JP2016205074A - Water bottom surface layer resource collection device and collection method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable water bottom surface layer resource in a stratum containing many mineral resources existing in the water bottom surface layer to be easily collected at lower cost.SOLUTION: A digging chamber 11, which is surrounded by a cylindrical trunk part facing in vertical direction and a ceiling part closing an upper end of the trunk part and has an open lower end, is disposed in a steel box digging container body 1 that opens at its lower end. Drilling means 31, which crushes and drills a surface of a layer containing resource of a water bottom surface layer part, is disposed in a lower end opening of the digging chamber. A lifting pipe 16 leading to a collection support vessel A on a water surface is in communication with the ceiling part. Surplus soil that was drilled and crushed by the drilling means can be transported to the collection support vessel along with water in the digging chamber through the lifting pipe. The lifting pipe is equipped with a lifting machine 13, which lifts water in the lifting pipe. The digging container body can horizontally move using self-running means 43.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a bottom surface resource collection method and apparatus for collecting bottom surface resources such as methane gas from a mud layer or methane hydrate containing a rare earth existing at a high concentration in the surface layer of the bottom.

  In recent years, a technique for collecting methane gas from the methane hydrate (Methane Hydrate) existing in the surface layer of the submarine ground or in the ground has been developed.

  Methane hydrate is a sorbent ice mass (crystal) that freezes with water when methane gas trapped in water meets conditions at various depths in the surface of the seabed and in the ground. The methane gas can be separated and extracted from the ice block by breaking the stable conditions of methane hydrate, that is, the conditions of temperature and pressure for maintaining the stability.

  However, excavation of the bottom of the water of several hundred to several thousand meters, and the extraction of methane gas that destabilizes the methane hydrate existing at the depth of the bottom surface of the ground and the depth of 1000m in the ground, Substituting fossil fuels requires too much mining costs and is difficult to realize.

  On the other hand, in recent years, a cylindrical vessel having a lower end is used, and this is penetrated into the methane hydrate layer, and the methane hydrate in the lower end is excavated by a water jet, and the methane gas is dissociated in the upper portion of the vessel. Thus, a method has been developed in which water having a high methane gas concentration is pumped from the container to the ship and the methane gas separated from the high concentration water is collected (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  In addition, an umbrella-shaped collector is placed on the upper surface of the methane hydrate exposed on the surface of the bottom of the water, and the methane hydrate is destabilized by energization or mechanical excavation in the collector, and the gas generated by this is destabilized. A method has been proposed in which water contained in a high concentration is carried on a ship through a pipe and gas is collected (Patent Document 3).

Japanese Patent No. 5294110 Japanese Patent No. 5365865 Japanese Patent No. 3395008

  As shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above, a method of drilling a tubular container having a lower end opened to a methane hydrate layer at the bottom of the water and excavating the methane hydrate inside the container with a water jet, or an umbrella In the method of destabilizing methane hydrate by placing a cylindrical collector on the upper surface of the methane hydrate layer, the excavation range is limited to the bore of a cylindrical vessel or collector (hereinafter referred to as a sampling vessel), so to speak. The gas will be collected while forming the vertical excavation holes in the form of dots.

  In addition, in the deep sea of 300m to several thousand meters, it is difficult to move the collection container regularly, so the work efficiency of methane collection is low, and there is a large amount of methane hydrate uncollected. There were problems such as difficulty.

  In view of the conventional problems as described above, the present invention makes it easy to mine subsurface resources such as geological layers containing a large amount of rare mineral resources such as methane hydrate and rare earth existing in the surface of the bottom of the water. Therefore, it was made for the purpose of providing an underwater surface layer resource collection device and a collection method that are efficient and low in mining cost.

