JP2016153556A - Marine mineral mining method, marine mineral mining device and marine mineral mining system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a marine mineral mining method, a marine mineral mining device and a marine mineral mining system capable of preventing or curbing dispersion of marine minerals mined under the sea.SOLUTION: A marine mineral mining system comprises: a mining mother vessel 1 on the sea SL as a seaborne mining base; mining stations 20 on the seabed SB; and a mineral pumping unit 4. In the system, a plurality of marine stations 20 function as subsea mining bases. Each marine station 20 has a plurality of mining devices 30. Each mining device 30 is adapted to construct a bottomed vertical hole by drilling a seafloor deposit and mine the marine minerals by turning the same into slurry in the vertical hole. The slurry marine minerals mined by each mining device 30 are transferred to the subsea mineral pumping unit 4 through a suction pipe 5. The mineral pumping unit 4 pumps the marine minerals to the mining mother vessel 1 through a mineral pumping pipe 6.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a seabed mineral mining method, a seabed mineral mining apparatus, and a seabed mineral mining system.

In recent years, the price of useful metals, which are indispensable for manufacturing various industrial equipment and have a small abundance, has been rising. Useful metals are indispensable in the industry, but not only are the yields small, but geopolitical risks exist because of the limited production. Therefore, among the seabed minerals, useful metal-containing minerals present under the seabed have attracted attention.
Various surveys have revealed that useful minerals are present in seabed minerals at higher concentrations than minerals currently mined on the ground. Thus, in recent years, trial drilling has been conducted at various institutions, and various methods and systems for mining seabed minerals have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Patent Document 1 discloses a seabed mineral mining system. The mining system described in the document includes a seabed moving device having a grinding tool capable of grinding the surface of a seabed deposit. The seabed moving device grinds the surface of the seabed deposit by an open grinding tool while moving the seabed by receiving electric power and a control signal from a supply source on the sea surface side. The ground product produced by grinding is classified by classifying means so as not to exceed a predetermined size, and the classified ground product is transported to the sea.

JP 2013-528726 A

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, the surface of the seabed deposit is ground by an open grinding tool, so that the produced ground material rises and scatters in the seawater. Therefore, there exists a problem that seawater suspends and hinders the efficiency of mining work. There are also concerns about environmental problems due to suspension of seawater. Furthermore, the abrasives produced by surface grinding of the seabed deposits have large particle size variations. Therefore, there is a problem that it is necessary to classify the ground object when it is transported to or near the sea.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made paying attention to such problems, and is a method for mining seabed minerals that can prevent or suppress scattering of seabed minerals mined in the sea, as well as a seabed mineral mining apparatus and a seabed. The objective is to provide a mineral mining system.

  In order to solve the above problems, a method for mining a seabed mineral according to one aspect of the present invention includes a mining process for mining a seabed mineral by forming a bottomed hole by drilling in a seabed deposit, and mining in the mining process. A slurry generating step of making the submarine mineral into a slurry inside the bottomed hole, and a recovery step of recovering the slurry generated in the slurry generating step from the inside of the bottomed hole.

  According to the method for mining submarine minerals according to one aspect of the present invention, since the submarine minerals are mined by drilling by impact force, not by grinding, the mined submarine minerals have a very fine particle size and a uniform particle size. Become. Therefore, it is possible to easily make a slurry without classifying the mined seabed mineral. And while forming a bottomed hole by a drill hole in the seabed deposit, the seabed mineral mined by the drill hole is made into a slurry inside the bottomed hole, so that the slurry seabed mineral is in the bottomed hole. Therefore, the mined seabed minerals are prevented or suppressed from flying up and scattering in the seawater. Furthermore, since the slurry is recovered from the inside of the bottomed hole, it is possible to prevent or suppress scattering of the slurry into the seawater during the pumping.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a seabed mineral mining apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a mining unit that mines seabed minerals by forming a bottomed hole by drilling in a seabed deposit, and the mining unit. It has a slurry generation part which makes mined seabed mineral slurry inside the bottomed hole, and a recovery part which collects slurry generated in the slurry generation part from the inside of the bottomed hole .

  According to the submarine mineral mining apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the mining unit mines the submarine mineral through the drill holes, so that the particle diameter of the mined seabed mineral is very fine and the particle size is uniform. Therefore, it is possible to easily make a slurry without classifying the mined seabed mineral. And since the slurry production | generation part makes the seabed mineral mined by the drilling hole into a slurry inside the bottomed hole, the slurryed seabed mineral is in the bottomed hole. Therefore, the mined seabed minerals are prevented or suppressed from flying up and scattering in the seawater. Furthermore, since the recovery unit recovers the slurry generated by the slurry generation unit from the inside of the bottomed hole, it is possible to prevent or suppress scattering into the seawater at the time of pumping.

  Here, in the submarine mineral mining apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the mining portion is provided with a cylinder, a hammer that is slidably fitted in the cylinder so as to be able to move forward and backward, and a forwardly movable forward of the hammer. A crushing tool for striking, a cylinder front chamber and a cylinder rear chamber defined before and after the hammer, and high pressure water in the cylinder front chamber or the cylinder rear chamber so that the hammer moves forward and backward in the cylinder. A hammer reciprocation switching mechanism for supplying and discharging; and a high-pressure water supply pipe for supplying the high-pressure water to the hammer reciprocation switching mechanism, wherein the slurry generator is discharged through the hammer reciprocation switching mechanism. A mixing channel that mixes water and a seabed mineral mined by a hole drilled by the hammering crushing tool in the bottomed hole; and the recovery unit communicates with the mixing channel and the mixing channel The slurry in Having a collecting pipe for recovering directly from the interior of the serial bottomed hole preferred.

