RU2053366C1 - Method for mining of iron-manganese concretions from ocean bottom and device for its embodiment - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: mining. SUBSTANCE: method for mining of iron-manganese concretions from ocean bottom includes lowering of chassis with self-contained motor and collecting container with regulator of varying buoyancy, control of chassis motion with simultaneous collection of iron-manganese concretions and lifting of collecting container to the surface of ocean by imparting positive buoyancy to container with subsequent unloading of collecting container. Method is distinguished by the fact that in course of chassis travelling, chassis pressure on ocean bottom is regulated by pressure charging of lifting device of collecting container. Iron-manganese concretions are collected by suction of preliminarily formed pulp. Bottom deposits are concentrated directly on the bottom by separation and disposal of waste onto mined area, and in course of filling of collecting container, it is blown with compressed gas. Chassis is controlled remotely. Device for embodiment of the offered method for mining of iron-manganese concretions has carrier vessel, self-propelled chassis with control members and collecting container having lifting device with regulated buoyancy, and source for its filling with gas, load transducer in collecting container connected with chassis drive, unit for collecting iron-manganese concretion and orientation means located on chassis and ocean bottom. Device for embodiment of the method is distinguished by the fact that the unit for collection of iron-manganese concretions is made in form of pump with inlet pipe with high-pressure pump jet nozzles arranged round intake hole. Collecting container is made in form of truncated turned over cone with pull chute and discharge pipeline having check valve. Lifting device of collecting container is made in form of nacelle whose cavity is combined with cavity of collecting container which has compartment for reagent in its upper part. Source for filling nacelle with gas is made in form of catalytic reactor communicated through pumping unit with cavity of compartment, and through valve with cavity of nacelle and cavity of collecting container. Load transducer is connected with high-pressure pump. Device is provided with unit for concentration of iron-manganese concretions made in form of separator of hydrogravitational type formed by, at least, one pipe with aperture cutout in its lower part. Aperture is located above collecting container between inlet pipe and pump having pipeline with discharge outlet. Device also has self-contained power supply plant, travelling speed transducer connected through control members with self-contained drive of chassis, ground pressure transducer connected with gas source, high-pressure pump and self-contained drive, and vessels of zero buoyancy. Intake hole of inlet pipe and outlet hole discharge outlet are located not higher than the level of valve of discharge pipeline of collecting container. EFFECT: higher efficiency. 2 cl, 2 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to underwater mining and relates to the production of ferromanganese nodules (LMF) from the ocean floor.

 There is a known method for the production of LMCs, including scooping bottom sediments from the sea using scoops riveted to a cable loop, lifting deposits on a carrier vessel and their further separation with separation of LMCs from them (Cronin D. Underwater mineral deposits. M. Mir, 1983, p. 348-353).

 There is a method of extracting LMF from the bottom of the sea or ocean, which consists in dredging the bottom of a reservoir, raising, using a hydraulic suction device, bottom sediments containing LMF onto a carrier vessel, followed by separating the FMC from the raised mass [1] However, when using this method, it is necessary to lift the carrier vessel is not only an LMC, but also the entire sucked-in mass of bottom sediment, performing a significant amount of additional work with the corresponding energy and material costs. As a result, this method is ineffective, has low efficiency, and with increasing depth of the reservoir, it becomes even less cost-effective. This raises the problem of organizing production for the separation of LMF from bottom sediments, as well as the problem of waste disposal and related environmental issues of the sea and ocean in the case when the waste is dumped back into the water.

 A device for the production of LMCs, developed by the American company Dipsy Venture [2], includes equipment for dredging the bottom, a pipeline with a hydraulic suction device and a carrier ship. The considerable length of the pipeline along which bottom sediments rise, reaching 1000 m or more, makes strict demands on the capacity of the suction pump and necessitates controlling its angle of inclination in order to reduce the friction of particles of the moving mixture against the walls of the pipeline.

