A self-storage, unloading, and transfer deep-sea mining system based on a floating dock surface support platform

Abstract

This invention relates to the field of deep-sea mining technology, and more particularly to a deep-sea mining system integrating a floating dock structure, ore pretreatment, temporary storage, and autonomous unloading, with a built-in ultra-large capacity transfer function. It is suitable for the storage, processing, and transportation of deep-sea minerals such as polymetallic nodules and cobalt-rich crusts during the commercial mining stage. The system includes a surface floating dock platform, a cluster of deep-sea mining vehicles, an underwater mineral lifting module, and a production operation module installed on the floating dock platform. The cluster of deep-sea mining vehicles receives control commands from the floating dock platform via an umbilical cable and transports the collected slurry to the production operation module on the floating dock platform via the underwater mineral lifting module. After mineral pretreatment, the slurry is transferred to a mineral transport vessel. The deep-sea mining vehicles are subsea tracked mining vehicles. The umbilical cable is an armored composite cable structure, internally integrating power transmission cables and fiber optic communication cables.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of deep-sea mining technology, specifically to a self-storage, unloading, and transfer deep-sea mining system based on a floating dock-type surface support platform. Background Technology

[0002] Current deep-sea mining operations suffer from low efficiency and high safety risks in ore storage and transfer, increasingly revealing their limitations when facing large-scale, high-intensity mining operations. Traditional mining vessels, which handle ore car, riser deployment, and ore hoisting, storage, and processing, have limited ore storage capacity. Reaching the storage limit necessitates halting mining operations and waiting for transport vessels to return to shore for unloading, resulting in high transportation costs and failing to meet the urgent demands of modern maritime ore transport for efficiency, safety, and automation. Using transport vessels for ore transfer presents challenges due to insufficient stability in ore transfer between mining and transport vessels, a lack of buffer storage design, and the complex marine environment. Adverse weather conditions, ocean currents, and waves make stable ore transfer difficult, easily leading to ore spillage, seawater pollution, and even necessitating operational shutdowns.

[0003] Furthermore, existing mineral hoisting and storage technologies either employ shipborne direct unloading designs, which limit the storage capacity of mining vessels and prevent large-scale continuous operations. Alternatively, they rely on subsea relay stations, resulting in high system complexity and a significant risk of failure.

[0004] Therefore, developing a mining system that can adapt to large-scale, diversified mineral unloading needs while achieving efficient, safe, automated, and environmentally friendly operations has become a pressing technical challenge in the field of marine mineral resource development. Against this backdrop, this invention proposes a self-storage, unloading, and transfer system based on a floating dock-type surface support platform. The aim is to solve the problems of traditional unloading methods through technological innovation and promote the innovation and development of marine mineral transfer technology. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This invention proposes a self-storage, unloading, and transfer deep-sea mining system based on a floating dock-type surface support platform, which realizes integrated operations of ore collection, hoisting, processing, temporary storage, self-unloading, and transfer, reducing transportation costs, improving operational stability and deployment flexibility, and reducing its impact on the marine environment.

[0006] The technical solution of the present invention is as follows: A self-storage, unloading, and transfer deep-sea mining system based on a floating dock-type surface support platform includes a floating dock platform body, a cluster of deep-sea mining vehicles, an underwater mineral lifting module, and a production operation module installed on the floating dock platform. The deep-sea mining vehicle cluster receives control commands from the floating dock platform via an umbilical cable, and transports the collected slurry to the production operation module on the floating dock platform via the underwater mineral lifting module. After mineral pretreatment, the slurry is transferred to the mineral transport ship. The deep-sea mining vehicle is a tracked mining vehicle. The umbilical cable is an armored composite cable structure that integrates power transmission cables and fiber optic communication cables.

[0007] Furthermore, the underwater mineral lifting module adopts hydraulic lifting technology, and its main structure includes a rigid main pipe, a flexible main pipe, a lifting pump, and a repeater. The deep-sea mining vehicle deslims and crushes the collected minerals to form a slurry, which is then transported through a soft main pipe to a repeater for preliminary filtration, and then through a hard main pipe to the floating dock platform. The power required for mineral lifting is provided by the lifting pump. The soft main pipe is a flexible hose, and the repeater is a pressure-resistant and sealed cylindrical steel structure shell, which integrates a slurry buffer chamber, a tailwater buffer chamber and a primary separation device. The hard main pipe includes a main riser pipe and a return water pipe, which are used to lift the slurry and discharge the tailwater. The booster pump adopts a multi-stage wear-resistant centrifugal pump series structure to adapt to long-distance transportation of high-concentration, high-hardness slurry.