  In order to solve the above problems, a seabed mineral mining system according to one aspect of the present invention is a system for unloading mineral resources mined on the seabed to the sea, and a seawater mining base disposed on the sea. An underwater mining base installed in the sea and standing on the seabed; and a submarine mineral that is placed in the undersea mining base and drilled while drilling a bottomed hole in the seabed deposit is made into a slurry inside the bottomed hole. A submarine mining device that directly recovers from the bottomed hole, and a pumping unit that connects the offshore mining base and the subsea mining base so that the slurry recovered by the subsea mineral mining device can be transferred to the offshore mining base. It is characterized by that.

  According to the submarine mineral mining system according to one aspect of the present invention, a submarine mining base is equipped with a submarine mineral mining device, and the submarine mineral mining device has a submarine mineral mined by drilling a bottomed hole by a drill hole. A slurry can be formed in the bottom hole. Therefore, it is possible to prevent or suppress the slurry-like seabed mineral from flying up into the seawater and scattering while easily slurrying the mined seabed mineral without classification. In addition, the pumping unit connects the offshore mining base and the subsea mining base so that slurry-like seabed minerals mined by the submarine mining equipment can be transferred from the bottomed hole to the offshore mining base. Spattering into the seawater at the time can also be prevented or suppressed.

  Here, in the submarine mineral mining system according to an aspect of the present invention, the subsea mining base includes a base frame, a plurality of support legs that support the base frame, and a moving mechanism provided on the base frame. It is preferable that the submarine mining device is mounted on the moving frame so as to be movable in at least one of the X direction and the Y direction along the base frame by driving the moving mechanism. .

  Further, in the seabed mineral mining system according to one aspect of the present invention, the seabed mineral mining apparatus includes a guide shell that is fixed to the moving frame and extends in a vertical direction, and a feeding mechanism that is attached to the upper part of the guide shell. A mining device body that is connected to the feed mechanism and moves up and down along the guide shell by driving the feed mechanism, and is connected to a rod of the mining device body and rotates the mining device body together with the rod It is preferable to have a rotation mechanism.

  Further, in the submarine mineral mining system according to one aspect of the present invention, the support leg is fixed to the base frame via a jack mechanism that can slide the support leg up and down and hold the movement position. It is preferable. The base frame preferably includes a plurality of frames combined so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction and a moving mechanism for sliding the plurality of frames in the horizontal direction.

  As described above, according to the present invention, scattering of seabed minerals mined in the sea can be prevented or suppressed.

It is a mimetic diagram explaining one embodiment of the whole composition of the mining system of the seabed mineral concerning one mode of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view of an underwater mining base of the mining system of FIG. 1, in which (a) is a plan view, (b) is a front view of one subsea mining base (however, the seabed deposit is an image of a cross section) In the following, the same applies to the front view)). It is a typical perspective view explaining one Embodiment of the subsea mining base of FIG. It is a typical front view explaining the submarine mineral mining apparatus with which an underwater mining base is equipped. It is explanatory drawing (hammer advance state) of the mining apparatus main body of the seabed mineral mining apparatus of FIG. 4, The vertical cross section containing an axis line is shown in the figure. It is explanatory drawing (hammer retreat state) of the mining apparatus main body of the seabed mineral mining apparatus of FIG. 4, In the same figure, the longitudinal cross section containing an axis line is shown. It is explanatory drawing of the submarine mineral mining method by the mining system of FIG. 1, The figure (a) shows the front view of one subsea mining base, (b) has each shown the planar view of the seabed deposit. It is explanatory drawing of the submarine mineral mining method by the mining system of FIG. 1, The figure (a) shows the front view of one subsea mining base, (b) has each shown the planar view of the seabed deposit. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the modification of the seabed mineral mining apparatus which concerns on 1 aspect of this invention. It is a schematic plan view ((a)-(c)) of the modification of the underwater mining base which concerns on 1 aspect of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. The drawings are schematic. For this reason, it should be noted that the relationship between the thickness and the planar dimension, the ratio, and the like are different from the actual ones, and the dimensional relationship and the ratio are different between the drawings. Further, the following embodiments exemplify apparatuses and methods for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the technical idea of the present invention is the material, shape, structure, and arrangement of components. Etc. are not specified in the following embodiments.

First, the overall configuration of the mining system of this embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the mining system includes a mining mother ship 1 that is disposed on the sea SL as a marine mining base, and a mining station 20 and a pumping unit 4 that are disposed on the seabed SB. In this mining system, a plurality of mining stations 20 is used as an underwater mining base. Each mining station 20 is equipped with a plurality of submarine mineral mining devices 30 (hereinafter also referred to as “mining devices 30”).
Each mining device 30 is configured to be able to form a dredging hole that is a bottomed hole by a hole drilled in the seabed deposit OD. Each mining device 30 is configured to be able to mine seabed minerals in the form of a slurry in a pit. In this mining system, the slurry-like submarine minerals mined by each mining device 30 are transferred to the undersea mining unit 4 via the suction pipe 5, and the mining unit 4 passes through the mining pipe 6. The mining mother ship 1 is configured to be pumped.

