A new type of seabed ore collection equipment and ore collection method based on Coanda effect

Abstract

The present invention relates to a new type of seabed ore collection equipment based on Coanda effect, including a self-adjusting hydraulic ore collection head, a ore mud separator, and a mud-water separator; the self-adjusting hydraulic ore collection head can adjust the curvature of the curved wall located at the bottom through the extension of the hydraulic cylinder; the axial end of the ejection cylinder is fixed to a swing mechanism through a connecting rod, and the swing mechanism can drive the ejection cylinder to swing slightly, so that the direction of the nozzle is adapted to the entrance of the ore collection cavity; the rear side of the ore mud separator shaft has a shaft outlet for ore to flow out, and the lower surface of the shaft outlet is inclined downward; a porous baffle is arranged in the shaft, and the porous baffle is also inclined downward; the outlet of the ore mud separator is connected to the inlet of the mud-water separator through a submersible pump, and the mud-water separator outlet is also connected to the inlet of the hydraulic ore collection head. The ore collection performance of the present invention is stable, the ore collection efficiency is high, the separation rate of ore particles and sea mud is high, and the mining operation has less disturbance to the seabed ecological environment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a seabed ore collecting equipment, in particular to a novel seabed ore collecting equipment and an ore collecting method thereof based on the Coanda effect, belonging to the technical fields of fluid machinery and seabed ore collecting. Background Art

[0002] In the existing seabed ore collection vehicle system, three main ore collection methods are mechanical, hydraulic and composite. Since the mechanical ore collection method uses a long chain bucket or a seabed robot to directly shovel minerals from the seabed, it causes great disturbance to the seabed and severely limits the work efficiency. The current hydraulic ore collection methods mainly include double-drain jet flushing and collection based on the Coanda effect. The former uses a high-speed water jet to flush the seabed, thereby flushing and collecting the ore. This method will also cause great disturbance to the seabed and cause a certain degree of damage to the fragile ecological environment of the seabed; while the latter is a method of using the low-pressure area of ​​the wall near the ore head to collect ore particles relatively gently without directly flushing the seabed surface. It has unparalleled advantages over other mining methods. This method is based on the Coanda effect, that is, the wall-attached jet has a tendency to move along the convex curved wall. By applying a water jet to the convex curved wall, a low-pressure area is formed, and the pressure difference is used to generate a lifting force to collect the ore. Although the concept of a ore collecting head based on the Coanda effect was proposed a long time ago and has been verified to be feasible through sea trials, the current ore collecting heads designed based on the Coanda effect principle still have some shortcomings in actual operation due to the lack of sufficient consideration of the seabed environment and changes in specific operating parameters. In addition, existing seabed ore collecting equipment does not have a sludge and mud-water separation system. They usually discharge the mixture containing seabed sediment particles directly out of the ore collecting machine, causing severe disturbances to the surrounding seabed ecological environment. A few seabed ore collecting systems have mineral-sea mud separation water tanks, which use filters to separate minerals and mud-water mixtures. Although this method achieves the separation of mineral particles, sea mud, and water and reduces damage to the seabed environment, this method does not completely separate the mineral particles and mud-water mixture, and it is difficult to apply this method to continuous operations with high collection capabilities.

[0003] Specifically, the existing seabed ore collection equipment has the following shortcomings:

[0004] 1) The collecting heads of existing seabed collecting vehicles are sensitive to changes in terrain, which limits the collection of mineral particles on complex seabed terrain and greatly disturbs the seabed environment. The height of the collecting head from the bottom (the distance between the bottom of the collecting head and the surface of the seabed) on existing seabed collecting vehicles is actively adjusted, and there is a certain delay in adjusting the height of the collecting head from the bottom through the hydraulic mechanism. During the movement of the collecting vehicle, the vehicle body is relatively long, and a slight longitudinal tilt will cause a large change in the height of the collecting head from the bottom, and the seabed terrain also has certain ups and downs. It is difficult for existing technologies to meet the requirement that the collecting head is always close to the seabed surface during movement, so it is difficult to complete the collection of mineral particles on complex terrain. In addition, the height of the collecting head from the bottom will also have a significant impact on the collection rate of mineral particles and the disturbance of sediments on the seabed surface.

[0005] 2) The jet angle and curvature radius of the curved wall of the existing seabed ore collection head based on the Coanda effect cannot be adjusted, so the ore collection rate is low. In the current ore collection head scheme based on the Coanda effect, the front and rear jet nozzles are fixed on the ore collection head, and the jet angle is fixed, and it is impossible to make adaptive adjustments according to changes in operating parameters. This easily induces hidden dangers such as excessive disturbance of the seabed during the hydraulic collection process and low collection rate. In addition, the curvature radius of the curved wall inside the ore collection head cannot be adjusted, which also makes it impossible for the shape of the ore collection head to be adaptively changed according to the operating parameters, so that the ore collection efficiency and benefits cannot be maximized.

