Mueller Industries, Inc.

Michael W Baum

Daniel J Steffan

Kenneth Mark Shane

Donald Simpson

Kenneth Henderson

William H Hensley

Christopher Charles Saylor

Christie Shumpert

John Webb

Robert Merrill Sutton

Gary L Barker

A plug for sealing an interior of a tube and including a cylindrical body having a first end that is open and includes an annular surface, and a second end that is closed by a conical end wall. The cylindrical body having a plurality of ribs that are configured to engage the interior of the tube and provide a seal between the plug and the interior of the tube. The plug also includes a handle unitary with the cylindrical body that extends from the annular surface. The handle has a cylindrical inner surface that is coextensive with an interior surface of the cylindrical body and an outer surface that is coextensive with an exterior surface of the cylindrical body.

Plug with handle

The present invention relates to an apparatus and in-situ method for immobilizing mine drainage from spent mine works. This apparatus and preferred method are readily adapted for use in any mine, but particularly well-suited for mines which are located on steep hills or mountain sides having limited infrastructure to permit access for utilities and construction equipment. The present invention utilizes known technology for erecting a bulkhead in the portal of a mine drift, providing a distribution system for controlling drainage of mine water collected behind the bulkhead, mixing the mine water with a constituent to form a slurry, and introducing the slurry into the sealed mine. The present invention has the advantage of neutralizing the mine water to make discharges, if any, acceptable; precipitating dissolved metal out of the mine water within the sealed mine; and further sealing fissures that create seepage from the sealed mine.

Mini drainage immobilization system and method

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Price, UT, United States of America

Michael W Baum