  Specifically, in the example of the present embodiment, the mining mother ship 1, the construction placement mother ship 2, and the transport ship 3 are anchored at the sea SL in the target sea area. The construction placement mother ship 2 is a construction placement mother ship for transporting the mining unit 4 and the mining station 20 and placing them on the seabed SB. The erection and placement mother ship 2 is equipped with a working machine 11 such as a crane for laying and placing the ore unit 4 and the mining station 20 on the seabed SB. The construction placement mother ship 2 transports the mining station 20 to a predetermined position of the seabed deposit OD, and hangs the mining station 20 with the wire 11w of the work machine 11 and stands on the seabed SB. Similarly, the erection and placement mother ship 2 arranges the ore unit 4 at an appropriate position on the seabed SB.

  The mining mother ship 1 is equipped with a generator 12 and a storage 13 and a control computer (not shown). The reservoir 13 is placed on the ship in a replaceable manner. The control computer and the generator 12 are connected to the mining station 20 and the mining unit 4 arranged on the seabed SB via the umbilical cable 8, and are necessary for the operation of the mining station 20 and the mining device 30 and the mining unit 4. Power and control signals can be supplied.

  The pumping unit 4 includes a pump 25 for pumping and a classifier 27 having a cyclone device. The classifier 27 is connected at its discharge side to the suction side of the pumping pump 25 inside the pumping unit 4. The suction side of the classifier 27 is connected to the mining station 20 via the suction pipe 5. The suction pipe 5 is filled with seawater. One end of the discharge pipe 7 is connected to the classifier 27, and the other end of the discharge pipe 7 is piped to a mineral return place that is not required for classification. Note that flexible pipes are used for the suction pipe 5, the pumping pipe 6, and the discharge pipe 7.

  The pumping pump 25 is connected to the mining mother ship 1 through the pumping pipe 6. The pumping pipe 6 is a cylindrical pipe line having flexibility for pumping the slurry-like mineral mined at the mining station 20 to the mining mother ship 1. The pumping pipe 6 is filled with seawater. The upper part of the uplift pipe 6 reaches the mining mother ship 1 of the offshore SL and is connected to the reservoir 13 through the bottom of the mining mother ship 1. The reservoir 13 stores the slurry-like mineral pumped from the pumping pipe 6 by the pumping pump 25. The transport ship 3 replaces the reservoir 13 with the mining mother ship 1 and transfers the seabed minerals that have been pumped to the mining mother ship 1 to a necessary place.

Next, the mining station 20 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 2, the mining station 20 includes a base frame 21 having a rectangular frame shape. The base frame 21 is supported by a plurality of (four legs in this example) support legs 26 at the four corners of the frame. Each support leg 26 is fixed to the base frame 21 via a jack mechanism 49. The jack mechanism 49 has a motor, a speed reduction mechanism, and a rack and pinion mechanism (not shown). The rack is formed along the axial direction of the support leg 26. The jack mechanism 49 can slide the support leg 26 in the vertical direction (Z direction) and can hold the movement position by driving the rack and pinion mechanism via a speed reduction mechanism with a motor.

  In this example, as shown in FIG. 3, two moving frames 43 are stretched over the base frame 21 along the X direction. The moving frame 43 has, for example, a truss structure. Both ends of each moving frame 43 are supported by the base frame 21 via the Y-direction moving mechanism 44. The Y-direction moving mechanism 44 includes a motor, a speed reduction mechanism, and a rack and pinion mechanism (not shown). The moving frame 43 is moved along the base frame 21 by driving the rack and pinion mechanism via the speed reduction mechanism with the motor. The slide movement is possible in the Y direction.

  A guide shell 48 is vertically disposed on each moving frame 43. The guide shell 48 constitutes a feed mechanism in the Z direction of the mining device 30. The guide shell 48 is supported by the moving frame 43 via the X-direction moving mechanism 52. The X-direction moving mechanism 52 includes a motor, a speed reduction mechanism, and a rack and pinion mechanism (not shown), and the guide shell 48 is moved along the moving frame 43 by driving the rack and pinion mechanism via the speed reduction mechanism. It can slide in the X direction.

Further, the base frame 21 is provided with a power unit 45 and a suction chamber 51. The umbilical cable 8 is connected to the power unit 45. In the power unit 45, in order to drive the mining station 20 and the mining device 30, a high pressure water supply pump (not shown), a motor for driving the high pressure water supply pump, and a control for controlling the operation of the entire mining station 20 are controlled. And built-in part.
As a result, each mining station 20 receives power and control signals supplied from the mining mother ship 1 via the umbilical cable 8 to the power unit 45. The power unit 45 controls the attitude of the mining station 20 by driving the jack mechanism 49 based on a command from the control computer on the mining mother ship 1 side.
Further, the guide shell 48 is moved in the X direction and the Y direction by driving the X-direction moving mechanism 52 and the Y-direction moving mechanism 44, and the seawater taken is mined as high-pressure water by driving the high-pressure water supply pump. 30, and the mining device 30 provided on the guide shell 48 can be driven.

