Deep sea buoyancy mining system

Abstract

To evade contamination of environment and waste of sea bottom mineral resources by realizing green mining.SOLUTION: A deep sea mining system including a mother vessel 24, a float 10, spreaders 31, 34, a backfill box 35, and a mineral material box 33 evades environmental pollution by sea bottom slurry and enabling lifting of large sized ore to mother vessel by being hung down from the lifting lug by having: a metal shell 14 outside the float; an air bag 12 provided inside the metal shell; ports provided to both ends of the metal shell; the port on one end with valve exit end of the air bag, sealed and connected to the valve of the air bag and on another end is an oil port 16; at least one piece of lifting lug 17 provided outside the float; the backfill box and the mineral material box being hung down from the lifting lugs.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of deep - sea mining equipment, and more specifically relates to a deep - sea buoyancy mining system.

Background Art

[0002] The seabed is rich in mineral resources such as a large amount of manganese nodules, polymetallic sulfides, and cobalt - rich nodules, and there are also a large number of rare metals. The development of seabed mineral resources has become an important force to support the future economic, industrial, and scientific and technological development.

[0003] In deep - sea mining, generally, a surface mother ship is used as the support platform of the system. Under the pipe - equipped ship connection device at the bottom of the ship, an ore slurry lifting vertical pipe is connected to a place hundreds of meters away from the seabed. The top of the lifting vertical pipe is connected to the pipe - equipped ship connection device, and at the bottom end of the lifting vertical pipe, a lifting pump unit, a hose, and a seabed mining vehicle, etc. are connected. The mining vehicle operates on the seabed and transports the collected ore slurry to the inlet of the lifting pump unit through a hose by a material pump, and then the ore slurry is transported to the surface mother ship through the lifting vertical pipe by the lifting pump unit.

[0004] Since the ore slurry contains a large amount of seabed muddy water, this seabed muddy water is transported to the mother ship together with the mineral materials by the material pump and the lifting pump. Because the components of the seabed muddy water are complex and the salt content is high, when commercial mining is carried out, a large amount of seabed muddy water will accumulate on land, causing serious environmental pollution on land.

[0005] In addition, the undersea ore slurry further contains several large mineral lumps. On the one hand, due to the limitation of the diameter of the lifting pipeline of the ore slurry, particularly large mineral lumps cannot be loaded. On the other hand, material pumps and lifting pumps generally use centrifugal pumps or plunger pumps. Due to the limitation of the function of the transport pump, when large mineral lumps pass through the centrifugal pump or plunger pump, it causes serious wear and deformation to the main components such as the pump body of the centrifugal pump and plunger pump, thereby causing the failure of the centrifugal pump and plunger pump. Therefore, large ores cannot be transported to the mother ship by pipeline transportation and are discarded on the seabed, causing waste of undersea mineral resources.

[0006] As described above, when using a material pump, a lifting pump, and a pipeline to lift the ore slurry, mainly two problems occur, namely: 1. The lifted undersea muddy water accumulates on land, causing environmental pollution; 2. Large ores cannot be lifted to the mother ship, causing waste of undersea mineral resources.

Summary of the Invention

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The object of the present invention is to invent a deep-sea buoyancy mining system to solve the two main problems that occur when the existing deep-sea mining system uses a pipeline, a material pump, and a lifting pump to lift the ore slurry, namely: 1. The lifted undersea muddy water pollutes the environment; 2. Large ores cannot be lifted to the mother ship, causing waste of undersea mineral resources. By compensating for the defects of the existing deep-sea mining system, realizing green mining, and avoiding environmental pollution and waste of undersea mineral resources.

[0008] To achieve the above object, the present invention is realized by the following technical solutions.

[0009] The deep - sea buoyancy mining system includes a mother ship, a float, a spreader, a backfill box, and a mineral material box. There is a metal shell outside the float, an airbag is provided inside the metal shell, ports are provided at both ends of the metal shell. One port is the valve outlet end of the airbag and is sealed and connected to the valve of the airbag, and the other end is an oil port. At least one lifting lug is provided outside the float. The backfill box and the mineral material box are characterized by being suspended by the lifting lug.

