breathing air?...

In which case would it not be like climbing 2000ft or so in 20 mins? - a brisk drive up a mountain road?

Or am I missing something?

I always presumed the bends in diving came from breathing compressed air when at depth...
 

Charlie M

Supporter
I always presumed the bends in diving came from breathing compressed air when at depth...

That's what I thought, the pressure while diving comes from the weight of the water above you. Water weighs around 60lb/cubic foot while air weighs around 0.08.
 

Rick Muck- Mark IV

GT40s Sponsor
Supporter
Re: the iris, they are being issued sunglasses as there is fear that they could have eye damage otherwise.

Could you go up a 23" tunnel? Aside from my girth preventing it, I doubt I have the temperment for the trip. But then I would never have been in the mine to start!
 
The reason of the bend has nothing to do with the compressed air. it would happen the same way also by breathing uncompressed air,actually one is not breathing compressed air, because the breather automat is functioning as a pressure reducing valve(compressing the air just allows you to transport more air in the tanks

the volume of gas dissolved in a given liquid is direct proportional to the environmental pressure, thus the volume of dissolved nitrogen increases the deeper and longer you dive. For this reasons divers have their calculation tables to know how long the are allowed to stay at which depth. Also this dissolvation is not directly reversible by going upwards, it takes some time. Therefore if you have repeated divings in shorter period, the time allowed at a given depth reduces itself with each diving.

Don´t think that this is of any meaning for the miners, This would be the same as somenone living in a deep valey is going up the mountains very quick. The may need to equalize the pressure by the same exercise you do if you got pressure on your ears due to altitude change (probably it would be a good idea to clamp their nose with something, because i don´t think they can reach it with their hands in this transporting tube)

TOM
 

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
Maybe the miners will have the Valsalva manouevre shown to them which may help them with the eustachian tube and middle ear by keeping it open. I used in in both rapid climbs and more so in rapid descents in flying. In free fall it was never really a consideration. It's also,apparently, a good way of preventing premature ejaculation as well so it may help in more ways than one. As far as being fed into a vertical tunnel in a metal basket 23 inches wide I think I would prefer to be anaesthetised. My shoulders are quite wide and I was having an MRI scan and it was a high definition but quite narrow tunnel (in the early days of MRI) and I had to try and roll my shoulders to fit in the tunnel. I lasted about 10 minutes maximum before panic set in so the whole 40 minute program took nearly three hours.
I bet the last man in the rescue will have to have nerves of steel. Can you imagine what thoughts would go through your mind ?
 
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Re: the iris, they are being issued sunglasses as there is fear that they could have eye damage otherwise.

Could you go up a 23" tunnel? Aside from my girth preventing it, I doubt I have the temperment for the trip. But then I would never have been in the mine to start!

In the 60s I worked as a driller for Gill Drilling. Mike Rank, a guy that worked there, drilled some trapped miners out in PA. The hole was 18", the miners were well greased, and they came out with their arms extended above their heads, a bit tight, but it worked. That was through solid granite, the problem with this hole is that it is in shale. Very unstable,and dangerous.
 
I bet the last man in the rescue will have to have nerves of steel. Can you imagine what thoughts would go through your mind ?

Good point David.
In all the demo's of how the capsule works that I've seen on the news programmes, there has always been someone on the outside closing the door.
I did wonder whether there was an internal pull handle that the last man would be able to use to shut the door and lock himself in, as there won't be anyone outside to do it for him!
 

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
On the TV news this evening the comment about decompression sickness was raised and the statement made that they would not surface faster than 1m/sec to avoid decompression sickness problems. There you go guys - it is part of their calculations
and precautions.
 

Charlie Farley

Supporter
Hope they've also taken precautions re who gets to the miners first, girlfriends or wives... nod to Al. it's probably a good idea that they will immediately spirit them away to a nearby hospital for two days. Gives those guilty miners a chance to make good their escape. 2000 feet down might end up looking more inviting than they first thought. Don't fancy my ear being chewed by a rabid south american wife !!
 

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
And another precaution - apparently they are all being medicated with Aspirin to avoid blood clots. For a third world country this whole rescue effort has been quite sophisticated. I've been very impressed. I may give Concha y Toro another try and toast their success.
 
David, they just announced 2m/s rate. Pretty fast elevator...

Funny in an abstract sort of way, I was watching footage on the news tonite & timed one revolution of the cable wheel on the lift rig, guessing it at about 5/6 feet in dia, came up with a similar figure, have to say I dont think Ive seen the 'lucky' guy with both wife & girlfriend/s make it up yet.... be interesting to see what the monitor's for respiration & heart rates etc show on his ascent...:shy:
 

Pete McCluskey.

Lifetime Supporter
Funny in an abstract sort of way, I was watching footage on the news tonite & timed one revolution of the cable wheel on the lift rig, guessing it at about 5/6 feet in dia, came up with a similar figure, have to say I dont think Ive seen the 'lucky' guy with both wife & girlfriend/s make it up yet.... be interesting to see what the monitor's for respiration & heart rates etc show on his ascent...:shy:

Double your pleasure,
Double your fun,
Get yourself two girls
Instead of just one.:lipsrsealed:
 

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
What a fabulous success story for all concerned. You really have to take your hats off to Chile for pulling this one out of the bag. I am seriously impressed by their efforts. Well done.
 
Waiting for an email from a Chilean friend in Chicagoland with his info. If he doesn't mind, I will post it here.

Greta Van Sustern on Fox did a great show and the world wide effort was flawless. UPS sent the 13 ton drill bit from Penn. to Chile in under 48 hours. Crews from literally all over the world were present.
Miracle in Chile | FoxNews.com

Fantastic effort !!
 

Pete McCluskey.

Lifetime Supporter
Interesting the media beat up about the guy who had the wife and the girlfriend. Apparently the bloke has been separated from his wife for more than a year...Sheesh.
 
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