 There is also known a method and equipment for the extraction of nodules from the bottom of the sea [3] in which a mining machine controlled from the ship is lowered to the bottom of the sea, nodules are collected by dredging the bottom and using the conveyor they are immersed in a collection container, after filling of which, at the signal of the load sensor stop the machine on the collection container and remove the collection container from it, then inflate the lifting device with air or gas to create lift, lift the nodule container with this device onto the ship-sb rnik, unloading of the container is carried and lower it back to the machine on the seabed for his new nodules filling.

 The equipment for extracting mineral nodules from the seabed is a vessel located on the surface of the water, a self-propelled vehicle with an independent drive for collecting nodules, supported by cables from the vessel and controlled via cable cables from the vessel. The machine is equipped with two gripping devices for collecting bottom sediments, having a chain of drag dredges from buckets, a removable collection container filled with nodules delivered to it by a conveyor mounted on the chassis of the machine. The container-collector is equipped with a lifting device with adjustable buoyancy, equipped with a gas filling source, and a load sensor associated with an autonomous chassis drive. The machine has sensors for orienting its movement along the bottom, and on the bottom of the ocean or sea along the perimeter of the treated area there are sonars connected by cables to buoys located on the surface of the water.

 However, according to the known method for the production of LMF, on the carrier vessel, along with nodules, also foreign objects of bottom sediment are raised, which should be separated from the LMF, as well as waste disposal. In addition, when dredging the bottom of a reservoir, there are high energy costs. These operations are associated with additional material costs.

 Along with this, in the presence of loose, soft soil, large pressures of the unit moving along the bottom, especially on an uneven and cluttered surface, will require increased power to overcome resistance to movement, and fractures of the bottom surface can be insurmountable for the unit. This also raises the problem of waste management and related environmental issues of the sea or ocean in the case when the waste is dumped back into the water.

 In the indicated equipment, when dredging the bottom and trapping the bottom sediments with buckets, enrichment of the LMC is not carried out and bottom sediments fall into the collection container along with the LMC.

 In addition, when mining at great depths (thousands of meters), the weight of the supporting cables and control cables from the vessel is so large that it becomes difficult and even problematic to ensure their strength, especially in conditions of unrest on the surface of the ocean, when the carrier ship has vertical movements, which creates an additional dynamic load on them, increasing the risk of rupture of cables and cables.

 The purpose of the invention is the provision of the possibility of mining at the bottom of the sea or ocean at great depths (up to 5000-6000 m), reducing the complexity and energy consumption for the production of LMFs, increasing the reliability of the equipment, as well as improving the ecology of the surrounding water area.

 The goal is achieved by the fact that in the process of moving the chassis with the collection container along the ocean floor and filling the collection container with ferromanganese nodules, the pressure of the chassis is adjusted to the bottom of the ocean by lifting the container container. The collection of bottom sediments is carried out by suction of the pulp, which is preliminarily formed by erosion of water-containing MMC bottom sediments by streams of water. In this case, directly at the bottom of the ocean, enrichment of bottom sediments is carried out using a separator and discharge of enrichment waste onto the worked out section of the ocean floor. Moreover, in the process of filling the container-collector of the LMC and before it rises to the ocean surface, the loaded container-collector is purged with compressed gas, additionally enriching the loaded LMC in the container, while the operation of the chassis is controlled remotely.