[0010] The object of the present invention can be further realized by the following technical solutions.

[0011] The mother ship is provided with a cable for connecting the float.

[0012] The lifting lug is provided outside the metal shell, a spreader is connected to the lifting lug. The backfill box uses a first spreader, and the mineral material box uses a second spreader. The backfill box uses a first spreader, and the mineral material box uses a second spreader to be integrally connected to the float. When sinking into the sea together, the bottom of the backfill box is h meters lower than the bottom of the mineral material box.

[0013] An automatic control hook is further provided under the first spreader. A lifting rope is provided on the backfill box. The lifting rope is suspended by the automatic control hook. After the automatic control hook lifts the load, the automatic control hook closes. The opening of the automatic control hook is controlled by the magnitude of the force received by the second spreader.

[0014] The automatic control hook may be a mechanical structure or an electric control structure.

[0015] The airbag body is made of an inflatable, shrinkable, and high - strength elastic material.

[0016] The interior of the airbag is filled with high-pressure gas.

[0017] Inside the metal shell, the liquid storage chamber outside the airbag is filled with high-pressure mineral oil.

[0018] The mother ship is provided with a material crane and a cable car.

Advantages of the Invention

[0019] The deep-sea buoyancy mining system of the present invention utilizes floats to refill the seabed muddy water collected by the deep-sea pipeline into the seabed mining area by means of a backfill box. At the same time, large ores collected from the seabed and unable to be transported through the pipeline are transported from the seabed to the mother ship by means of a mineral material box. It not only avoids the pollution of land by the seabed muddy water collected through the pipeline, but also reduces the disturbance to the seabed mining area by refilling the seabed muddy water into the seabed mining area, realizes green mining, and can also recycle the large ores discarded on the seabed by using floats and mineral material boxes, avoiding waste of resources.

[0020] The float of the present invention uses a two-layer structure, that is, a layer of airbag is further provided inside the metal shell of the outer layer of the float. The airbag is used to fill high-pressure gas such as high-pressure helium gas. Since the temperatures of the atmospheric environment and the seabed environment are both much higher than the liquefaction temperature of the gas, the gas in the airbag cannot be liquefied under high-pressure environment. By utilizing the small specific gravity of the gas, the self-weight of the float is reduced, and the ability of the float to transport ores is improved. The liquid storage chamber uses the airbag as a compression body and fills it with high-pressure mineral oil. On the one hand, it simplifies the operation of increasing the internal pressure of the metal shell. On the other hand, by utilizing the pressure balance inside and outside the metal shell, the pressure resistance level of the metal shell at the seabed can be improved, and the self-weight of the metal shell can be reduced.

[0021] In the present invention, when a marine water transportation system composed of a float, a backfill box, a mineral material box, etc. is submerged in the sea together, the bottom of the backfill box is h meters lower than the bottom of the mineral material box, and the value of h is generally 0.5 meters. If the value is too large, it is not easy to load mineral materials into the mineral material box on the seabed. If the value is too small, the bottom of the mineral material box is likely to contact the seabed. When the backfill box overcomes the buoyancy of the float and sinks to the seabed and contacts the seabed, the mineral material box always floats in the water under the influence of the buoyancy of the float. By remotely controlling the seabed trolley, ore is continuously loaded into the mineral material box. And throughout the process of loading the mineral materials, the bottom of the mineral material box never sinks to the seabed of the seabed. As the ore in the mineral material box continuously increases, the tensile force of the float received by the second spreader also continuously increases. Since the maximum upward carrying force of the float is constant, the tensile force of the float received by the first spreader of the backfill box becomes smaller. When the tensile force received by the first spreader of the backfill box becomes smaller than the designed tensile force, the automatic control hook under the first spreader of the backfill box automatically opens, the backfill box releases the restraint with the float and stays on the seabed. At the same time, the float loses the restraint of the backfill box and immediately floats up to the sea surface together with the mineral material box. Then, the material crane of the mother ship is used to lift the mineral material box onto the mother ship. Due to the set automatic unloading function of the automatic control hook under the first spreader of the backfill box, the backfill box can not only release the restraint with the float and stay on the seabed, but also automatically limit the ore loading amount of the mineral material box, and avoid the problem that the mineral material box cannot float due to overload.