[0008] Furthermore, the production operation module includes a mining vehicle deployment and recovery module, a mineral pretreatment module, a mineral storage, unloading and transfer module, an intelligent docking module, an anchoring system and a wave compensation system.

[0009] Furthermore, the floating dock platform includes two side dock walls and one rear dock wall; Above the dock wall is the mineral pretreatment module, and behind the dock wall is a moon pool for storing the deep-sea mining vehicle cluster and the equipment of the underwater mineral lifting system. The moon pool contains a deep-sea mining vehicle deployment and retrieval system, which is responsible for the deployment and retrieval of the deep-sea mining vehicles and the underwater mineral lifting system.

[0010] Furthermore, the mineral pretreatment module integrates a centrifugal sorting device, a high-pressure washing device, a vacuum filtration device, a centrifugal dewatering device, and a tailings recovery device. After the slurry is transported to the floating dock platform via the underwater lifting system, it undergoes sorting, washing, filtration, and dewatering treatment within the floating dock. The silt and tailwater generated during pretreatment are returned to the relay via the main hard water return pipe. After being mixed with the wastewater through the tailwater buffer tank and the relay, the wastewater is discharged back into the bottom seawater.

[0011] Furthermore, the mineral storage, unloading and transfer module includes a temporary storage warehouse, a cabin layout device, and a transfer device. The layout for storing dehydrated minerals is designed and stored in the temporary storage warehouse. The minerals are then transferred from the pretreatment module and the temporary storage warehouse to the cargo hold of the mineral transport ship. The storage equipment includes an intelligent computing system and a conveying system. The intelligent computing system plans the storage layout according to the type and quantity of the input minerals, and the minerals are transported to the target warehouse by the conveyor belt at the top of the warehouse, the side unloader, and the bottom feeding channel. The lower end of the temporary storage warehouse is an inverted cone-shaped hopper structure with a hatch at the lowest point, which connects to the feeding channel. The minerals can be transported to the vertical bucket elevator on the side of the dock wall and lifted to the feeding arm inlet. The feeding arm is equipped with a V-shaped conveyor belt to transport the minerals lifted by the elevator to the cargo hold of the transport ship.

[0012] Furthermore, the intelligent docking module can control the traction guide winch set on the floating dock platform, the guide rail set on the bottom of the dock, and the ballast water tank. The traction guide winch is used to guide the mineral transport vessel along the guide rail into the floating dock platform. The floating dock platform is controlled to rise or sink by adjusting the injection and drainage status of the ballast water tank, so as to achieve docking, fixation or separation with the mineral transport vessel.

[0013] Furthermore, the wave compensation system is used to adjust the working state of the floating dock platform under different sea conditions, or to balance the rolling or pitching motion of the floating dock caused by changes in the center of gravity during mineral transfer. The passive implementation of the wave compensation function includes stepped wave-absorbing walls installed on the inner wall of the ballast tank and the outer wall of the floating dock platform to absorb wave energy in low sea states; the active implementation is to actively adjust the water volume of the ballast tank according to the wind and wave patterns in medium and high sea states to offset the platform tilt caused by wave impact.

[0014] Furthermore, the anchoring system is used to stably fix the floating dock platform in the target operating sea area, restricting the platform's horizontal drift and bow turning motion; The anchoring system consists of multiple sets of tensioned anchor chains.

[0015] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: 1. This invention integrates a cluster of deep-sea mining vehicles, an underwater mineral lifting system, a mineral pretreatment module, and a mineral storage, unloading, and transfer system onto the same floating dock platform, thus constructing a complete operational chain from seabed mining to surface transfer.

[0016] The temporary storage warehouse within the floating dock platform allows for continuous front-end acquisition and underwater lifting operations even when transport vessels are not in place or transfer is suspended. This achieves decoupling and seamless integration of mining, lifting, pre-processing, storage, and transfer, eliminating the bottleneck of relying on transport vessels to wait synchronously in the traditional model, and effectively reducing the unit mineral transportation cost and vessel idle cost.

[0017] 2. This invention uses an intelligent docking module to control the traction guide winch and the dock bottom guide rail, guiding the mineral transport ship to precisely enter the floating dock platform. In conjunction with the injection and drainage of ballast water tanks to control the platform's buoyancy, the transport ship is completely fixed to the dock bottom lifting deck, achieving "dry" docking.

[0018] Once the transport ship and the floating dock platform form a rigid whole, they are completely detached from the water, fundamentally eliminating the collision risk and pipeline breakage hazard caused by the relative movement of the two ships in a wave environment, and significantly improving berthing safety and transfer operation stability in high sea states.