[0006] 3) The mud-water separation system of the existing seabed ore-collecting equipment cannot accelerate the flocculation and sedimentation of the sea mud, and the separation of mineral particles, sea mud and water is not thorough (low separation rate), and can even only achieve the separation of mineral particles and mud-water mixture. The mud-water separation system of the existing seabed ore-collecting equipment adopts a natural sedimentation method, which allows the sea mud to settle naturally by gravity by reducing the flow rate. Since the flocculation rate of sea mud is greatly affected by the concentration of the mud-water mixture, generally speaking, the higher the concentration of the mixture, the easier it is for the sea mud to flocculate and settle. However, the existing scheme is difficult to achieve rapid sedimentation of sea mud by only reducing the flow rate, and this method of only separating the mud-water mixture once is not ideal in a short time. If the low-concentration mud-water mixture is discharged directly, the discharged sea mud will be scattered, causing serious damage to the seabed ecological environment. However, the ore-collecting device that only considers the separation of ore and mud-water is also difficult to achieve a thorough separation of mineral particles and mud-water mixture in a short time. Summary of the invention

[0007] The present invention aims to solve the problems existing in existing seabed ore collection equipment, such as unstable ore collection performance (weak terrain adaptability, etc.), low ore collection efficiency, poor environmental adaptability, low ore particle and sea mud separation rate, and the problem that mining operations cause great disturbance to the seabed ecological environment.

[0008] The present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0009] A new type of seabed ore-collecting equipment based on the Coanda effect, including a self-adjusting hydraulic ore-collecting head, a sludge separator, and a mud-water separator; the self-adjusting hydraulic ore-collecting head includes an ore-collecting cavity with a herringbone cross-section, the upper part of the ore-collecting cavity is a pair of curved walls 20, the curved wall 20 is divided into two sections of curved units, and the two sections of curved units are connected by a flexible connecting layer 19 in the middle; the two sections of curved units are connected by at least one hydraulic cylinder 21, and the curvature of the curved wall located at the lower part can be adjusted by the extension and contraction of the hydraulic cylinder 21; an injection cylinder is arranged at each end of the herringbone ore-collecting cavity, and a nozzle in a long strip shape or a long strip arrangement corresponding to the entrance of the ore-collecting cavity is provided on the injection cylinder; the injection cylinder is connected to a water supply pipeline; the axial end of the injection cylinder is fixed to a swing mechanism through a connecting rod, and the swing mechanism can drive the injection cylinder to swing slightly, so that the direction of the nozzle is consistent with the ore-collecting cavity The ore separator comprises a hollow cavity, which forms a horizontal flow channel in the transverse direction, with an inlet 24 of the ore separator on one side and an outlet 26 of the ore separator on the other side; at least one shaft is provided below the hollow cavity, and a shaft outlet 28 for ore to flow out is provided at the rear side of the shaft, and the lower surface of the shaft outlet 28 is inclined downward; a porous baffle 29 inclined downward is provided in the shaft, and the porous baffle 29 is also inclined downward, connected with the lower surface of the shaft outlet 28, and the inclination trend is the same as that of the lower surface of the shaft outlet 28; the bottom of the shaft is the shaft inlet 27, which is a low-speed water flow inlet, and is connected to the outlet of the mud-water separator through a valve with adjustable flow; the outlet 32 ​​of the ore separator is connected to the inlet of the mud-water separation box 41 through a submersible pump 40, and the outlet of the mud-water separation box 41 is also connected to the inlet of the hydraulic ore collecting head.

[0010] Preferably, the swing mechanism includes a hydraulic rotating mechanism 16, and the hydraulic rotating mechanism 16 drives a bevel gear 16a to rotate through its output shaft, and drives a gear 16b to rotate through the bevel gear 16a, and the connecting rod is relatively fixed to the gear 16b.

[0011] Furthermore, a pair of hydraulic rotating mechanisms 16 are arranged at the front and rear sides of the ore collecting cavity to respectively control the swing of the injection cylinder on one side, and respective oil pipes and signal lines extend upward in the direction of the front and rear sides of the ore collecting cavity.

[0012] Furthermore, the self-adjusting hydraulic ore-collecting head also includes a mud sled 23, which is located below the ore-collecting cavity and connected to the ore-collecting cavity through a shock-absorbing device 22; the shock-absorbing device 22 is an active shock-absorbing adjustment device and a passive shock-absorbing adjustment device that are adjustable at multiple points along the length direction of the mud sled 23; the active shock-absorbing adjustment device is a rigid telescopic component, which adjusts the distance between the upper end of the mud sled 23 and the lower surface of the ore-collecting cavity at the point by telescoping; it can be locked after telescoping adjustment; the passive shock-absorbing adjustment device is a spring assembly, which adjusts the supporting force of the ore-collecting cavity at the point by elastic telescoping; after the active shock-absorbing adjustment device, the ore-collecting head enters a passive adjustment mode, so that the ore-collecting head can dynamically and real-time stick to the seabed surface during movement, and adapt to changes in seabed terrain.

[0013] Preferably, the main body of the mud-water separator is a hollow box, with one longitudinal end being the mud-water separation box inlet 31 and the other end being the mud-water separation box outlet 32; the bottom plate of the box can be opened so that the sea mud particles accumulated in the box can be discharged to the seabed surface at regular intervals; two or more rows of U-shaped baffles 33 are staggered in the flow direction inside the box, so that the sea mud particles settle under the action of the U-shaped baffles 33; the U-shaped baffles 33 are staggered in the width direction; the position of the shaft outlet 28 has a funnel-shaped ore drop port downward, and the ore drop port is connected to the inlet of the mineral conveying device 44, and the mineral conveying device 44 has a pulley conveying mechanism; the porous baffle 29 and the lower surface of the shaft outlet 28 are located in the same plane.