[0022] The cable provided on the mother ship of the present invention connects the float, and the purpose is to restrain the sinking and floating positions of the float to avoid the float running wild in the sea and affecting the working efficiency.

[0023] The present invention uses the gravity of submarine muddy water to bring a float to the seabed. Under the control of the cable of a mother ship, the submarine muddy water is backfilled to a fixed-point seabed mining area. At the same time, a large ore on the seabed is automatically transported to the sea surface by using the float through a mineral material box, and no external power is required in the whole process. The present invention can mechanically realize functions such as automatically unloading a backfilling box, automatically controlling the ore loading amount of the mineral material box, and automatically floating the float together with the mineral material box.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0024]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Embodiments for Carrying out the Invention

[0025] To make the object and technical solution of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be further described below with reference to the drawings and embodiments.

[0026] As can be understood by those skilled in the art, unless otherwise specifically defined, all terms (including technical terms and scientific terms) used in this specification have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art in the field to which the present invention belongs.

[0027] The meanings of "left, right, up, down, front, and back" described in the present invention refer to, when the reader faces Figure 1, the left side of the reader, that is, left, the right side of the reader, that is, right, the upper part of the reader, that is, up, the lower part of the reader, that is, down, the front paper surface of the reader, and the surface the reader faces, that is, back, and do not particularly limit the present invention.

[0028] The meaning of "connection" described in the present invention may be a direct connection between members, or may be an indirect connection between members via other members.

[0029] Example 1 As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the deep-sea buoyancy mining system is provided with a mother ship 24 and a float 10. The mother ship 24 is provided with a cable car 23 and a material crane 21. The cable car 23 performs traction control on the float 10 using a cable 22. The float 10 is provided with four lifting lugs 17. The float 10 uses the lifting lugs 17 and the first spreader 34. The automatic control hook 40 suspends the lifting rope 351 of the backfill box 35 and suspends the mineral material box 33 using the lifting lugs 17 and the second spreader 31. The backfill box 35 is a disposable wooden fully sealed box, that is, each backfill box 35 is used only once. In order to avoid pollution of the marine environment, the backfill box 35 can also use other materials that are naturally decomposable and pollution-free, such as cardboard boxes. When the backfill box 35 is put into the sea, its interior is filled with seabed mud and water, and its weight exceeds the maximum upward carrying capacity of the float 10 in the sea. The mineral material box 33 is an empty box when put into the sea. Using the material crane 21, the marine water transportation system composed of the float 10, the backfill box 35, the mineral material box 33, etc. is lifted and put into the sea. The float 10 sinks to the seabed under the traction of the gravity of the backfill box 35, etc. The bottom of the backfill box 35 contacts the seabed, and the bottom of the mineral material box 33 is about 0.Since the mineral material box 33 is 5 meters high, it always floats in the water. Through remote control at sea, the undersea trolley loads ore onto the mineral material box 33. As the ore loaded onto the mineral material box 33 continuously increases, the pulling force of the float 10 by the second spreader 31 on the mineral material box 33 also gradually increases. Since the maximum total upward carrying capacity of the float 10 is constant, the pulling force of the first spreader 34 and the automatic control hook 40 on the lifting rope 351 of the return box 35 of the float 10 gradually decreases. When the pulling force decreases to the design value of the automatic control hook 40, the automatic control hook 40 automatically opens, and the lifting rope 351 of the return box 35 automatically drops off from the automatic control hook 40, releasing the connection with the float 10. The return box 35 stays on the seabed. At this time, although the mineral material box 33 floats in the water, its weight is less than the maximum load capacity of the float 10, so the float 10 automatically floats to the sea surface together with the mineral material box 33, and the ore on the mineral material box 33 is unloaded onto the mother ship 24 by the material crane 21. By utilizing the automatic dropping of the automatic control hook 40, not only is the problem of automatically releasing the return box 35 on the seabed solved, but at the same time, the loading capacity of the mineral material box 33 is further controlled, avoiding the problem that the loading of the mineral material box 33 becomes excessive and it cannot float automatically.