 A device for the production of LMCs from the ocean floor, including a carrier vessel, a self-propelled chassis with controls, on which a container container is located, having a lifting device with adjustable buoyancy and a source for filling it with gas, a load sensor in the container container associated with an autonomous drive the chassis and the nodes and mechanisms placed on it, the assembly unit for collecting LMC-containing bottom sediments, the means for orienting the chassis located on it and on the ocean floor along the perimeter of the treated area, the assembly unit for collecting bottom sediments was made in Idea of a pump with a suction pipe, around the inlet of which there are jet nozzles connected by a pipe-line to a high-pressure pump. The collection container is made in the form of a truncated inverted cone, in the lower part of which there is a discharge hatch with a lid and a drain pipe having a non-return valve, and the lifting device of the collection container is made in the form of a nacelle, the cavity of which is combined with the cavity of the collection container having in the upper parts of the reagent compartment fenced by means of an elastic diaphragm, while the source of filling the nacelle with gas is made in the form of a catalytic reactor, connected through its pumping unit with a cavity tseka reagent and through the valve unit communicated with the joint cavity of the nacelle and the collecting container. The device is equipped with an LMC enrichment unit, made in the form of a hydrogravity type separator, formed by at least one pipe with an opening cut out in its lower part, located above the collection container and placed between the suction pipe and the pump having a pipe with an exhaust pipe, and also installed on the chassis of an autonomous power plant, a speed sensor connected through controls to an autonomous chassis drive, a ground pressure sensor connected through controls to us the main installation of the source of filling the nacelle with gas, with a high pressure pump and with an independent drive. Moreover, the load sensor is connected to the high pressure pump, and the inlet of the suction pipe and the outlet of the exhaust pipe are located not higher than the valve level of the drain pipe of the container-collector; the unit is also equipped with tanks of zero buoyancy.

 The implementation of the process of separating the pulp with the separation of the LMC directly on the ocean floor reduces the amount of waste disposal without violating the ecology of the surrounding water area, as well as achieving significant savings in material and energy costs, since with this method only the separated LMCs are lifted onto the carrier vessel, and not the entire mass of collected bottom sediments with LMF.

 Adjusting the pressure on the ocean ground by the mass of the installation by pressurizing the lifting device of the container-collector can significantly reduce the resistance to movement of the chassis from the uneven and loose soil of the bottom and overcome any kind of fractures and unevenness of the bottom, which will reduce the energy consumption consumed by the installation for work.

 The preliminary formation of pulp by washing down bottom sediments by water jets increases the efficiency of assembly of these sediments, reducing energy consumption compared to those when performing the process of dredging the bottom of a reservoir.

 The implementation in the device for the production of LMC of the enrichment unit of the LMC in the form of a hydrogravity type separator formed from a pipe or pipe system with an opening cut out in the lower part and located above the collection container, ensures the separation of the pulp sucked in by the suction pump with a compartment on the LMC that falls through the opening into container-collection and waste in the form of fine particles of LMF, silt, sand deposits, etc. which, as lighter objects, are sucked in with the water and discharged through the pipeline to the bottom of the reservoir.

 The implementation of the unit for collecting bottom sediments in the form of a pump with a suction pipe, around the inlet of which there are jet nozzles connected by a pipe to a high-pressure pump, allows, by mixing the bottom sediments with ambient water under the pressure of water wash jets, to form a pulp, facilitating the process of suction (collecting LMF )

 A gas is formed in the catalytic reactor as a result of the reaction of the reagent and water, which is designed to fill the cavity of the nacelle and the collection container and to create a lifting force on the collection by displacing water from these cavities, as well as blowing the collection container through its drain pipe with a check valve serving to block the access of water back to the cavity of the container after it is purged. Thus, the connection of the cavities of the nacelle and the container-collector of the LMC allows the gas released in the reactor to be used both to create lift and to purge the container.

 An elastic flexible partition in the nacelle that separates the reagent chamber from the nacelle cavity, retracting as the reagent flows into the catalytic reactor, and also pressing against the upper wall of the nacelle as gas is injected under the nacelle bell, makes it possible to increase the volume of the nacelle filled with gas and increase its efficiency.

 The pressure sensor on the ground allows you to control the installation of the reagent chamber, tracking the specified allowable pressure on the ground, controls the operation of the high pressure pump, is connected with the movement and control of the chassis.

 A speed sensor controls the operation of an autonomous chassis drive.

