The 193 Square Miles Imouraren facility in Niger, near the southern edge of the Sahara, is one of the world’s largest open-cast uranium mining complexes. AREVA, the project owner, has developed special techniques to optimize working  the mine, allowing for the site’s specific characteristics. A joint venture was formed by Technip and SGN to implement this engineering, procurement and construction project, and Imouraren SA is in charge of mine operation. Boccard Plant Solution received a turnkey order for 4 skids for this project. After carrying out the design studies and purchasing activities, the construction work was subcontrated to Boccard Piping & Modular Fabrication, which manufactured the skids at its plant in Tunisia (BISF). These skids, made entirely of 304 and 316 grade stainless steel, were as follows:

• 1.5 m x 1.5 m x 1.2 m / 1 ton 
• 1.8 m x 1.5 m x 1.2 m / 1.5 tons
• 5 m x 3 m x 2.5 m / 4 tons
• 7.5 m x 4.5 m x 3 m / 16 tons

BISF’s service also included the related instrumentation, electricity, thermal insulation, hydrostatic pressure tests and mechanical and electrical operation tests. The skids were delivered to Niger on a duty paid (DDP) basis, in export packaging compliant with Industrial Packaging Union standards (SEI)

Fabrication of cryogenic lines for the Large Hadron ColliderCERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a 17 miles long ring structure,  and built 328 feet underground,  located near the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva. It is the world’s largest particle accelerator. Very high-energy protons are fired in opposing directions through particle beam pipes; the resulting collisions are studied for clues about super symmetry, dark matter and the origin of the mass of elementary particles. These protons, which are accelerated to nearly the speed of light, are kept in circulation for hours, guided by very powerful superconducting magnets. The magnetic field required for such operations can only be generated by cooling the magnets with advanced cryogenic techniques. In the LHC, these techniques, which harness the properties of nitrogen and helium, were designed by Air Liquide Advanced Technologies.  Boccard’s Piping & Modular Fabrication business Area contributed to this project by manufacturing the 530 piping modules that form the LHC ring. This work was carried out at our workshop in Portugal, which holds ALTAL and ISO 9001 certifications. These Stainless Steel modules were assembled using welding processes qualified to a temperature of -192°C. After subjecting every weld to Radiographic Inspection, the modules underwent a series of pneumatic pressure tests, thermal shock and helium leak tests, culminating in vacuum behavior tests.Watch the Cern LHC video:  

CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a 18 miles long ring structure built 328 feet underground below the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva. It is the world’s largest particle accelerator. Very high-energy protons are fired in opposing directions through particle beam pipes; the resulting collisions are studied for clues about supersymmetry, dark matter and the origin of the mass of elementary particles. These protons, which are accelerated to nearly the speed of light, are kept in circulation for hours, guided by very powerful superconducting magnets. The magnetic field required for such operations can only be generated by cooling the magnets with advanced cryogenic techniques. In the LHC, these techniques, which harness the properties of nitrogen and helium, were designed by Air Liquide Advanced Technologies. Boccard’s Piping & Modular Fabrication business area contributed to this project by manufacturing the 530 piping modules that form the LHC ring. This work was carried out at our workshop in Portugal, which holds ALTAL and ISO 9001 certifications. These stainless steel modules were welded using processes qualified to -192°C. After subjecting every weld to X-ray inspection, the modules underwent a series of pneumatic pressure tests, thermal shock and helium leak tests, culminating in vacuum behavior tests.