[0014] Preferably, the slime separator has two or more slime separator inlets 24 in the width direction.

[0015] A method for collecting ore using a novel seabed collecting equipment based on the Coanda effect as described in any one of the above, which increases the collection rate of ore particles by increasing the angle between the front and rear nozzles and the horizontal line and the curvature of the curved wall when the ocean current in the seabed mining area is small, the ecological preservation requirements are relatively low, and the ore particles are buried deep; when the ocean current in the mining area is large, the seabed ecological preservation requirements are high, the burial depth of ore particles is low, and the sediments on the seabed surface are soft and easy to spread, the angle between the front and rear jet nozzles and the horizontal line and the curvature of the curved wall are reduced to reduce the disturbance near the seabed while ensuring the collection rate.

[0016] Preferably, the height of the ore collecting head from the bottom is adjusted actively and passively in sequence through a shock absorbing device with adjustable support height: the height of the ore collecting head from the bottom during operation is actively adjusted through the active shock absorbing adjustment device; and the passive shock absorbing adjustment device is used to implement passive adjustment after the active shock absorbing adjustment device is locked.

[0017] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0018] 1) The herringbone double-sided curved wall jet design of the ore collecting head suction port: the front and rear nozzles on both sides of the suction port are tangent to a curved wall for generating surface jets. The generated two-way counter-attacking near-wall jets can significantly increase the collection rate, making it easier for ore particles to be lifted and collected. Since the ore-collecting flow field generated by the Coanda effect has the particularity of high velocity near the wall and low velocity far from the wall, the ore-collecting head will have the following two advantages during the collection process: a) Selective collection of ore particles of different sizes can be achieved by controlling the height of the ore-collecting head from the bottom, the jet flow rate and the curvature of the front and rear curved walls. Particles with larger particle sizes often have higher collection efficiency costs, and in the ore-collecting flow field based on the Coanda effect, large-size ore particles will be collected at a smaller ore-collecting jet flow rate; b) Compared with ore particles, the fine sediment particles on the seabed surface are farther away from the curved wall with a larger flow velocity distribution. According to the characteristic of the rapid decay of the flow velocity along the vertical downward direction in the ore-collecting flow field due to the Coanda effect, the ratio of the flow velocity near the seabed surface on the far wall to the jet flow velocity is very small. After selectively collecting larger-sized mineral particles (i.e. reducing the jet flow rate to a certain extent and giving up collecting small-sized mineral particles with low collection efficiency and cost by increasing the flow rate), the significant reduction in the jet flow rate will further reduce the disturbance of fine sediment particles on the seabed surface and minimize the diffusion of sediment during the collection process;

[0019] 2) The "herringbone" structure with curved walls arranged at the front and rear of the hydraulic ore collecting pipe is adopted to form two rows of jets at the front and rear, which can significantly improve the ore collection efficiency of the ore collecting head. The specific principle is as follows: Compared with the ore collecting head with only one side of the wall jet, the benefits of the two rows of wall jets at the front and rear are that a) it can effectively prevent the ore particles from passing through the ore collecting head quickly under the action of a large horizontal speed and their own inertia, and the vertical force acting on them in the ore collecting flow field is too short and cannot be collected. The rear jet can reduce the horizontal movement speed of the mineral particles and increase the time that the mineral particles stay in the ore-collecting flow field based on the Coanda effect, so that the vertical force time of the mineral particles is increased, and a larger vertical momentum is obtained, thereby increasing the probability of the mineral particles to produce vertical movement; b) The reverse water jet provided by the rear jet nozzle can cause the mineral particles to deflect upward and enter the ore-collecting pipe. Compared with the single adsorption effect of the Coanda effect to lift the mineral particles, the arrangement of the rear jet can significantly increase the unit energy consumption collection amount of the ore-collecting head, thereby significantly improving the cost-effectiveness of ore particle collection.

[0020] 3) The jet angle of the self-adjusting hydraulic ore collecting head can be adjusted according to the physical properties of the sediment and the changes in the working parameters, so as to achieve refined mining operations and high collection rate and low disturbance collection. The curvature of the curved wall of the ore collecting head can also be adjusted to improve the environmental friendliness of the seabed mining equipment and minimize the disturbance near the seabed while ensuring a certain collection rate.

[0021] 4) The design of the curved wall based on the Coanda effect of the self-adjusting hydraulic ore collecting head presents a specific ore collecting flow field. The flow velocity of the ore collecting flow field is high near the wall, and the flow velocity is very low near the seabed. This feature brings two benefits: a. The selective collection of ore particles of different sizes can be achieved by controlling the height of the ore collecting head from the bottom, the jet flow rate, and the curvature of the front and rear curved walls. In the ore collecting flow field based on the Coanda effect, large-sized ore particles will be collected at a smaller ore collecting jet flow rate, thereby improving the cost-effectiveness of ore particle collection; b. Since the fine sediment particles on the seabed surface are farther away from the curved wall with a larger flow velocity distribution than the ore particles, after the selective collection of larger-sized ore particles (i.e., reducing the jet flow rate to a certain extent, giving up the collection of small-sized ore particles with low collection efficiency cost by increasing the flow rate), the significant reduction in the jet flow rate will further reduce the disturbance of fine sediment particles on the seabed surface, and minimize the diffusion of sediment during the ore collecting process.