 Zero-buoyancy tanks provide immersion of the sediment collector at a given speed when lowering it to the bottom of the reservoir.

 The location of the suction and exhaust pipes below or at the location of the check valve of the drain pipe of the container-collector increases the efficiency of purging the latter with compressed gas.

 The load sensor on the collection container is connected to a high pressure pump to control its operation.

 In FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an installation for the production of LMC from structural elements; in FIG. 2 same side view (carrier ship not shown).

 On a self-propelled chassis 1 with an autonomous power plant 2, with controls 3 and an autonomous drive 4, for example propulsive, a hydrogravity type separator 5 is installed to separate the LMC from the pulp, made in the form of a pipe or pipe system with an opening 6 cut out below for collecting the LMC into a container collector 7, located on the chassis under the separator 5. The separator is placed between the suction pipe 8 and the pump 9 for suction of the pulp containing the LMC.

 Container-collector 7 has a lifting device 10, made in the form of a hollow nacelle, combined with the cavity of the container-collector 7 and having, in the upper part, a compartment 12 for the reagent necessary for the formation of gas to be filled into the nacelle, fenced off by means of an elastic diaphragm 11.

 The source 13 for filling the nacelle with gas is made in the form of a catalytic reactor connected through its pumping unit 14 to the cavity of the compartment 12 for the reagent and through the valve device 15 in communication with the combined cavity of the nacelle and the collection container.

 The collection container 7 is made in the form of a truncated inverted cone 16, in the lower part of which a discharge hatch 17 with a lid 18 and a drain pipe 19 having a non-return valve 20, and a load sensor 21 are installed.

 The chassis also has a high-pressure pump 22, a ground pressure sensor 23 connected through control elements 3 to a pumping unit 14 for filling the nacelle with gas, to a high-pressure pump 22 and with an independent drive 4; the chassis is also equipped with a speed sensor 24, connected through controls 3 with an independent drive 4 of the chassis.

 The load sensor 21 is connected to a high pressure pump 22, with an autonomous drive 4 of the chassis and with units and mechanisms located on it.

 Around the inlet opening 25 of the suction pipe 8 there are jet nozzles 26 for washing away the soil and forming pulp, which are connected by a pipe to the high pressure pump 22.

 Behind the pulp suction pump 9, an outlet pipe 27 connected to it by a pipe is located. Moreover, the outlet 28 of the outlet pipe 27 and the intake port 25 of the suction pipe 8 are located no higher than the level of the check valve 20 of the drain pipe 19 of the collecting container.

 The device has means 29 for orienting the chassis, located on it and on the ocean floor along the perimeter of the developed area (not shown), and is equipped with tanks 30 of zero buoyancy.

 The device operates as follows.

 Before lowering the reservoir LMC in the water space of the vessel 30 of zero buoyancy are filled with ballast weight.

 After lowering the collector from the carrier vessel in a given area of the water area to the bottom of the reservoir, on command of the pressure sensor 23 to the soil, the pumping unit 14 of the reagent chamber is turned on, which supplies the reagent to the catalytic reactor 13. The gas resulting from the reaction enters through the valve device 15 into the cavity nacelles of the lifting device 10, creating a lifting force. The pump unit 14 operates until the required pressure on the ground is reached by the LMC collector. Upon reaching a predetermined pressure on the ground, the same pressure sensor 23 includes a high pressure pump 22 for erosion of sediments of the bottom of the reservoir and the formation of pulp and at the same time includes a suction pump 9 and chassis movement elements (actuator 4), which provide movement along the bottom of the tank assembly.

 The pulp sucked up by the pump 9, passing through the separator 5, is separated into the LMC, which, due to gravitational forces, fall into the container-collector 7, and into the rock, consisting of small particles of the LMC, sand and silt, which are less heavy than the LMC, are sucked in by the pump 9 and sent to them through the exhaust pipe 27 to the waste section of the bottom of the reservoir.