[0019] 3. This invention integrates multi-level passive and active wave compensation strategies. In low sea states, wave energy is absorbed by the stepped wave-damping walls installed on the outer wall of the dock platform and the soft pads on the inner wall of the ballast tanks; in medium and high sea states, the ship's motion is predicted by fitting the wave spectrum, and the injection and discharge volume of each ballast tank is actively adjusted to reduce the roll and pitch moments caused by wind and waves in real time, thus maintaining the overall stability of the platform's attitude.

[0020] Simultaneously, the tensioned multi-point mooring and anchoring system firmly secures the platform to the target sea area, effectively suppressing horizontal drift and bow turning, giving the entire mining system excellent seaworthiness and the ability to operate in harsh sea conditions, and significantly extending the number of working days per year.

[0021] 4. This invention integrates mineral pretreatment and tailwater return into the floating dock platform. The silt and tailwater generated during pretreatment are returned to the seabed relay via a rigid main return water pipe and then discharged back into the deep sea bottom, avoiding secondary pollution caused by the discharge of tailwater rich in suspended solids into the surface seawater.

[0022] Meanwhile, the entire process of mineral storage, unloading, and transfer adopts a closed conveyor belt and intelligent cabin arrangement system. The transfer process is completed inside the floating dock platform, which avoids the ore from falling into the sea and minimizes the disturbance to the marine ecological environment.

[0023] 5. The present invention is equipped with an intelligent storage compartment layout system, which can automatically plan the optimal storage compartment layout according to the mineral type, grade and weight, and automatically complete the entire process of storage, metering and transfer; in conjunction with the intelligent docking system, it automatically controls the entry and exit of transport ships and their docking, greatly reducing manual intervention, significantly improving operational efficiency and system reliability, and fully meeting the continuous operation requirements of large-scale, high-intensity commercial deep-sea mining. Attached Figure Description

[0024] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall system of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the floating dock platform structure; Figure 3 A top-down view of the process of a transport ship entering a floating dock platform (from top to bottom). Figure 4 A top-down view of the process of a transport ship leaving the floating dock platform after completing mineral loading (from top to bottom). Figure 5 A schematic diagram showing the draft of the platform during mineral transfer after the transport ship has fully entered and secured the floating dock platform. Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the transverse structure of the transport ship after it has been secured. Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram showing the draft of the platform during the process of a transport ship entering and leaving the floating dock platform.

[0025] The labels in the above figures are as follows: 1. Floating dock platform; 11. Traction guide winch; 12. Side dock walls; 13. Ballast tanks; 14. Dock bottom guide rails; 15. Wave compensation system; 16. Aft dock wall; 17. Moon pool; 18. Anchoring system; 2. Mineral transport ship; 21. Bottom rails; 22. Ship's hold; 3. Hard supervisor; 4. Booster pump; 5. Repeater; 6. Soft Supervisor; 7. Deep-sea mining vehicle; 8. Umbilical cord cable; 9. Mineral pretreatment system; 10. Mineral storage, unloading, and transfer system; 101. Storage warehouse; 102. Intelligent mineral compartmentation system; 103. Bottom feeding channel; 104. Vertical bucket elevator; 105. Transfer and feeding arm; a. Stern traction winch; b. Winch; c. Mid-section cable guide hole; d. Bow traction winch; e. Shipboard trolley; f. Traction trolley. Detailed Implementation

[0026] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. However, the following embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention in any way, but are merely illustrative of the basic structure and working method of the present invention. In the present invention, there is no strict order between mineral collection, processing, and loading / unloading. In the present invention, the shape, size, quantity, and position of each module and system in the floating dock are not strictly limited and need to be determined according to actual engineering application cases. The sizes of the components in the accompanying drawings are exaggerated only to improve the readability of the images and do not represent the actual proportions. In the illustrative examples, the term "connection" can mean either a direct connection or an indirect connection through other devices.

[0027] like Figure 1 As shown, the self-storage, unloading and transfer system based on the floating dock surface support platform in this embodiment consists of the floating dock platform 1, the mineral transport vessel 2, the rigid main pipe 3, the lift pump 4, the repeater 5, the soft main pipe 6, the deep-sea mining vehicle 7, and the umbilical cable 8 in the underwater lifting system.