[0030] The float 10 uses a two-layer structure. The outer layer of the float 10 is a metal shell 14, and a single-layer airbag 12 is provided inside. Ports are provided at both ends of the metal shell 14. The port at one end of the metal shell 14 is the outlet end of the valve 11 of the airbag 12 and is sealed and connected to the valve 11. The valve 11 fills and discharges high-pressure gas into the airbag 12. The main body of the airbag 12 is an inflatable, shrinkable, and high-strength rubber airbag. The high-pressure gas filled in the airbag 12 is helium gas. Other high-pressure gases such as nitrogen gas can also be filled in the airbag 12. Since both the atmospheric temperature and the ocean temperature are much higher than the liquefaction temperature of helium gas, helium gas remains a gas under high pressure and cannot be liquefied. By utilizing the small specific gravity of the gas, the self-weight of the float is reduced, and the ability of the float to transport ore is improved.

[0031] The other end of the float 10 is an oil port 16, which fills and discharges high-pressure oil into the liquid storage chamber 15 inside the metal shell 14. The liquid storage chamber 15 utilizes the compressibility of the airbag 12 and fills high-pressure oil such as hydraulic oil and gasoline as mineral oil. Its specific gravity is lighter than that of water. On the one hand, it simplifies the operation of increasing the internal pressure of the metal shell 14. On the other hand, by applying prestress to the inside of the metal shell 14 in advance, the pressure balance inside and outside the metal shell 14 is utilized to improve the pressure resistance level of the metal shell 14 at the seabed, reduce the thickness of the metal shell, and thereby reduce the self-weight of the float 10. Four lifting lugs 17 are provided outside the metal shell 14. The two upper lifting lugs 17 are connected to the cable 22 and provide a lifting position for the hook of the material crane 21. The two lower lifting lugs 17 are respectively connected to the first spreader 34 and the second spreader 31. The first spreader 34 and the second spreader 31 in this embodiment may be anchor chains or cables. In order to avoid entanglement between the first spreader 34 and the second spreader 31, two support rods 32 are provided between the first spreader 34 and the second spreader 31.

[0032] Embodiment 2 The mechanical automatic control device for ocean mining includes a float, a backfill box, a mineral material box, a first spreader, and a second spreader. An automatic control hook is provided between the backfill box and the first spreader. The automatic control hook includes two "7"-shaped hook rods, namely a first hook rod and a second hook rod. The "7"-shaped ends of the first hook rod and the second hook rod face downward, cross each other left and right, and the ends face each other to form a clamp shape. The two "7"-shaped ends at the lower end are clamp jaws and are hinged at the intersection. The hinge is denoted as hinge A. A compression spring is provided above hinge A between the second hook rod and the first hook rod. A connecting member is provided at the upper end between the second hook rod and the first hook rod. The first spreader is connected to the middle of the connecting member, which is characterized by this.

[0033] The compression spring may be provided as two compression springs, or two or more compression springs may be used in parallel.

[0034] The connecting member is an anchor chain, and the length of the anchor chain connected between the upper ends between the second hook rod and the first hook rod is adjustable.

[0035] The connecting member may be as follows. A first connecting rod is provided at the upper end of the first hook rod, and the upper end of the first hook rod and one end of the first connecting rod are hinged using hinge C. A second connecting rod is provided at the upper end of the second hook rod, and the upper end of the second hook rod and one end of the second connecting rod are hinged using hinge B. Further, the other ends of the first connecting rod and the second connecting rod are hinged using hinge D.

[0036] Three or more hinge holes are provided in the first connecting rod, and the hinge holes of the second connecting rod are the same as the number, size, and position of the hinge holes of the first connecting rod.

[0037] The first spreader is connected to the axis of hinge D.

[0038] It is the same as Example 1.