Next, the mining apparatus 30 equipped in the mining station 20 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 4, the guide shell 48 is equipped with a mining device 30 via a slider 46. A slide moving mechanism 47 that slides the slider 46 in the Z direction along the guide shell 48 is provided above the guide shell 48. The slide moving mechanism 47 has a motor, a speed reduction mechanism, and a rack and pinion mechanism (not shown), and drives the rack and pinion mechanism via the speed reduction mechanism by the motor, thereby moving the slider 46 along the guide shell 48 in the Z direction. The slide can be moved.

  The mining device 30 has a housing portion 71 attached to the slider 46. The housing portion 71 incorporates a rotation drive mechanism and a swivel (not shown). The upper part of the housing part 71 is connected to the high-pressure water supply pump of the power unit 45 through the high-pressure water supply pipe 9. Further, one end of a suction pipe 5 for sucking slurry-like mineral mined by driving the mining device 30 is connected to the side surface of the housing portion 71. The other end of the suction pipe 5 is connected to the classifier 27 through the suction chamber 51.

Next, the configuration of the mining device main body of the mining device 30 will be described in more detail.
As shown in an enlarged view of the portion of the mining device main body in FIG. 5, the mining device 30 is equipped with the mining device main body 10 in a portion ahead of the double tube rod 40. The mining device main body 10 includes a cylindrical cylinder 31. A substantially cylindrical cylinder liner 33 is fitted on the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder 31. A water passage hole 32 is formed between the cylinder 31 and the cylinder liner 33 along the axial direction of the cylinder 31.

  A substantially cylindrical hammer 34 is held in the cylinder liner 33 so as to be slidable back and forth. The rear end of the cylinder 31 is connected to the double tube rod 40 of the mining device 30 via a connecting member 35. The double tube rod 40 is composed of a double tube having an outer tube 40a and an inner tube 40b coaxially. A water supply path 40c is formed in a gap between the outer cylinder 40a and the inner cylinder 40b. The upstream side of the water supply path 40 c is connected to the high-pressure water supply pipe 9 through the swivel of the housing part 71. The high-pressure water supply pipe 9 is connected to the discharge side of the high-pressure water supply pump provided in the power unit 45 of the mining station 20. The downstream side of the water supply path 40 c communicates with the water supply path 35 c inside the connecting member 35.

  A cylinder bush 36 is inserted between the rear end side of the cylinder 31 and the front end surface of the connecting member 35. A ring 39 for forming a cylinder rear chamber 42 is inserted on the front side of the cylinder bush 36. Thus, a cylinder rear chamber 42 is defined between the ring 39 and the rear portion of the hammer 34. The cylinder bush 36 is provided with a communication hole 36c communicating with the water supply passage 35c along the axial direction.

  At the front end of the cylinder 31, a bit 50 that is a crushing tool for striking is mounted. A cylinder front chamber 41 is defined between the rear end of the bit 50 and the front portion of the hammer 34. The bit 50 is mounted so as to block the front side surface of the cylinder front chamber 41 and to receive a striking force from the hammer 34 at its rear end so that it can reciprocate for a predetermined stroke in the axial direction. A plurality of control grooves 34 a and 34 c and a communication channel 34 b are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the hammer 34.

  In the cylinder 31, a first water inlet hole 31 b is formed between the front side of the cylinder bush 36 and the ring 39. The first water inlet hole 31 b allows the communication hole 36 c of the cylinder bush 36 to communicate with the communication hole 33 e at the rear end of the cylinder liner 33. The communication hole 33 e of the cylinder liner 33 communicates with the water passage hole 32. The water passage hole 32 communicates the control grooves 34a and 34c of the hammer 34 at the intended positions with the plurality of communication holes 33a to 33d of the cylinder liner 33 according to the position of the hammer 34 in the axial direction. The hammer reciprocating switching mechanism is configured to supply and discharge high-pressure water to the cylinder front chamber 41 or the cylinder rear chamber 42 so that the hammer 34 moves forward and backward in the cylinder 31.

Further, a cylindrical sleeve 38 is provided coaxially with the cylinder 31 in the cylinder 31. In the sleeve 38, a suction hole 38t is formed so as to penetrate along the axial direction. In the sleeve 38, a step portion formed at the rear portion thereof is inserted into the cylinder bush 36 and the ring 39 so that the axial position is maintained. The rear end of the suction hole 38 t of the sleeve 38 communicates with the front end of the suction hole 40 t of the inner tube 40 b of the double tube rod 40 via the suction hole 35 t of the connecting member 35.
An intermediate portion of the sleeve 38 is inserted through a communication hole 34d formed through the hammer 34 with a gap therebetween, and a front end portion of the sleeve 38 is formed between the communication hole 50d formed through the bit 50 with a gap therebetween. Inserted. In the sleeve 38, a radial gap inserted into the hammer 34 and the bit 50 serves as a drainage passage 38 a from the cylinder front chamber 41 and the cylinder rear chamber 42.

  The sleeve 38 is provided with a discharge hole 38g at a position on the distal end side of the drainage passage 38a. The discharge hole 38 g is inclined rearward from the outer periphery of the sleeve 38 toward the central suction hole 38 t and toward the double tube rod 40. A flexible check valve 37 is attached to the suction hole 38t of the sleeve 38 at the outlet of the discharge hole 38g to prevent intrusion of earth and sand into the cylinder front chamber 41.