[0028] like Figure 2 As shown, the floating dock platform 1 includes two side dock walls 12 and one rear dock wall 16. Above the rear dock wall 16 is the mineral pretreatment system 9, and behind the rear dock wall 16 is a moon pool 17, used to store the deep-sea mining vehicle cluster 7 and the equipment of the underwater mineral lifting system. The moon pool 17 contains a deep-sea mining vehicle deployment and retrieval system, responsible for the deployment and retrieval of the deep-sea mining vehicles 7 and the underwater mineral lifting system. The floating dock platform 1 is equipped with the mineral pretreatment system 9 and the mineral storage, unloading and transfer system 10, which automatically complete the dehydration, storage, unloading and transfer of minerals on the floating dock platform 1.

[0029] The anchoring system 18 consists of multiple sets of tensioned anchor chains, which fix the platform to the target sea area, restrict the platform's horizontal drift and turning motion, and prevent excessive bending of the riser or collision with the moon pool wall due to platform displacement.

[0030] Adjust the draft of the floating body to the design depth and activate the wave compensation system 15. In low sea states, wave energy is absorbed by the stepped wave-dissipating walls installed on the inner wall of the ballast tank 13 and the outer wall of the floating dock platform. These stepped wave-dissipating walls, installed slightly above the design draft line (during transport when floating and during non-transportation when submerged) on the outer wall of the ballast tank floating dock platform, are steel stepped protruding box-shaped structures with interconnected openings on the upper and lower surfaces and a hollow interior, converting wave energy into turbulent dissipation. The lower part of the ballast tank wall is fixed with elastic padding; the surface layer is polyurethane foam, and the interior is filled with a closed-cell polyethylene skeleton, fixed to the tank wall with steel frames and bolts. This absorbs the energy transferred from the hull's swaying to the ballast tank water, suppressing secondary swaying. In medium to high sea states, the injection and discharge volume of the ballast tank 13 is adjusted based on the predicted low-frequency components of the waves using a calculation model, mitigating roll and pitch movements, maintaining the overall stability of the platform, and minimizing the impact of waves on the platform's operational attitude. The dock uses a wave spectrum model to fit the measured waves and separate the low-frequency components. It then combines the dock's hydrodynamic response function (considering the response functions with and without the transport ship) to predict the roll and pitch trends and feedforward extrapolation. Based on this, the control layer adjusts the injection and discharge of multiple ballast tanks at the bottom of the dock, so that the weight of the water relative to the center of gravity generates an active control torque. At the same time, the low-level ballast increases the recovery torque, thereby reducing the roll and pitch and maintaining attitude stability.

[0031] In this embodiment, the mining vehicle 7 and the mineral hoisting system are stored in the moon pool 17 at the rear of the dock wall 16. Specifically, the deep-sea mining vehicles 7 are clustered and parked on dedicated liftable racks on both sides of the moon pool 17. Each mining vehicle has an independent parking and maintenance station. The height of the racks can be adjusted according to deployment and recovery requirements, facilitating the rapid docking and separation of the mining vehicles with the soft main pipe 6 and umbilical cable 8. The rigid main pipe 3, soft main pipe 6, repeater 5, and hoisting pump 4 of the underwater hoisting system are stored in dedicated pipeline supports, equipment brackets, and sealed storage compartments around the moon pool 17. All equipment is arranged sequentially according to the deployment order to avoid pipeline entanglement and equipment collision during operation.

[0032] The mining vehicle deployment and recovery system is located on the top deck area of ​​the aft dock wall directly above Moon Pool 17. It mainly consists of an A-type gantry, a main hoisting winch, an umbilical cable winch, a pipeline guiding device, and an attitude adjustment mechanism, enabling one-stop hoisting and deployment of the mining vehicle and various components of the hoisting system.

[0033] Using an A-frame gantry and winch, the mining car 7, flexible main pipe 6, umbilical cable 8, repeater 5, lifting pump 4, and part of the rigid main pipe 3 are sequentially connected and lowered from behind the rear dock wall 16 to a designated depth below the sea surface. The remaining rigid main pipe 3 and connecting components are then lowered from below the moon pool 17 to the same depth. After the mining car 7 reaches the target mining area, mineral extraction can begin.

[0034] In this embodiment, the umbilical cable 8 is an armored composite cable structure, internally integrating power transmission cables and fiber optic communication cables. It is used by the platform's centralized control room for remote real-time control of the deep-sea mining vehicle's movement and data collection operations. Simultaneously, it provides a continuous power supply to the mining vehicle and transmits data collected by various sensors (high-definition cameras, sonar, etc.) onboard the mining vehicle back to the platform control room. The umbilical cable 8 has multiple protective layers externally, protecting the cable while maintaining the stability of photoelectric signals during deep-sea mining operations.