  The invention of claim 1 for solving the above-mentioned conventional problem has a steel box-made mining device main body whose lower side is released, and a cylindrical barrel oriented in the vertical direction in the mining device main body. A mining chamber that is surrounded by an upper portion and a ceiling portion whose upper end is closed, and whose lower end is released, and in the lower end opening of the mining chamber, the mining body is submerged in the bottom of the water surface The excavation means for excavating while crushing the surface of the resource-containing layer is connected to the ceiling of the mining chamber, and a pumping pipe leading to a sampling support ship on the water surface is communicated with the excavated material excavated and crushed by the excavating means. The pumping pipe can be carried out with the water in the excavation chamber together with the water in the excavation chamber, and the pumping pipe is provided with a pumping machine that raises the water in the pumping pipe. To move Comprising a self-propelled unit which can, by the free-run means, there the mining body to the sea bed surface resource extraction apparatus that can be moved horizontally.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the excavating means is an excavator that excavates a water bottom surface in a ring shape along the inner periphery of the lower end of the mining chamber.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the second aspect, the excavator is supported by a guide rail provided on the inner peripheral surface of the lower end portion of the mining chamber, and the water bottom is excavated in a ring shape while moving along the guide rail. There is in doing so.

  In addition to the structure of any one of claims 1 to 3, the mining tool main body has a double cylindrical body portion including a steel outer cylinder and an inner cylinder. The inside of the inner cylinder is used as the mining chamber, and the space between the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder is used as a buoyancy adjustment cavity that constitutes a buoyancy adjustment device, and poured into and drains into the cavity. The buoyancy is adjusted.

  The invention of claim 5 uses the bottom surface resource collecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and moves the mining tool main body by the self-propelled means and scans the bottom of the water horizontally. There is a method for collecting resources on the bottom surface layer that excavates to a desired depth by repeating the operation of excavating each depth.

  The bottom water surface layer resource collecting device of the present invention has a steel box-made mining device main body whose lower side is released as described in claim 1, and a tubular shape oriented vertically in the mining device main body. A mining chamber surrounded by a trunk portion and a ceiling portion whose upper end is closed and having a lower end opened is integrated, and the bottom surface of the mining device is submerged in the bottom of the water in the lower end opening of the mining chamber. Excavation means for excavating while crushing the surface of the resource-containing layer of the surface layer part, and a pumping pipe communicating with a sampling support ship on the water surface is communicated with the ceiling part of the mining chamber, and excavation excavated and pulverized by the excavation means An object can be carried out to the collection support ship through the pumping pipe together with the water in the excavation chamber, and the pumping pipe is provided with a pump for raising the water in the pumping pipe. Move left and right The self-propelled means is capable of horizontally moving the miner body by means of the self-propelled means, so that the bottom surface resources are excavated in the closed mining chamber, and the polluted water is surrounded by Mining work is done without polluting the bottom of the surrounding sea area.

  In addition, since excavation work is carried out while self-propelled, it is possible to excavate while thoroughly scanning the surface of the bottom surface resources, compared to the conventional method of excavating to a predetermined depth for each fixed point. The surface can be excavated flat and clean.

  In addition, the miner body can be transported on the dock or land production yard, submerged and used at the required location, can be manufactured at low cost, and resource extraction costs can be reduced. The cost performance compared to is good.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the excavating means is an excavator that excavates the bottom surface in a ring shape along the inner periphery of the lower end of the mining chamber. By combining them, it is possible to excavate while scanning the bottom surface of the water with a small amount of power, so that the manufacturing cost of the apparatus can be reduced and the excavation efficiency can be improved.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the excavator is supported by a guide rail provided on the inner peripheral surface of the lower end portion of the mining chamber, and the water bottom is excavated in a ring shape while moving along the guide rail. Therefore, the excavator to be used can be easily manufactured, and can be excavated efficiently with a small number of equipment.

  According to the present invention, the mining tool main body has a double cylindrical body portion composed of a steel outer cylinder and an inner cylinder, and the inside of the inner cylinder serves as the mining chamber. And the space between the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder is a buoyancy adjustment cavity that constitutes the buoyancy adjustment device, and by adjusting the buoyancy of the miner body by pouring and draining into the cavity, Conventional steel shell caisson technology can be used, and there is no technical difficulty in manufacturing the collection container, and a collection container with a highly reliable buoyancy adjustment function can be easily manufactured.