 The orientation of the LMC collection is carried out using orientation means 29 installed on it and along the perimeter of the worked out section of the bottom of the reservoir, and the speed of movement of the chassis is determined by the speed sensor 24 and is regulated by the chassis control 3.

 As the filling of the LMC collection container, the pressure on the ground increases, the pressure sensor on the ground continues to keep the reagent chamber pump unit 14 in working order to increase the lifting force. The gas coming from the catalytic reactor 13 into the combined cavity of the nacelle and the collection container blows the collection container with the LMC, forcing sand, silt, fine particles together with water through the drain pipe 19 and the check valve 20.

 After filling the collection container 7 with ferromanganese nodules, the load sensor 21 gives a signal to stop the operation of the suction pump 9, the high pressure pump 22 and the stand-alone drive 4 of the chassis.

 As the cavity of the nacelle and the collection container is filled with gas and the necessary lifting force is created by it, the LMC collector is lifted to the surface of the body of water. At the same time, the volume of gas expanding during the lifting of the LMC collector in the said cavities is vented through the check valve 20 of the drain pipe of the container-collector, through the tips of the suction pipe 8 and the exhaust pipe 27.

Claims (2)

 1. A method of extracting ferromanganese nodules from the ocean floor, including launching a chassis with an autonomous engine and a collection container with a variable buoyancy regulator onto the ocean floor, controlling the movement of the chassis with the simultaneous collection of bottom sediments containing iron-manganese nodules in the collection container and lifting it to the ocean surface by giving it positive buoyancy, followed by unloading on a carrier vessel, characterized in that during the movement of the chassis during the collection of bottom sediments, the pressure is adjusted landing gear on the ocean floor by pressurizing the lifting device of the collection container, the collection of bottom sediments is carried out by suction of the pulp previously formed under pressure of water jets, while the bottom sediments are enriched directly at the bottom of the ocean by separation and dumping of the bottom of enrichment waste onto the worked out section, and in the process filling the collection container with ferromanganese nodules before they rise to the ocean surface, purging the loaded container container with compressed gas, moreover, Leniye chassis work performed remotely.  2. A device for extracting ferromanganese nodules from the ocean floor, including a carrier vessel, a self-propelled chassis with controls, on which a collection container is located, having a lifting device with adjustable buoyancy and a source for filling it with gas, a load sensor in the collection container associated with self-contained chassis drive and with nodes and mechanisms placed on it, a collection unit containing ferromanganese nodules of bottom sediments, means for orienting the chassis placed on it and on the ocean floor along the perimeter are worked out section, characterized in that the bottom sediment collection unit is made in the form of a pump with a suction nozzle, around the inlet of which there are jet nozzles connected by a pipeline to a high pressure pump, the collection container is made in the form of a truncated inverted cone, in the lower part of which there is a discharge a hatch with a lid and a drain pipe having a non-return valve, and the lifting device of the collecting container is made in the form of a gondola, the cavity of which is combined with the cavity of the collecting container, having in the upper part, the reagent compartment is blocked off by means of an elastic diaphragm, while the source of filling the nacelle with gas is made in the form of a catalytic reactor connected through its pumping unit to the cavity of the reagent compartment and through a valve device in communication with the combined cavity of the nacelle and the collection container, the sensor the load is connected to a high-pressure pump, and the device is equipped with an enrichment unit for ferromanganese nodules, made in the form of a hydrogravity-type separator formed by at least one pipe with an opening cut out in its lower part, located above the collection container between the suction pipe and the pump, having a pipeline with an exhaust pipe installed on the chassis of an autonomous power plant, a speed sensor connected through controls to an autonomous drive of the chassis, and a pressure sensor to the ground, connected through controls to the pump installation of the gas filling source of the nacelle, high-pressure pump and self-contained drive, and tanks with zero buoyancy, exc a receiving opening of the suction pipe and the outlet exhaust-pipe arranged above the valve does not drain pipe of the collecting container.

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