  A water absorption hole 50k communicating with the suction hole 38t at the center of the sleeve 38 is opened at the front end of the bit 50. As a result, the mining device 30 generates a negative pressure in the water suction hole 50k due to the flow velocity of the high-pressure water discharged backward from the discharge hole 38g toward the suction hole 38t, and the seabed mineral sucked from the water suction hole 50k is It is mixed with seawater in the suction hole 38t.

  Therefore, according to this mining device 30, the seabed mineral crushed by the drill hole can be sucked into the mining device 30 by the drainage flow and mixed with seawater inside the suction hole 38t to generate a slurry. Further, according to the mining device 30, the generated slurry can be recovered from the suction hole 40 t of the inner cylinder 40 b of the double tube rod 40. Further, the pump 25 for pumping is connected to the upper end of the inner cylinder 40b of the double pipe rod 40 via the suction pipe 5 and sucks the seabed minerals crushed by the drill holes from the water suction holes 50k of the bit 50, The mining mother ship 1 can be pumped.

Next, the procedure for pumping minerals from the seabed deposit OD by the above-described mining system, and the operation and effect of the seabed mineral mining system and the seabed mineral mining method by the mining apparatus 30 will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 1, the mining mother ship 1 and the erection and placement mother ship 2 are anchored on the sea SL in the target sea area. Next, using the work machine 11 such as a crane installed in the laying arrangement mother ship 2, the mining station 20 and the ore unit 4 are lowered into the sea, and the equipment of the seabed SB is arranged so that these equipments are arranged as shown in FIG. Install in an appropriate position. Prior to or after installation of these equipment, necessary piping and wiring such as the suction pipe 5, the pumping pipe 6 and the discharge pipe 7, and the umbilical cable 8 are performed, and each pipe is filled with seawater.

  After the equipment is installed, necessary power and control signals are supplied from the mining mother ship 1 to the power unit 45 and the mining unit 4 via the umbilical cable 8, and the mining station 20, the mining device 30 and the mining unit 4 are driven. Seabed minerals are crushed while drilling a hole VH, which is a bottomed hole, in the seabed deposit OD. In this embodiment, when the mining station 20 is arranged on the seabed deposit OD, the support legs 26 at the four corners of the base frame 21 are jacked so that the posture of the base frame 21 is horizontal according to the uneven shape of the seabed SB. It is slid up and down by the mechanism 49.

Here, the high-pressure water supplied from the high-pressure water supply pump provided in the base frame 21 of the mining station 20 is between the inner tube 40b and the outer tube 40a of the double tube rod 40 of the mining device 30 in FIG. The water enters the water passage 32 through the water supply passage 40c, the water supply passage 35c of the connecting member 35, the first water introduction hole 31b, and the communication hole 33e.
The high-pressure water that has entered the water passage hole 32 is introduced into the hammer reciprocation switching mechanism. In the hammer reciprocation switching mechanism, the high-pressure water in the hammer advance state passes through the communication hole 33 b of the cylinder liner 33, the control groove 34 a, the communication holes 33 c to 32 L to 33 d in this order, and enters the cylinder front chamber 41 at the front end of the hammer 34. At this time, the control groove 34 c is blocked by the communication hole 33 a and the outer peripheral surface of the hammer 34. As a result, the hammer 34 moves backward (moves upward in FIG. 5).

  As the hammer 34 moves backward, the seawater in the cylinder rear chamber 42 behind the hammer 34 passes through the drainage passage 38a and is discharged from the discharge hole 38g through the check valve 37 toward the suction hole 38t.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, when the hammer 34 reaches the retreat limit, the water passage hole 33 b formed in the cylinder liner 33 is blocked by the outer peripheral surface of the hammer 34. On the other hand, the water passage hole 33 a communicates with a control groove 34 c formed on the outer peripheral surface of the hammer 34. Therefore, the high-pressure water from the water passage hole 32 of the cylinder 31 flows into the cylinder rear chamber 42 on the rear side of the hammer 34.
Due to the flow of the high-pressure water into the cylinder rear chamber 42, the hammer 34 turns from backward to forward, and strikes the rear end face of the bit 50 at the desired strike position. The hit bit 50 applies an impact force to the hole surface drilled by the tip 50b at the tip, and crushes the seabed mineral.

As the high-pressure water is continuously supplied from the high-pressure water supply pump to the mining device 30, the hammer 34 repeatedly strikes the rear end surface of the bit 50 by the above-described reciprocation. Then, along with striking the drill surface with the bit 50, the feed mechanism 47 provided in the guide shell 48 drives the mining device 30, and the rotation mechanism of the housing portion 71 rotates the mining device 30. Is made.
Therefore, according to the mining device 30, it is possible to continue the mining of the seabed mineral while forming the pit VH by the hole drilled in the seabed deposit OD. And according to this mining apparatus 30, since the own mining apparatus main body 10 exists in the dredging hole VH, the drilling hole can be advanced while the opening side of the dredging hole VH is closed. Therefore, the crushed powder of the seabed mineral is prevented or suppressed from flowing into the sea. Therefore, suspension of seawater is prevented or suppressed (corresponding to the mining part and mining process).