[0022] 5) The design of the self-adjusting hydraulic ore collecting head spring and mud sled controls the ore collecting height to change slowly within a very small range, which can prevent the formation of large-scale vortex areas in the ore collecting flow field that reduce the ore collection rate caused by the rapid change of the ore collecting head height, thereby making the ore collecting performance and collection rate more stable.

[0023] 6) Environmentally friendly design of the ore / sea mud / water circulation integrated separation system. By gradually separating minerals, sea mud and water, the large-scale spread of seabed sediment particles can be avoided or reduced, which helps to reduce the impact of deep-sea mining operations on the seabed environment and surrounding biological settlements.

[0024] 7) The ore / sea mud / water circulation integrated separation system has a simple structure and is easy to implement. The entire system does not require any other motion mechanisms except the water pump, and its reliability is guaranteed. All functions are driven by the water pump, and no external energy input is required.

[0025] 8) The ore / sea mud / water circulation integrated separation system has a long service life. Because manganese nodules do not pass through the pump, it can effectively slow down the abrasion of the impeller and guide vanes of the centrifugal pump, extend the service life of the water pump, reduce the failure rate of the equipment, and ensure the reliability of the system.

[0026] 9) Ore / sea mud / water circulation integrated separation system The sea mud is fully separated. Because this design can make up for the lack of separator efficiency with a longer sea mud separation time, there is no need to force the sea mud to be completely separated in a short time, so the requirements for the separator efficiency can be reduced.

[0027] 10) The integrated ore / sea mud / water circulation separation system accelerates the flocculation and sedimentation of sea mud and reduces the diffusion range. The circulation of the mud-water mixture increases the concentration of the mixture in the mud-water separation box, and promotes its rapid sedimentation by increasing the flocculation rate of the sea mud. The collective discharge of high-concentration mud-water mixture is conducive to reducing the diffusion range of the discharge and greatly reducing the disturbance to the seabed environment.

[0028] 11) Energy efficient use of the ore / sea mud / water recycling integrated separation system. Because the existing ore collection method requires a high amount of energy to generate water jets, this energy is not only not fully utilized, but also becomes the energy source for the spread of sea mud. This solution can recycle this part of energy and generate water jets again near the ore collection head. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a gravity type sludge separator.

[0030] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the U-shaped trough mud-water separator structure.

[0031] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the circulating separation process of the circulating integrated separation system of ore / sea mud / water.

[0032] Figure 4 This is a three-dimensional image of a new type of seabed ore-collecting equipment based on the Coanda effect.

[0033] Figure 5 This is a three-dimensional picture from the second perspective of the new type of seabed mineral collection equipment based on the Coanda effect.

[0034] Figure 6 This is a three-dimensional picture from three perspectives of a new type of seabed mineral collection equipment based on the Coanda effect.

[0035] Figure 7 This is a side view of a new type of seabed ore-collecting equipment based on the Coanda effect.

[0036] Figure 8 This is the main view of the new type of seabed ore collection equipment based on the Coanda effect.

[0037] Fig. 9 This is an overhead view of a new type of seabed ore-collecting equipment based on the Coanda effect.

[0038] Fig.10 It is a three-dimensional picture of a self-regulating hydraulic ore collecting head.

[0039] Fig.11 It is a side view of the self-adjusting hydraulic ore collecting head.

[0040] Fig.12 This is the front view of the self-adjusting hydraulic ore collecting head.

[0041] Fig.13 It is a top view of the self-adjusting hydraulic ore collecting head.

[0042] Fig.14 is a three-dimensional diagram of a gravity slime separator.

[0043] Fig.15 It is a side view of a gravity slime separator.

[0044] Fig.16 It is a three-dimensional diagram of a U-shaped trough mud-water separation box.

[0045] Fig.17 It is a top view of the U-shaped trough mud-water separation box.

[0046] Fig.18 It is a schematic diagram of the principle of circulating separation of the circulating integrated separation system of ore / sea mud / water.

[0047] In the figure, 1-jet attitude self-adjusting ore collecting head; 2-ore collecting pipe; 3-large hydraulic rod; 4-flange; 5-horizontal flow channel; 6-gravity ore mud separator; 7-U-shaped trough mud and water separation box; 8-mud sled-track composite travel mechanism; 9-track; 10-large mud sled plate; 11-truss; 12-cross brace; 13-submersible pump; 14-front nozzle; 15-front water supply pipeline; 16-hydraulic rotating mechanism; 17-rear nozzle; 18-rear water supply pipeline; 19-flexible connection layer; 20-curved wall; 21-small hydraulic rod; 22-height-adjustable shock absorbing device; 23- Small mud sled; 24-slime separator inlet; 25-slime separator box shell; 26-slime separator outlet; 27-shaft inlet; 28-shaft outlet; 29-porous baffle; 30-shaft; 31-mud-water separation box inlet; 32-mud-water separation box outlet; 33-U-shaped baffle; 34-mud-water separation box bottom plate; 35-ore particles; 36-ore collecting head; 37-pipeline; 38-flow direction; 39-slime separator; 40-large submersible pump; 41-mud-water separation box; 42-regulating valve; 43-feeder; 44-mineral conveying device; 45-seabed surface. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] The present invention is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0049] The new ore-collecting equipment mainly includes a hydraulic ore-collecting head module (the head of the ore-collecting vehicle) with jet posture self-adjustment based on the Coanda effect, a circulating mud-water separation module (the main body of the ore-collecting vehicle), and a mud sled-crawler walking module (the bottom of the ore-collecting vehicle).