[0035] This embodiment uses a single deep-sea mining vehicle as an example for explanation. In a better implementation, the floating dock platform 1 can support multiple deep-sea mining vehicles to work together simultaneously, improving mining efficiency. The mining vehicle cluster shares one or more repeaters and booster pumps 4.

[0036] After the deep-sea mining vehicle 7 collects and initially crushes the minerals, the minerals are transported to the repeater 5 in the form of slurry through the soft main pipe 6. The repeater 5 is a pressure-resistant and sealed cylindrical steel structure shell, which integrates a slurry buffer chamber, a tailwater buffer chamber, and a primary separation device. The slurry undergoes preliminary separation and filtration in the repeater. After filtration, the wastewater is temporarily stored in the tailwater buffer chamber and discharged from the bottom outlet of the repeater.

[0037] The rigid main pipe (3) is manufactured in sections, including a main riser pipe and a return water pipe. The riser pump (4) provides power for slurry lifting. The rigid main pipe (3) section connects to the repeater (5), the riser pump (4), and the floating dock platform (1). The slurry, after preliminary sorting and filtration, is transported via the main transport pipe (3) to the floating dock platform (1) for pretreatment by the mineral pretreatment system (9). The inlet of this system is connected to the outlet of the rigid main pipe (3), and the power required for slurry lifting is provided by the riser pump (4).

[0038] The mineral pretreatment system 9 integrates a centrifugal sorting device, a high-pressure washing device, a vacuum filtration device, a centrifugal dewatering device, and a tailings recovery device in sequence according to the slurry treatment process. The centrifugal sorting device separates the slurry into target minerals, coarse silt, and seawater based on differences in mineral density; the high-pressure washing device removes fine mud and impurities adhering to the mineral surface; and the vacuum filtration and centrifugal dewatering devices reduce the water content of the wet minerals. The tailings recovery device collects the silt and seawater generated during sorting and returns it to the tailwater buffer tank built into the repeater 5 through the hard main pipe 3. There, it mixes with the wastewater from the initial filtration of the slurry and is discharged back to the deep seabed through the bottom outlet of the repeater 5, completely avoiding the impact of surface seawater discharge on the marine ecosystem and significantly reducing the ineffective load on the floating dock platform. After being dehydrated and dried by the dewatering equipment, the wet minerals are transported to the mineral storage, unloading, and transfer system 10.

[0039] The pre-treated dry minerals are automatically transported to the mineral storage and unloading transfer system 10 via a belt conveyor. The intelligent mineral storage system 102 distributes the dry minerals evenly to different sections of the temporary storage warehouse 101 via a conveyor belt installed above the warehouse for temporary storage. Fixed baffles are installed on both sides of the conveyor belt to form a closed conveying channel. The intelligent mineral storage system 102 plans the storage layout according to the type and quantity of input minerals, and delivers them into the warehouse via the conveyor belt and feeding channel. It also counts the amount of minerals processed and stored in real time and uploads the data to the central control room.

[0040] In temporary storage warehouse 101, each compartment entrance is equipped with a top feeding channel and a corresponding side unloader from the intelligent mineral storage system 102. The conveyor belt is enclosed on both sides, with one side serving as the feeding channel entrance and the other as a hinged baffle door for the unloader. A high-polymer wear-resistant liner is embedded at the bottom edge that contacts the belt. The hinged baffle door forms a certain angle with the belt's running direction to ensure it completely blocks the channel. The hinged door's drive mechanism uses a hydraulic push rod, and all drive mechanisms are connected to the computing center of the intelligent mineral storage system 102 and controlled by the system.

[0041] The lower part of the temporary storage warehouse 101 consists of multiple inverted conical hopper structures, with the hopper cone angle greater than the natural angle of repose of the dry minerals. A hatch is located at the bottom, connecting to the bottom feeding channel 103. The hatch opening and closing is controlled by the mineral intelligent hopper system 102. Below the discharge ports of all storage zones, corresponding short-distance branch conveyor belts are arranged. All branch conveyor belts eventually converge into the longitudinally arranged main discharge conveyor belt, connecting to the inlet of the vertical bucket elevator 104.

[0042] During transfer, the ore is conveyed through the bottom feeding channel 103 to the bottom feed port of the vertical bucket elevator 104. The elevator body is arranged vertically along the outside of the side dock wall 12. The bottom base is fixed to the dock bottom structure layer by pre-embedded anchor bolts. The top discharge end extends to the top deck elevation of the side dock wall and connects with the feed chute of the feeding arm 105 to lift the ore to the same height as the feeding arm.