  According to the mining device 30, the water suction hole 50 k communicating with the suction hole 38 t of the sleeve 38 is opened at the front end of the bit 50, and the suction hole 38 t is directed toward the double tube rod 40. Since it is opened along the inclined discharge hole 38g, a negative pressure is generated in the water suction hole 50k due to the flow velocity of the high-pressure water passing through the suction hole 38t. Thereby, the seabed mineral crushed by the drill hole is sucked from the water suction hole 50k of the bit 50, and the sucked seabed mineral can be mixed with seawater in the suction hole 38t.

  Here, if the holes are drilled by an impact force, the crushed submarine minerals generated by the holes are very fine in particle size and uniform in particle size. Therefore, according to the mining device 30, the crushed seabed mineral generated by the drilling holes can be sucked by the action of the drainage flow to be a slurry mixed with seawater inside the suction hole 38 t of the mining device 30 (slurry generation). Part, corresponding to slurry generation process).

  Further, according to the mining device 30, the suction hole 38 t of the sleeve 38 is directly introduced into the suction pipe 5 via the suction hole 40 t of the inner tube 40 b of the double tube rod 40, and the ore unit 4 is connected to the mining device 30. The slurry-like mineral mined in step 1 can be sucked from the suction pipe 5 together with seawater. Therefore, it is possible to prevent or suppress the slurry-like seabed mineral from flying up into the seawater and scattering (corresponding to the recovery unit and the recovery process).

Next, the slurry-like mineral sucked through the suction pipe 5 is transferred to the classifier 27. The classifier 27 separates desired minerals from unnecessary minerals by centrifugal force due to the specific gravity difference of the mineral particles. As shown in FIG. 1, the minerals that are made unnecessary in the classification are guided to the seabed return place through the discharge pipe 7 connected to the classifier 27.
On the other hand, among the separated slurry-like minerals, a mineral having a desired specific gravity is sent to the pumping pump 25 and is pumped to the storage 13 of the mining mother ship 1 through the pumping pipe 6. In the mining mother ship 1, when storing in the reservoir 13, the slurry-like mineral is separated from seawater, the seabed mineral is stored inside the reservoir 13, and the separated seawater is discharged into the sea.

Each mining station 20 retreats the mining device 30 after mining to the maximum drilling depth of each mining device 30 and then moves the mining device 30 in the XY plane, as shown in FIG. -Drill holes sequentially to scan the entire Y plane. The movement in the XY plane and the drilled hole after the movement may be automatically performed by a computer as in this embodiment, or the operator manually operates the operator while monitoring the status of each mining station 20. You may go by.
In particular, according to the mining device 30 and the pumping method using the seabed mineral mining system provided with the mining apparatus 30, when the operator performs manual operation while monitoring, the seafloor mineral is prevented from being scattered in the seawater. It is suitable for improving the efficiency of the mining operation.

Here, the mining station 20 can mine a wide range at the same time using a plurality of units as in the above embodiment, but the diameter of the bit to be mounted varies from a small diameter to a large diameter. Can be used.
For example, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), after mining at the mining station 20 to which the small-diameter bit 50 is attached, the other region having the large-diameter bit 50B attached to the same region as shown in FIG. Further mining can be performed at the mining station 20 or the same mining station 20 replaced with the large-diameter bit 50B.

  In this way, according to the mining apparatus 30 and the pumping method using the seabed mineral mining system equipped with the mining apparatus 30, since the slurry-like seabed mineral is in the pit VH, the seabed mineral soars into the seawater and scatters. Is prevented or suppressed. Furthermore, since the mining system of this embodiment introduces slurry-like seabed minerals mined by the mining device 30 directly into the suction pipe 5 from the inside of the pit VH, it prevents or suppresses scattering into the seawater during uplifting. be able to.

  The seabed mineral mining method, the seabed mineral mining apparatus, and the seabed mineral mining system according to the present invention are not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Of course it is possible.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the mining mother ship 1 has been described as an example of the offshore mining base. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the slurry-like mineral is transported to the reservoir 13 provided in the mining mother ship 1 is described. If it is transported directly from inside a certain pit VH, it may be pumped or stored or classified near the sea or below the sea surface (for example, a reservoir is provided near the bottom of the ship).
Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the hole VH is drilled as an example of the bottomed hole has been described, but the bottomed hole according to the present invention is not limited to the vertical direction of the axis. That is, the present invention only needs to form a bottomed hole by drilling holes, make the seabed mineral a slurry inside the bottomed hole, and recover the slurry from the inside of the bottomed hole. Therefore, the bottomed hole according to the present invention may be a horizontal hole whose axis is horizontal, or the axis may be oblique.

  In the above embodiment, for example, the pumping unit 4 has the classifier 27, and the classifier 27 classifies the slurry-like mineral in the sea. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention relates to the present invention. According to the mining device, the mined mineral is in the form of a slurry, and the particle diameter is very fine and the particle size becomes uniform. Therefore, the mining may be carried out without classifying the slurry-like seabed mineral.

Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the mining device 30 has been described as an example having the double tube rod 40 having the outer tube 40a and the inner tube 40b. However, the embodiment is not limited thereto, for example, as shown in FIG. The mining device may be configured using a single tube rod.
That is, as shown in the figure, this mining device 130 has a single-tube rod 57, and the mining device main body 100 is mounted in front of the rod 57. The mining device main body 100 has a cylinder 56 connected to the tip of a rod 57 by a taper screw portion 56a. A check valve 51, a hammer 54, and a bit 50 are housed in the cylinder 56 in order from above, and a cylinder front chamber 52 and a cylinder rear chamber 53 are defined before and after the hammer 54.