[0050] The ore collecting head is designed based on the Coanda effect, that is, the wall-adhering jet has a tendency to move along the convex curved wall. By applying a water jet to the convex curved wall, a low-pressure area is formed, and the pressure difference is used to generate a lifting force to collect the ore.

[0051] For the specific structure of the ore collecting head, see Fig.10 :The curvature of the curved wall of the ore collecting head can be adjusted in real time according to the specific working conditions and working environment. When the nodule particles are small or the sea mud is relatively soft, a small curvature mode is used to weaken the effect of the Coanda effect and prevent excessive sediment disturbance; when the particles are large and require greater lifting force, a large curvature curved wall is used to enhance the Coanda effect so that the particles can be effectively lifted and collected. The ore collecting head of this patent solution adopts a double-sided curved wall design, which is significantly different from the design of the ore collecting head of the existing ore collecting equipment. This is to induce the formation of a two-way counter-attack zone under the ore collecting pipe. This design can effectively prevent the ore particles from rolling to the rear of the ore collecting head under the entrainment of the front nozzle jet water flow instead of being collected in the ore collecting pipe, thereby further improving the ore collection stability and ore particle collection rate. Compared with the existing technical solutions, the jet angles of the front and rear rows of jet ports of the ore collecting head can be changed with the hydraulic rotation mechanism, and the curved wall can obtain different curvatures by driving the flexible connection layer through the hydraulic cylinder as needed. In order to make the ore collecting head have the ability to adapt to various working parameters (such as the shape, size, burial depth, abundance, etc. of the ore particles), a mud sled connected by a shock-absorbing device with adjustable support height is designed. In terms of adjusting the height of the ore collecting head from the bottom, the shock-absorbing device with adjustable support height will first be actively adjusted according to the softness of the sediment and the size of the ore particles in different mining areas, so that the height from the bottom is controlled within the range that meets the requirements of operational safety, the balance between ore collection efficiency and environmental disturbance. After the optimal height from the bottom is determined according to the physical parameters of the sediment ore particles, the device will lock the height adjustment module, and realize a small range of height change from the ground with a certain elastic stiffness of the spring itself, so that the height from the bottom of the ore collecting head can be passively changed slightly with the change of terrain, so as to achieve the purpose of passively adapting to the dynamic adhesion to the seabed surface. Shock absorption is to make the height change between the curved wall of the ore collecting head and the seabed surface relatively gentle, so that the ore collecting flow field is relatively stable, and the large-scale vortex will not be formed due to rapid height fluctuations to reduce the collection effect of ore particles. In addition, the front end of the mud sled is a conical structure, which can prevent the mineral particles from accumulating in front of the ore collecting head or being pressed into and buried in deep sediments by the mud sled, thereby reducing the collection rate.

[0052] The circulating mud-water separation system of this new type of seabed ore collection equipment is mainly realized by gravity mud separator and U-shaped trough mud-water separator. In order to explain the working principle of its internal structure, the structural schematic diagram of the two can be seen in Figure 1 and Figure 2 .

[0053] like Figure 1 As shown in the figure, the main body of the gravity-type ore mud separator is two T-shaped hollow structures arranged in a row, which can be divided into two parts: the upper horizontal flow channel and the lower vertical shaft. It realizes the separation of ore and mud-water mixture by the difference in the movement characteristics of manganese nodules and sea mud particles. The inlet of the horizontal flow channel is the inlet of manganese nodules and mud-water mixture, which is connected to the ore collecting head through a pipeline; the outlet is the outlet of mud-water mixture and is connected to the pump; a row of porous baffles is set in the vertical shaft to effectively prevent the passage of manganese nodules; the outlet of the vertical shaft is the outlet of manganese nodules and is connected to the ore conveying device; the inlet of the vertical shaft is a low-speed water flow inlet, which is connected to the mud-water separator through a valve with adjustable flow. By selecting appropriate working parameters, the manganese nodules and sea mud particles can be effectively separated, thereby significantly improving the separation rate of minerals and mud-water mixtures.

[0054] like Figure 2 As shown, the main body of the mud-water separator is a hollow box, and the upper parts of both ends are respectively connected to the inlet and outlet pipes of the mud-water mixture. It is designed based on the principle of U-shaped groove inertial separator. Two or more rows of U-shaped baffles are staggered in the flow direction inside, so that the sea mud particles settle under the action of the U-shaped baffles, thereby achieving the purpose of separating sea mud from water. The number, size and arrangement spacing of the U-shaped baffles will have a certain impact on the mud-water separation effect. The bottom plate of the separator can be opened so that the flocculated and settled sea mud at the bottom of the separator can be discharged to the seabed surface at regular intervals to reduce the diffusion range of the high-concentration mud-water mixture.

[0055] Continue to see Figure 2 The gravity-type ore mud separator and the U-shaped trough mud-water separator are installed one after the other on the upper part of the seabed ore collection and loading crawler, so as to realize the integrated separation of ore particles, sea mud and water. The U-shaped trough mud-water separator is arranged close to the crawler to reduce the falling height of the sea mud and effectively reduce the diffusion range of mud and water. The working process of the circulating mud-water separation system is as follows: Figure 3 shown.