[0039] The mechanical automatic control device for ocean mining utilizes a clamp-like structure. It places the lifting rope of the backfill box inside the clamp jaw, clips the clamp jaw using an external force, and fixes and connects the connecting member of the automatic control hook - the anchor chain (or the axis of hinge D of the first connecting rod and the second connecting rod) and the first spreader. After the material crane lifts the ocean water transportation system composed of a float, a backfill box, a mineral material box, etc., the clamp-shaped upper end composed of the first hook rod and the second hook rod receives the clip force of the connecting member, overcomes the repulsive force of the compression spring, and the clamp jaw automatically closes. After removing the external force on the first hook rod and the second hook rod, the material crane lowers the ocean water transportation system composed of a float, a backfill box, a mineral material box, etc. into the sea. Under the action of the gravity of the backfill box and the mineral material box, etc., it overcomes the buoyancy of the float and sinks until the bottom of the backfill box sinks to the seabed. The automatic control hook and the first spreader still clamp the lifting rope of the backfill box under the traction of the buoyancy of the float. Since the bottom of the mineral material box is about 0.5 meters higher than the bottom of the backfill box, the mineral material box floats in the water. The seabed trolley loads ore blocks into the mineral material box under remote control. As the number of ore blocks loaded into the mineral material box increases, the tensile force of the float received by the second spreader pulling the mineral material box also increases. Since the maximum upward transportation force of the float is constant, the tensile force of the float received by the automatic control hook and the first spreader decreases. The clip force applied by the first spreader to the upper ends of the first hook rod and the second hook rod also decreases. When the clip force decreases to a certain value, the elastic force of the compression spring overcomes the clip force of the first spreader on the connecting member at the upper ends of the first hook rod and the second hook rod, and the clamp jaw automatically opens. The lifting rope of the backfill box automatically drops from the clamp jaw, and the backfill box stays on the seabed, realizing the backfilling of the backfill box on the seabed. At the same time, since the float loses the restraint of the backfill box, it automatically floats to the sea surface together with the mineral material box, realizing the buoyancy transportation of the ore.

[0040] Also, once the design and manufacture of the buoyancy of the float and the elastic coefficient of the compression spring of the automatic control hook are completed, they cannot be changed. In order to more accurately control the hook release clip force of the automatic control hook, the present invention changes the clip force applied by the first spreader to the upper ends of the first hook rod and the second hook rod by adjusting the length of the connecting member, and within a limited range, adjusts the rated loading capacity of the mineral material box. When the mineral material box reaches the rated loading capacity, the automatic control hook automatically unloads the retracting box, and at the same time the mineral material box automatically floats.

[0041] In order to improve the response speed of the compression spring, the present invention uses a plurality of compression springs in parallel, thereby reducing the attenuation of the compression spring and improving the response speed of the compression spring.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 3, it is a schematic diagram in which the automatic control hook 40 uses the anchor chain 410 as a connecting member. The automatic control hook 40 is provided with two "7"-shaped hook rods, namely the first hook rod 405 and the second hook rod 406. The "7"-shaped ends of the first hook rod 405 and the second hook rod 406 face downward, intersect left and right, and the ends face each other, forming a mirror image distribution. They are hinged at the intersection to form a clamp shape. The hinge is denoted as hinge A401. The two "7"-shaped ends at the lower end face each other to form a clamp jaw, which is used to hang the lifting rope 351 of the backfill box 35. Between the first hook rod 405 and the second hook rod 406, a compression spring 407 is provided above the hinge A. Two compression springs 407 are used in parallel. Under the same elasticity, the attenuation of the two compression springs is smaller than that of a single compression spring, so as to improve the response speed of the compression spring. At the upper end between the first hook rod 405 and the second hook rod 406, the anchor chain 410 is used as a connecting member, and the length of the anchor chain 410 is adjustable. The first spreader 34 is connected to the middle of the anchor chain 410. By adjusting the length of the anchor chain 410, within a limited range, the magnitude of the clip force applied by the first hook rod 405 and the second hook rod 406 to the compression spring 407 can be adjusted. Thereby, in the automatic control hook 40, to open the clamp jaw of the automatic control hook 40, the minimum loading amount required for the mineral material box 33 can be adjusted more accurately.