  The high-pressure water that drives the mining device 130 is supplied from the high-pressure water supply pump 9 through the high-pressure water supply pipe 9 to the housing portion 71 at the upper end of the rod 57 as in the above embodiment. The supplied high-pressure water is supplied to the cylinder front chamber 52 or the cylinder front chamber 52 so as to move the hammer 54 back and forth in the cylinder 56 by a hammer reciprocating switching mechanism formed on the inner and outer peripheral surfaces of the cylinder 56 and the hammer 54 as in the above embodiment. It is supplied to and discharged from the cylinder rear chamber 53. Further, the rod 57 is rotated and fed by the feed mechanism 47 installed on the guide shell 48 and the rotation mechanism of the housing portion 71 as in the above embodiment.

  Here, the mining device 130 is provided on the cylinder 56 so that the foot pad 58 can be pressed toward the drilling hole and slidable along the axial direction so as to surround the periphery of the drilling hole. Yes. A suction pipe 5 for mining slurry as a seabed mineral resource is connected to the upper side surface of the foot pad 58.

In the mining device 130, the high-pressure water passes through the upper check valve 51, and is supplied and discharged to the cylinder front chamber 52 and the cylinder rear chamber 53 by the hammer reciprocating switching mechanism to drive the hammer 54 forward and backward. Drills a hole VH, which is a bottomed hole, in the seabed deposit OD by the impact of hitting the bit 50 (corresponding to the mining part and mining process).
The high-pressure water after hitting is discharged to the tip of the bit through a suction hole 50a provided in the shaft center of the bit 50. The seabed mineral mined by the drill hole is mixed with seawater in the pit VH to become a slurry (slurry Corresponding to the production section and slurry production process).

  And the slurry produced | generated in the coffin hole VH is the clearance gap between the outer side of the cylinder 56, and a drill hole inner wall VHn, or the rod 57 outer side extended in the seawater in contact with the drill hole inner wall VHn, and the hole inner wall VHn. And is directly collected from the inside of the foot hole VH through the suction pipe 5 from the inside of the foot pad 58 (corresponding to the collecting unit and the collecting step). Therefore, even if it is a structure like this mining apparatus 130, the scattering of the mining mineral in the sea can be prevented or suppressed.

  Further, for example, in the above embodiment, the example in which the mining station 20 does not move by itself has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, as illustrated in FIG. You can also. That is, as shown in FIG. 2A, the mining station 120 is composed of three base frames including a first base frame 21A, a second base frame 21B, and a third base frame 21M. ing.

The first base frame 21A and the second base frame 21B are made of a U-shaped frame. The first and second frames 21 </ b> A and 21 </ b> B are respectively provided with support legs 26 at two corners having a U-shape via a jack mechanism 49 as in the above embodiment.
The U-shaped width of the first base frame 21A is narrower than the U-shaped width of the second base frame 21B. The first base frame 21A and the second base frame 21B are opposed to each other so that the U-shaped opening portions of the frames 21A and 21B can be combined. The horizontal frames of the mutual frames 21A and 21B are engaged with each other on a facing surface via a first rack and pinion mechanism (not shown) and a first slide guide device such as a linear guide. By driving the first rack and pinion mechanism with a motor, it can slide relative to the X direction.

  The third base frame 21M is formed in an I shape from a vertical frame extending in the Y direction. The third base frame 21M is provided with support legs 26 at both ends of the I-shape via jack mechanisms 49 as in the above embodiment. The third base frame 21M includes a Y-direction moving mechanism and a guide shell 48, and the guide shell 48 can be slid along the moving frame 43 in the Y direction. The guide shell 48 is equipped with a mining device similar to the above embodiment.

  The third base frame 21M is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the horizontal frame with respect to the first base frame 21A and the second base frame 21B. The third base frame 21M is opposed to the horizontal frames of the first and second frames 21A and 21B via a second slide guide device such as a second rack and pinion mechanism and a linear guide (not shown). The second rack and pinion mechanism is driven by a second motor (not shown) so as to be relatively slidable in the X direction.

  When moving in the mining station 120, as shown in FIG. 5B, first, the jack mechanism 49 of the first base frame 21A is driven to drive the two support legs of the first base frame 21A. 26 is moved upward to be in an unsupported state. Next, the first rack and pinion mechanism is driven by the first motor, thereby causing the first base frame 21A to slide relative to the second base frame 21B in the positive direction of the X direction. After the slide movement, the first motor is stopped, the jack mechanism 49 is driven, and the two support legs 26 of the first base frame 21A are moved downward to be in the support state.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, first, the jack mechanism 49 of the second base frame 21B is driven, and the two support legs 26 of the second base frame 21B are moved upward to be unsupported. State. Next, the first rack and pinion mechanism is driven by the first motor, thereby causing the second base frame 21B to slide relative to the first base frame 21A in the positive direction of the X direction. After the slide movement, the first motor is stopped, the jack mechanism 49 is driven, and the two support legs 26 of the second base frame 21B are moved downward to be in the support state.