[0056] Figure 3This is the working flow chart of the circulating mud-water separation system. The arrows in the figure represent the flow direction of the mineral and mud-water mixture, and the dotted box represents the interior of the ore collector. Since the formation of the mud-water mixture is always jointly participated by the sea mud particles collected by the ore collector and the surrounding water, it means that during the ore collection process, the clean water around the ore collection head will continue to mix with the sea mud particles, and after being "polluted", it will become the object that the mud-water separator needs to deal with. The hydraulic ore collection needs to use the fluid force to collect manganese nodules. Therefore, this scheme uses "polluted" water instead of clean water to participate in the ore collection process. On the one hand, the circulating mud-water separation scheme increases the flocculation rate of sea mud by increasing the concentration of the mud-water mixture, accelerates the flocculation and sedimentation of sea mud, thereby reducing its diffusion range, which is beneficial to the seabed ecological environment; on the other hand, multiple mud-water cycles make up for the inability to fully separate mud and water in a short period of time, realize the continuous separation of mud and water, and improve the separation rate of mud-water mixture.

[0057] Innovation 1: The ore collecting head of the ore collecting equipment adopts double-sided jets, and the curvature of the curved wall and the jet posture are adjustable. The front and rear nozzles at the suction port of the ore collecting head are tangent to a curved wall for generating surface jets. The generated two-way counter-attack near-wall jets can significantly increase the collection rate, making it easier for mineral particles to be lifted and collected. The jet angle and posture can be adjusted according to the physical properties of the sediment mineral material and the changes in the working parameters. The curvature of the front and rear curved walls is adjustable, so that the velocity and pressure distribution in the ore collecting flow field can be adjusted and optimized within a certain range, thereby realizing refined mining operations and achieving high collection rate and low disturbance collection. When the ocean currents in the seabed mining area are small, the requirements for ecological preservation are relatively low, and the mineral particles are buried deep, the collection rate of mineral particles can be increased by increasing the angle between the front and rear nozzles and the horizontal line and the curvature of the curved wall. When the ocean currents in the mining area are large, the requirements for seabed ecological preservation are high, the burial depth of mineral particles is low, and the sediments on the seabed surface are soft and easy to spread, the jet angle between the front and rear nozzles and the horizontal line and the curvature of the curved wall can be appropriately reduced to minimize the disturbance near the seabed while ensuring a certain collection rate.

[0058] Innovation 2: The design of the ore collecting head spring and mud sled improves the stability of ore collecting operations.

[0059] The design of the spring and the mud sled enables the height of the ore collecting head from the bottom to be adjusted actively and passively through the shock absorbing device with adjustable support height. On the one hand, the height of the ore collecting head from the bottom during operation is within the optimal range of balance between operation safety, collection rate and environmental disturbance through active adjustment; on the other hand, after locking the height adjustment module of the shock absorbing device support, the ore collecting head enters the passive adjustment mode, so that the ore collecting head can be dynamically and real-timely attached to the seabed surface during the movement, and adapt to the changes in the seabed terrain. The beneficial effect of controlling the ore collecting height to change slowly within a very small range is that it can prevent the generation of large-scale vortex areas in the ore collecting flow field that reduce the ore particle collection rate caused by the rapid change of the ore collecting head height, while stable ore collecting performance and collection rate require a stable flow field.

[0060] Innovation point 3: A circulating integrated separation solution of ore / sea mud / water with high separation rate of mineral mud, fast flocculation and sedimentation of sea mud and small environmental disturbance.

[0061] The submarine ore collection equipment innovatively adopts a circulating integrated separation design of ore / sea mud / water, integrating the ore mud separator and the mud-water separator on the same submarine ore collection machine, forming an integrated system that can simultaneously realize the separation of ore mud and mud-water mixture, and can perform continuous separation and large-flow discharge. This solution treats the mud-water mixture multiple times, with more treatment times and longer separation time to make up for the lack of sufficient space for the sea mud particles to fully settle due to the limitation of the volume of the ore collection machine. After the separation, a small part of the mud and water enters the shaft of the gravity-type sediment separation box. Once the manganese nodules are blocked in the shaft, the flow rate in the shaft is changed by adjusting the valve to generate a flow pulse, and the flow pulse is used to apply a loosening force to remove the blockage; the remaining part flows into the jet port of the ore collection head through the circulation pipeline, and enters the ore collection pipeline again with the collection of ore particles to start the next separation of ore mud and mud water. On the one hand, the circulation of the mud-water mixture increases its concentration in the separation box, increases the flocculation rate of the sea mud, and accelerates the flocculation and sedimentation of the sea mud, thereby avoiding or reducing the large-scale diffusion of seabed sediment particles, thereby helping to reduce the impact of deep-sea mining operations on the seabed environment and surrounding biological settlements; on the other hand, the circulation increases the concentration of the mud-water mixture, further improving the separation rate of sea mud and water. At the same time, this solution can recycle the remaining energy of the water jet and generate a water jet again near the ore collection head. All functions of the system are driven by a water pump, without the need for external energy input, realizing energy-saving and efficient mineral-sea mud-water separation operations.

[0062] The implementation of the technical solution of the present application is described below with specific examples.