[0043] The feeding boom 105 adopts a box-section boom structure. A trough-type (V-shaped) belt conveyor is installed along the entire length of the boom. The boom consists of a fixed boom section and at least one telescopic boom section connected together. The bottom is connected to the deck base via a slewing bearing, and the base is pre-embedded and fixed to the top deck of the side dock wall. The discharge port at the front of the boom connects to a multi-stage telescopic chute. The chute is a multi-section steel sleeve nested structure, allowing for vertical adjustment of the discharge height. Minerals lifted to the deck are conveyed to the front via the internal belt conveyor and then fed into the cargo hold of the transport ship through the chute.

[0044] In this embodiment, a single feeding arm is used as an example for explanation. In this embodiment, multiple feeding arms can be symmetrically arranged longitudinally along the top deck of the two side dock walls according to the maximum length of the mineral transport ship that the floating dock platform 1 can carry. Each feeding arm is equipped with a vertical bucket elevator, and the feeding end of each elevator is connected to the branch interface of the main discharge belt at the bottom of the warehouse. The working coverage of each feeding arm is interconnected, and multiple cargo holds can be loaded at the same time.

[0045] like Figure 3 As shown, when the transport ship 2 enters the floating dock platform 1, the two sets of bow traction winches d at the platform entrance first connect the traction cable to the mooring bollards at the stern of the transport ship. By synchronously raising and lowering the traction cable, the stern of the transport ship is guided to align with the platform and slowly enter. The bow traction winches d are symmetrically arranged on the top of the dock walls on both sides of the floating dock entrance. A set of steering guide pulleys is installed in front of each winch. The pulley brackets are fixed to the edge of the dock wall end. After being turned by the pulleys, the traction cable is led out laterally along the dock opening.

[0046] On the top deck of the platform's side dock wall 12, multiple sets of traction guide winches 11 are installed along the dock wall direction. Each traction guide winch consists of a variable frequency drive main unit, a drum, and a cast steel mounting base. The base is fixed to the mooring area of ​​the top deck by pre-embedded bolts. A guide pulley group is correspondingly set on the rope output side of each winch, and the traction cable extends vertically into the dock after being turned by the pulleys. As the transport ship 2 gradually enters, the intermediate and stern traction winches a are connected in sequence. The lateral offset and bow-stern angle of the transport ship are adjusted in real time through the differential speed control of multiple sets of winches, so that the guide rails on the bottom of the transport ship and the guide rails on the bottom of the floating dock 14 remain coaxially aligned. The traction guide winch 11 is equipped with a tension sensor, which transmits the real-time tension signal of the cable to the intelligent docking system's computing equipment.

[0047] Sensors installed at the entrance and bottom of the floating dock collect the position and attitude data of the transport ship in real time, automatically generating winch control commands. Simultaneously, multiple rubber anti-collision buffer strips are installed on the inner side of the side dock wall 12, fixed to the inner wall with pre-embedded bolts. The working surface is an arc-shaped convex shape, absorbing the lateral collision energy of the transport ship and preventing rigid collisions between the hull and the dock wall. A longitudinal limit block is installed at the bow of the ship-lifting deck at the bottom of the dock. The block is a welded steel structure lined with a buffer pad. When the transport ship 2 is fully inserted into the designated docking position, the stern traction winch a automatically locks the traction cable, keeping the transport ship stationary. At this time, the floating dock platform is in the following state: Figure 7 As shown, the waterline of transport ship 2 is the sea level.

[0048] An infrared laser rangefinder is installed on the inner side of the upper bulwark of the floating dock 12, with its detection surface facing the opposite side dock wall. This rangefinder measures the lateral distance from both sides of the transport ship 2 to the side dock wall 12, extracts the ship's centerline, and calculates the orientation of the bottom guide rail 21. A multi-beam sonar array is installed at the lower end of the floating dock side dock wall 12, embedded in a steel mounting groove at the bottom of the dock wall. During the transport ship's entry and exit from the floating dock platform, the sonar array and platform sink together below the sea surface, allowing acoustic scanning of the outlines of the transport ship's bottom guide rail 21 and the dock bottom guide rail 14. After compensation using the transport ship 2's own roll and pitch data, the horizontal alignment error is calculated through filtering and weighted fusion. The error signal is input to the intelligent docking system's computing equipment, which adjusts the tension of the traction guide winch 11 cable to guide the axial displacement adjustment of the transport ship.

[0049] After fully entering, the ballast water tank 13 of the floating dock platform discharges ballast water and floats to the surface. The ballast water tank 13 is divided into multiple groups along the longitudinal direction of the platform and is symmetrically and independently separated on the left and right sides. Each compartment is equipped with an independent high-flow ballast pump and an electric sea valve. The compartment is equipped with a liquid level detection unit, which can independently control the injection and drainage rate of each compartment.