Next, the jack mechanism 49 of the third base frame 21M is driven, and the two support legs 26 of the third base frame 21M are moved upward to be in an unsupported state. Next, the second rack and pinion mechanism is driven by the second motor, whereby the third base frame 21M is made to be relative to the first and second base frames 21A and 21B in the positive direction of the X direction. Slide. After the slide movement, the second motor is stopped, the jack mechanism 49 is driven, and the two support legs 26 of the third base frame 21M are moved downward to be in the support state. As a result, the entire three base frames 21A, 21B, and 21M are in the state shown in FIG.
Therefore, according to the mining station 120, the entire mining station 120 can be moved in the X direction by moving the three base frames 21A, 21B, and 21M sequentially as described above. When the slide is moved, the base frames 21A and 21B are overhanging in a cantilever state, but the horizontal posture is maintained because the base frames 21A and 21B are engaged with each other on the opposing surface via the slide guide device.

The third base frame 21M has a Y-direction moving mechanism, and can slide the guide shell 48 in the Y direction along the moving frame 43, as in the above embodiment. Since the mining device 30 similar to the above embodiment is equipped, the mining device 30 can be driven while appropriately moving in the Y direction at a timing when the third base frame 21M is not moved.
Therefore, even in such a configuration, it is possible to move in the X direction and the Y direction, and the seabed mineral is mined while forming the bottom hole with the drilled hole, and the seabed mineral is slurried in the hole. In addition, the slurry can be recovered directly from the inside of the well.

1 Mining mother ship (offshore mining base)
2 Mothership for construction 3 Transport ship 4 Pumping unit 5 Suction pipe 6 Pumping pipe 7 Discharge pipe 8 Umbilical cable 9 High pressure water supply pipe 10 Mining equipment main body 11 Working machine 12 Generator 13 Storage 13 Mining station (underwater mining base)
21 Base frame 25 Pump for pumping 26 Support leg 27 Classifier 30 Mining device 31 Cylinder 32 Water passage hole 33 Cylinder liner 34 Hammer 35 Connecting member 36 Cylinder bushing 37 Check valve 38 Sleeve 39 Ring 40 Double pipe rod 41 Cylinder front chamber 42 Cylinder rear chamber 43 Moving frame 45 Power unit 48 Guide shell 49 Jack mechanism 50 Bit 71 Housing part SL Marine SB Seabed OD Seabed deposit VH Drainage hole (bottomed hole)

Claims (8)

  A mining process for mining seabed minerals by forming a bottomed hole by drilling holes in the seabed deposit, a slurry generating process for slurrying the seabed mineral mined in the mining process inside the bottomed hole, and the slurry And a recovery step of recovering the slurry generated in the generation step from the inside of the bottomed hole.   A mining part for mining seabed minerals by forming a bottomed hole by drilling holes in the seabed deposit, a slurry generating part for slurrying the seabed mineral mined in the mined part inside the bottomed hole, and the slurry A seabed mineral mining apparatus, comprising: a recovery unit that recovers the slurry generated by the generation unit from the inside of the bottomed hole.   The mining part is defined in front of and behind the cylinder, a hammer that is slidably fitted inside the cylinder, a hammering crushing tool that can be moved forward and backward in front of the hammer, and a hammer. A cylinder front chamber and a cylinder rear chamber; a hammer reciprocation switching mechanism for supplying and discharging high-pressure water to the cylinder front chamber or the cylinder rear chamber so that the hammer moves forward and backward in the cylinder; and the hammer reciprocation switching mechanism A high-pressure water supply pipe for supplying the high-pressure water, and the slurry generating unit is a seabed mined by high-pressure water discharged through the hammer reciprocation switching mechanism and a hole formed by the crushing tool for striking A recovery pipe that mixes the mineral with the bottomed hole, and the recovery unit communicates with the mixing path and recovers the slurry in the mixed path directly from the inside of the bottomed hole Claims with roads Seabed mineral mining apparatus according to. A system that pumps mineral resources mined on the sea floor to the sea,
An offshore mining base located on the sea, an undersea mining base placed on the sea and standing on the seabed, and an offshore mineral mined while drilling a bottomed hole in the undersea mining base. A submarine mineral mining device that directly collects slurry from the bottomed hole into a slurry inside the bottomed hole, and the offshore mining base and the subsea mining base so that the slurry recovered by the submarine mineral mining device can be transferred to the offshore mining base A mining system for submarine minerals, characterized in that it has an uplifting unit that connects the two. The subsea mining base includes a base frame, a plurality of support legs that support the base frame, and a moving frame that is provided on the base frame and is movable by a moving mechanism.
5. The seabed mineral mining system according to claim 4, wherein the seabed mineral mining device is attached to the moving frame so as to be movable in at least one of the X direction and the Y direction along the base frame by driving the moving mechanism. .   The submarine mineral mining device includes a guide shell fixed to the moving frame and extending in the vertical direction, a feeding mechanism attached to the upper part of the guide shell, and a driving mechanism coupled to the feeding mechanism. The seabed mineral mining system according to claim 5, comprising a mining device main body that moves up and down along the guide shell, and a rotating mechanism that is connected to a rod of the mining device main body and rotates the mining device main body together with the rod. .   The submarine mineral mining system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the support leg is fixed to the base frame via a jack mechanism capable of sliding the support leg up and down and holding the movement position.   The submarine mining system according to claim 7, wherein the base frame includes a plurality of frames combined so as to be slidable in the horizontal direction and a moving mechanism for sliding the plurality of frames in the horizontal direction. .

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