[0063] like Figure 4-9As shown, the novel seabed ore collecting equipment of the present invention is mainly composed of a jet attitude self-adjusting ore collecting head 1 based on the Coanda effect, a gravity-type ore mud separator 6, a U-shaped trough mud-water separation box 7 and a mud sled-crawler composite travel mechanism 8, which are connected by a truss 11, a cross brace 12, an ore collecting pipe 2, a large hydraulic rod 3, a flange 4 and various reinforcement parts.

[0064] from Figure 10-13 It can be clearly seen that the rear nozzle 17 is a plane rectangular cross-section, the nozzle is fixed on a cylindrical cavity, and the rear end water supply pipeline 18 supplies water to the cylindrical cavity, thereby forming a plane jet. The cylindrical cavity is connected to the main body of the ore collecting head 1 through a connecting rod, and the position and direction of the rear nozzle 17 can be adjusted as needed; similarly, the front water supply pipeline 15 provides flow for the front nozzle 14, and the front nozzle 14 can adjust the position and angle under the control of the hydraulic rotating mechanism 16. The jet of the front nozzle 14 acts on the curved wall 20, which is the main reason for the Coanda effect. The small hydraulic rod 21 can adjust the stroke according to the specific working conditions, thereby adjusting the flexible connection layer 19, so that the curvature radius of the curved wall 20 is locally changed, thereby providing a larger or smaller lifting force as needed; the small mud sled 23 is connected to the main body through a triple adjustable support height shock absorbing device 22. The adjustable support height shock absorbing device 22 has a certain variable length and elastic stiffness, so that the small mud sled 23 can basically remain parallel to the seabed. When the seabed terrain changes, the small mud sled 23 can translate or rotate within a certain range.

[0065] Combination Figure 14-18The working principle of the circulating ore mud / mud water separation system and the collection operation of the new submarine ore collection equipment is described as follows: the ore collection head 36 is close to the seabed surface, and a jet of a certain intensity is formed inside the large submersible pump 40 when it is working, which blows out the manganese nodules on the seabed surface and makes them enter the ore mud separator inlet 24 with the water flow. When the manganese nodules reach the horizontal flow channel 5 at the top of the ore mud separator 39 with the water flow, because the sum of the buoyancy and lift of the manganese nodules is much smaller than their own gravity, and the pipeline is long enough, they fall into the shaft 30 and fall into the feeder 43 under the guidance of the porous baffle 29. After storing a certain amount of mineral particles, they are continuously transported to the relay cabin through the conveying device 44, and then sent to the surface ship. The sea mud particles in the ore mud separator 39 are difficult to settle, so they enter the mud water separation box 41 from the ore mud separator outlet 26 through the submersible pump 40 with the water flow. The mud-water separation box 41 is designed based on the U-shaped groove inertial separator. The U-shaped baffle 33 is used inside to prevent the movement of particles in the mud-water mixture, thereby promoting the sedimentation of the sea mud particles. The mud-water separation box 41 is equivalent to filtering the sea mud particles. However, the mud-water mixture that flows through once cannot be completely separated. A small part of this mud-water mixture flows into the ore mud separator 39 through the regulating valve 42 at a lower flow rate, bringing the sea mud in the shaft 30 from bottom to top into the horizontal flow channel 5 to prevent it from depositing in the shaft; in addition, once the manganese nodules are blocked in the shaft, the flow in the shaft 30 can be controlled by the regulating valve 42 to generate a flow pulse, and the flow pulse is used to apply a loosening force to remove the blockage. Most of the remaining mud-water mixture flows into the ore collecting head 36, participates in the ore collecting process again, and finally forms a cycle. When the concentration of sea mud and the deposition height at the bottom of the mud-water separation box 41 reach the predetermined values ​​measured by the sensor, the bottom plate 34 of the separator box is opened to allow the sea mud to be slowly discharged to the seabed surface, thereby reducing damage to the seabed ecological environment. At the same time, continuous separation of minerals, sea mud and water can be achieved. The structure of the entire circulation system is simple and easy to implement, with a high separation rate and low construction cost. More importantly, it also achieves efficient recycling of energy.

[0066] In general, the self-adjusting hydraulic ore collecting head design of the present invention enhances the adaptability of the ore collecting head to changes in ore collecting environmental parameters such as terrain, ore particle abundance, and ore particle size. In addition, the selective collection of larger particle size ore particles significantly improves the collection cost-effectiveness and minimizes the disturbance of the seabed sediments during the hydraulic ore collecting process. The circulating design of ore mud / mud water separation, on the one hand, accelerates the flocculation and sedimentation of sea mud, effectively reducing the diffusion range of high-concentration mud and water mixtures; on the other hand, it achieves continuous separation and significantly improves the ore mud / mud water separation rate.

[0067] The above are preferred embodiments of the present invention. A person skilled in the art may make various changes or improvements on this basis. Without departing from the general concept of the present invention, these changes or improvements should fall within the scope of protection claimed by the present invention.