[0043] Also, as shown in Fig. 4, it is a schematic diagram in which the automatic control hook 40 uses a double connection rod as a connecting member. A first connection rod 408 is provided at the upper end of the first hook rod 405, and the upper end of the first hook rod 405 and one end of the first connection rod 408 are hinged using the hinge C403. A second connection rod 409 is provided at the upper end of the second hook rod 406, and the upper end of the second hook rod 406 and one end of the second connection rod 409 are hinged using the hinge B402. The other ends of the first connection rod 408 and the second connection rod 409 are hinged using the hinge D404. The distance between the hinge B and the hinge D of the first connection rod 408 is the same as the distance between the hinge C and the hinge D of the second connection rod 409. A plurality of hinge holes at the same positions are provided on the first connection rod 408 and the second connection rod 409, whereby the interval between the hinges attached to the first connection rod 408 and the second connection rod 409 can be adjusted. The first spreader 34 is connected to the axis of the hinge D404, and by adjusting the interval between the hinges in the first connection rod 408 and the second connection rod 409, within a limited range, the magnitude of the clip force applied by the first hook rod 405 and the second hook rod 406 to the compression spring 407 can be adjusted. Thereby, in the automatic control hook 40, to open the clamp jaw of the automatic control hook 40, the minimum loading amount required for the mineral material box 33 can be adjusted more accurately.

Description of Signs

[0044] 10, Float 11, Valve 12, Airbag 14, Metal Shell 15, Liquid Storage Chamber 16, Oil Port 17, Lifting Lug 21, Material Crane 22, Cable 23, Cable Car 24, Mother Ship 31, Second Spreader 32, Support Rod 33, Mineral Material Box 34, First Spreader 35. Filling box 351. Lifting rope 40. Automatic control hook 401. Hinge A 402. Hinge B 403. Hinge C 404. Hinge D 405. First hook rod 406. Second hook rod 407. Compression spring 408. First connecting rod 409. Second connecting rod 410. Anchor chain

Claims

1. A deep - sea buoyancy mining system comprising a mother ship, a float, a spreader, a backfill box, and a mineral material box, wherein there is a metal shell outside the float, an airbag is provided inside the metal shell, ports are provided at both ends of the metal shell, one port is the valve outlet end of the airbag and is hermetically connected to the valve of the airbag, the other end is an oil port, at least one lifting lug is provided outside the float, and the backfill box and the mineral material box are suspended by the lifting lugs. A deep - sea buoyancy mining system characterized by the above.

2. The mother ship is provided with a cable for connecting the float. A deep - sea buoyancy mining system according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

3. The lifting lug is provided outside the metal shell, a spreader is connected to the lifting lug, the backfill box uses a first spreader, and the mineral material box uses a second spreader. A deep - sea buoyancy mining system according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

4. The backfill box uses a first spreader, the mineral material box uses a second spreader and is integrally connected to the float. When sinking into the sea together, the bottom of the backfill box is h meters lower than the bottom of the mineral material box. A deep - sea buoyancy mining system according to claim 3, characterized by the above.

5. An automatic control hook is further provided under the first spreader, a lifting rope is provided on the backfill box, the lifting rope is suspended by the automatic control hook, after the automatic control hook lifts the load, the automatic control hook closes, and the opening of the automatic control hook is controlled by the magnitude of the force received by the second spreader. A deep - sea buoyancy mining system according to claim 4, characterized by the above.

6. The automatic control hook is a mechanical structure or an electric control structure. A deep - sea buoyancy mining system according to claim 5, characterized by the above.

7. The airbag body is expandable, contractible, and made of a high - strength elastic material. A deep - sea buoyancy mining system according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

8. The airbag is filled with high - pressure gas. A deep - sea buoyancy mining system according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

9. In the liquid storage chamber inside the metal shell and outside the airbag, high-pressure mineral oil is filled. The deep-sea buoyancy mining system according to claim 1, characterized in that.

10. The mother ship is provided with a material crane and a cable car. The deep-sea buoyancy mining system according to claim 1, characterized in that.

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