[0050] The floating dock bottom guide rail 14 is made of high-manganese steel rolled profiles and is fixed in sections to the longitudinally embedded base of the dock bottom lifting deck by high-strength bolts and elastic pads. A continuous trapezoidal guide ridge is set in the center of the top surface of the guide rail; corresponding concave trapezoidal guide grooves are opened on the transport ship's bottom guide rails. During the ascent process, the guide ridges first embed into the corresponding guide grooves to automatically correct minor lateral deviations until the bearing surfaces of the two are completely in contact. Subsequently, the ballast tanks continue to slowly release water, and the weight of the transport ship is gradually borne by the floating dock bottom until the transport ship completely leaves the water. At this point, there is no relative movement between the transport ship and the floating dock platform, providing an absolutely stable operating environment for subsequent mineral transfer operations. The platform status is as follows: Figure 5 As shown, the sea level is below the floating dock deck.

[0051] In this embodiment, the control system of the ballast water tank 13 of the floating dock platform receives the ore quality signal provided by the mineral storage and unloading transfer system 10, and balances the weight of the ore slurry by continuously releasing water to prevent the platform from sinking and avoid the transport ship 2 from contacting the sea surface and leaving the dock bottom guide rail 14.

[0052] After the transport vessel 2 is secured to the floating dock platform 1, the mineral storage and unloading transfer system 10 initiates fully automated loading operations according to the preset loading plan. Pre-treated dry minerals are smoothly transported from the mineral storage warehouse 101 to the feeding arm 105 via a closed conveyor system. The feeding arm automatically adjusts its posture to align with the target hatch, evenly distributing the minerals to the corresponding cargo hold on the transport vessel 2. The current state is as follows: Figure 6 As shown.

[0053] After the transfer was completed, ballast tank 13 of the floating dock platform was filled with water and sank, allowing the transport ship to detach from the dock floor and enter the water. At this point, the floating dock platform was in the following state: Figure 7 As shown, guided by the traction winch 11, the transport ship 2 slowly sails out of the floating dock platform. Figure 1 As shown, the stern traction winch a, the accompanying trolley e, and the bow traction cable disengage sequentially. During this stage, the transport ship's propeller provides power and directional control; the traction winch only forcibly intervenes in the course when the ship's yaw is significant and difficult to right. Subsequently, the next empty transport ship enters the floating dock platform, starting the next work cycle.

[0054] In this embodiment, during the docking and separation process between the transport vessel 2 and the floating dock platform 1, the intelligent mineral placement system 102 in the deep-sea mining vehicle 7, underwater lifting system, mineral pretreatment system 9, and mineral storage, unloading, and transfer system 10 continues to operate normally. At this time, the pretreated minerals will be transported to the storage warehouse 101 for temporary storage. The mineral collection, pretreatment, and transfer processes are independent of each other and do not interfere with each other, thereby improving overall work efficiency.

[0055] The above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A self-storage, unloading, and transfer deep-sea mining system based on a floating dock-type surface support platform, characterized in that: It includes a floating dock platform body (1), a cluster of deep-sea mining vehicles (7), an underwater mineral lifting module, and a production operation module installed on the floating dock platform; The deep-sea mining vehicle (7) cluster receives control commands from the floating dock platform via the umbilical cable (8), and transports the collected slurry to the production operation module on the floating dock platform via the underwater mineral lifting module. After mineral pretreatment, the slurry is transferred to the mineral transport ship. The deep-sea mining vehicle (7) is a seabed tracked mining vehicle. The umbilical cable (8) is an armored composite cable structure, which integrates power transmission cables and optical fiber communication cables.

2. The deep-sea mining system based on a floating dock-type surface support platform with self-storage, unloading, and transfer capabilities according to claim 1, characterized in that, The underwater mineral lifting module adopts hydraulic lifting technology, and its main structure includes a rigid main pipe (3), a soft main pipe (6), a lifting pump (4), and a repeater (5). The deep-sea mining vehicle (7) deslims and crushes the collected minerals to form a slurry, which is then transported to the repeater (5) via the soft main pipe (6) for preliminary filtration, and then transported to the floating dock platform via the hard main pipe (3). The power required for mineral lifting is provided by the lifting pump (4). The soft main pipe (6) is a flexible hose, the repeater (5) is a pressure-resistant and sealed cylindrical steel structure shell, which integrates a slurry buffer chamber, a tailwater buffer chamber and a primary sorting device. The hard main pipe (3) includes a main lifting pipe and a return water pipe, which are used to lift slurry and discharge tailwater. The booster pump (4) adopts a multi-stage wear-resistant centrifugal pump series structure to adapt to long-distance transportation of high-concentration, high-hardness slurry.