Claims

1. A new type of seabed ore collection equipment based on the Coanda effect, characterized by: Including self-adjusting hydraulic ore collecting head, ore mud separator, mud-water separator; The self-adjusting hydraulic ore collecting head comprises an ore collecting cavity with a herringbone-shaped cross section, the upper part of the ore collecting cavity is a pair of curved walls (20), the curved wall (20) is divided into two curved surface units, and the middle of the two curved surface units is connected by a flexible connection layer (19); the two curved surface units are connected by at least one hydraulic cylinder (21), and the curvature of the curved surface wall located at the lower part can be adjusted by the extension and contraction of the hydraulic cylinder (21); an injection cylinder is respectively arranged at both ends of the herringbone-shaped ore collecting cavity, and the injection cylinder is provided with a long strip-shaped or long strip-shaped nozzle corresponding to the entrance of the ore collecting cavity; the injection cylinder is connected to a water supply pipeline; the axial end of the injection cylinder is fixed to a swing mechanism through a connecting rod, and the swing mechanism can drive the injection cylinder to swing slightly, so that the direction of the nozzle is adapted to the entrance of the ore collecting cavity; The ore separator comprises a hollow cavity, the hollow cavity forms a horizontal flow channel in the transverse direction, one side of the hollow cavity has an inlet (24) for the ore separator, and the other side of the hollow cavity has an outlet (26) for the ore separator; at least one vertical shaft is provided below the hollow cavity, and the rear side of the vertical shaft has a vertical shaft outlet (28) for ore to flow out, and the lower surface of the vertical shaft outlet (28) is inclined downward; a porous baffle (29) is provided in the vertical shaft, and the porous baffle (29) is also inclined downward and connected with the lower surface of the vertical shaft outlet (28), and the inclination angle is the same as that of the lower surface of the vertical shaft outlet (28); the bottom of the vertical shaft is the vertical shaft inlet (30), and the vertical shaft inlet is a low-speed water flow inlet, which is connected to the outlet of the mud-water separator through a valve with adjustable flow rate; The outlet (32) of the ore mud separator is connected to the inlet of the mud-water separator (41) via a submersible pump (40), and the outlet of the mud-water separator (41) is also connected to the inlet of a hydraulic ore collecting head; The swing mechanism comprises a hydraulic rotating mechanism (16), wherein the hydraulic rotating mechanism (16) drives the bevel gear (16a) to rotate via its output shaft, and drives the gear (16b) to rotate via the bevel gear (16a), and the connecting rod is relatively fixed to the gear (16b); The sludge separator has two or more sludge separator inlets (24) in the width direction.

2. The novel seabed ore collection equipment based on the Coanda effect as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that: A pair of hydraulic rotating mechanisms (16) are arranged on the front and rear sides of the ore collecting cavity, respectively controlling the swing of the injection cylinder on one side, and respective oil pipes and signal lines extend upwards in the direction of the front and rear sides of the ore collecting cavity.

3. The novel seabed ore collection equipment based on the Coanda effect as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that: The self-adjusting hydraulic ore collecting head further comprises a mud sled (23), the mud sled (23) being located below the ore collecting cavity and connected to the ore collecting cavity via a shock absorbing device (22); the shock absorbing device (22) being an active shock absorbing adjusting device and a passive shock absorbing adjusting device which are arranged along the length direction of the mud sled (23) and can be adjusted at multiple points; the active shock absorbing adjusting device is a rigid telescopic component, which adjusts the distance between the upper end of the mud sled (23) and the lower surface of the ore collecting cavity at a certain point by telescoping; and can be locked after telescoping adjustment; the passive shock absorbing adjusting device is a spring component, which adjusts the supporting force of the ore collecting cavity at a certain point by elastic telescoping; after the active shock absorbing adjusting device is activated, the ore collecting head enters a passive adjustment mode, so that the ore collecting head can dynamically and real-timely stick to the seabed surface during the moving process, and adapt to the changes in the seabed terrain.

4. The novel seabed ore collection equipment based on the Coanda effect as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that: The mud-water separator body is a hollow box, one longitudinal end of which is a mud-water separation box inlet (31), and the other end of which is a mud-water separation box outlet (32); the bottom plate of the box can be opened so that the sea mud particles accumulated in the box can be discharged to the seabed surface at regular intervals; two or more rows of U-shaped baffles (33) are staggered in the box in the upstream direction so that the sea mud particles settle under the action of the U-shaped baffles (33); the U-shaped baffles (33) are staggered in the width direction; the shaft outlet (28) has a funnel-shaped ore drop opening downward, the ore drop opening is connected to the inlet of a mineral conveying device (44), and the mineral conveying device (44) has a pulley conveying mechanism; the porous baffle (29) and the lower surface of the shaft outlet (28) are located in the same plane.

5. A method for collecting ore using a novel seabed ore collecting equipment based on the Coanda effect as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: When the ocean current in the seabed mining area is small, the ecological preservation requirements are relatively low, and the mineral particles are buried deep, the ore particle collection rate can be increased by increasing the angle between the front and rear nozzles and the horizontal line and the curvature of the curved wall; When the mining area is located in an area with strong ocean currents, high requirements for seabed ecological preservation, low burial depth of ore particles, and soft and easy-to-diffuse sediments on the seabed surface, the disturbance to the seabed can be reduced while ensuring the collection rate by reducing the jet angle between the front and rear nozzles and the horizontal line and the curvature of the curved wall.

6. The ore collecting method of the novel seabed ore collecting equipment based on the Coanda effect as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that: The height of the ore collecting head from the bottom is adjusted actively and passively through a shock-absorbing device with adjustable support height: Active adjustment of the active shock-absorbing adjustment device realizes real-time control of the height of the ore collecting head from the bottom during operation; After the active damping adjustment device is locked, the passive damping adjustment device performs passive adjustment.

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