3. The deep-sea mining system based on a floating dock-type surface support platform with self-storage, unloading, and transfer capabilities according to claim 1, characterized in that, The production operation module includes a mining vehicle deployment and recovery module, a mineral pretreatment module (9), a mineral storage, unloading and transfer module (10), an intelligent docking module, an anchoring system (18), and a wave compensation system (15).

4. A self-storage, unloading, and transfer deep-sea mining system based on a floating dock-type surface support platform according to claim 1, characterized in that: The floating dock platform (1) includes two side dock walls (12) and one rear dock wall (16). Above the rear dock wall (16) is the mineral pretreatment module (9). Behind the rear dock wall (16) is a moon pool (17) for storing the deep-sea mining vehicle (7) cluster and the underwater mineral lifting system equipment. The moon pool (17) contains a deep-sea mining vehicle deployment and recovery system, which is responsible for the deployment and recovery of the deep-sea mining vehicle (7) and the underwater mineral lifting system.

5. A self-storage, unloading, and transfer deep-sea mining system based on a floating dock surface support platform according to claim 3, characterized in that, The mineral pretreatment module (9) integrates a centrifugal sorting device, a high-pressure rinsing device, a vacuum filtration device, a centrifugal dewatering device, and a tailings recovery device. After the slurry is transported to the floating dock platform (1) via the underwater lifting system, it undergoes sorting, washing, filtration and dewatering treatment in the floating dock. The silt and tailwater generated during pretreatment are returned to the relay (5) via the hard main pipe (3) and then discharged back into the bottom seawater.

6. A self-storage, unloading, and transfer deep-sea mining system based on a floating dock surface support platform according to claim 3, characterized in that, The mineral storage, unloading and transfer module (10) includes a temporary storage warehouse (101), a cabin layout device (102), and a transfer device. The mineral storage layout for dehydrated minerals is designed and stored in the temporary storage warehouse (101). The minerals are transferred from the pretreatment module (9) and the temporary storage warehouse (101) to the cargo hold of the mineral transport ship. The storage equipment (102) includes an intelligent computing system and a conveying system. The intelligent computing system plans the storage layout according to the type and quantity of the input minerals, and the minerals are transported to the target warehouse by the conveyor belt at the top of the warehouse, the side unloader and the bottom feeding channel (103). The lower end of the temporary storage warehouse (101) is an inverted cone-shaped hopper structure, with a hatch at the lowest point, which connects to the feeding channel (103). The hopper can transport the minerals to the vertical bucket elevator (104) on the side of the dock wall and lift the minerals to the inlet of the feeding arm (105). The feeding arm (105) is equipped with a V-shaped conveyor belt to transport the minerals lifted by the elevator (104) to the cargo hold of the transport ship.

7. A self-storage, unloading, and transfer deep-sea mining system based on a floating dock surface support platform according to claim 3, characterized in that, The intelligent docking module can control the traction guide winch (11) set on the floating dock platform, the guide rail (14) set on the bottom of the dock, and the ballast water tank (13). The traction guide winch (11) is used to guide the mineral transport ship along the guide rail (14) into the floating dock platform (1). The floating dock platform (1) is controlled to float or sink by adjusting the injection and drainage state of the ballast water tank (13) so as to achieve docking, fixing or separation with the mineral transport ship.

8. A self-storage, unloading, and transfer deep-sea mining system based on a floating dock-type surface support platform according to claim 3, characterized in that, The wave compensation system (15) is used to adjust the working state of the floating dock platform (1) under different sea conditions, or to balance the yaw or pitch motion of the floating dock caused by the change of center of gravity during mineral transfer. The passive implementation of the wave compensation function includes the installation of soft pads on the inner wall of the ballast tank (13) and stepped wave-absorbing walls on the outer wall of the floating dock platform, which absorb wave energy in low sea states; the active implementation is to actively adjust the water volume of the ballast tank (13) according to the wind and wave pattern in medium and high sea states to offset the platform tilt caused by wave impact.

9. A self-storage, unloading, and transfer deep-sea mining system based on a floating dock-type surface support platform according to claim 3, characterized in that, The anchoring system (18) is used to stably fix the floating dock platform (1) to the target operating sea area and restrict the horizontal drift and bow turning of the platform; The anchoring system (18) consists of multiple sets of tensioned anchor chains.

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