  The invention of claim 5 uses the bottom surface resource collecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and moves the mining tool main body by the self-propelled means and scans the bottom of the water horizontally. By repeating the operation of excavating each depth and excavating to a desired depth, there is little unremaining digging, the surface can be excavated in a flat state, and the mining efficiency is good.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the outline of an example of the bottom water surface resource collection apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a top view same as the above. It is a cross-sectional view of the stirring means part same as the above. It is a side view which shows the jet nozzle of an example of an excavation means same as the above. It is a side view which shows the rotary excavator of the other example of an excavation means same as the above. It is a side view which shows the outline of the bottom water surface layer resource collection method of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The figure shows an example in which the bottom surface resource collecting apparatus according to the present invention is used to collect methane gas from methane hydrate on the bottom surface layer. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a miner body. The miner main body 1 has a hollow cylindrical body 2, and is formed in a cylindrical shape whose lower end is opened and whose upper end is closed by a ceiling plate 3.

  The body 2 has a double-wall structure composed of a steel plate-like inner cylinder 2a and an outer cylinder 2b, the cylinders 2a and 2b are arranged concentrically, and a spacer is interposed in the gap between the two, so that a predetermined interval is provided. Is maintained. A buoyancy adjusting cavity 4 constituting a buoyancy adjusting device is formed between the double walls, and the buoyancy is adjusted by adjusting the volume of the internal cavity. The double wall structure also serves to reinforce water pressure.

  A plurality of the buoyancy adjustment cavities 4 are provided in the circumferential direction in the upper half of the body portion 2 to individually adjust the buoyancy of each of the buoyancy adjustment cavities 4, 4. Thus, the attitude of the mining tool main body 1 is controlled.

  Water injection into the buoyancy adjusting cavity 4 is performed by injecting and exhausting water by opening the bottom water injection valve 5 and opening the upper exhaust valve 6 to reduce buoyancy. Further, the buoyancy is increased by closing the exhaust valve 6, opening the pouring / draining valve 5 at the bottom, injecting air from the air cylinder 7 filled with high-pressure air, and discharging water for the injected air volume.

  At the upper end of the body part 2, a lattice-like top end reinforcing structure 10 made of a steel-made girder is integrated so as to close the inside of the top end, and a ceiling plate 3 is fixed to the lower side thereof. 3 closes the upper end of the body 2 in an airtight manner. The inside cylinder 2 a whose upper end is closed by the ceiling plate 3 is a mining chamber 11.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the ceiling plate 3 is formed in an inverted funnel shape having a raised central portion, a pumping port 12 is formed in the central portion, and a pump 13 is connected to the pumping port 12. This pump 13 uses a ribbon screw conveyor 14 as an example, and rotates this by an electric motor 15 to raise water mixed with excavated materials such as mud and methane hydrate in the mining chamber 11 from the pumping port 12. It is supposed to let you.

  Further, although not shown in the drawing, air for airlift may be injected from the middle of the pumping pipe 16, and the pumping capacity may be increased by raising the injected air by buoyancy.

  At the lower end portion of the trunk portion 2, a water intake port 17 is opened to the inside and outside so that the amount of water pumped from the water pump port 12 can flow into the mining chamber 11.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a pumping pipe 16 is connected to the upper end of the pump 13 so as to communicate with the sampling support vessel A on the water surface.

  In the pumping pipe 16, desired cables (umbilical cables, not shown) such as a power cord and a control cord are embedded, and power is supplied to various electric devices for opening and closing the valve described above. Can be sent from the sampling support vessel A. The above various electric devices may be controlled by a wireless device.

  The miner main body 1 is equipped with a propulsion device used during settling. As this propulsion device, a pair of horizontal movement screws 20 and 20 and vertical movement screws 21 and 21 are used, and each is driven by an electric motor (not shown).

  The horizontal movement screws 20, 20 are attached to symmetrical positions on the outer peripheral surface of the body portion 2 with the rotation axis directed in the horizontal direction, and have a rudder 23 behind them. The propulsion direction can be adjusted by converting the rudder angle into a necessary direction by a driver such as a pulse motor.

  Further, the rotational speed and forward / reverse rotation of the horizontal moving screws 20 and 20 can be controlled, and the direction of the entire mining tool main body 1 during subsidence can be changed by changing the rotation direction.

  The vertically moving screws 21 and 21 are installed on the outer periphery of the trunk portion 2 and at a position shifted from the horizontal moving screws 20 and 20 described above by 90 degrees in the circumferential direction of the trunk portion. It has a structure projecting outside the portion 2 and is driven by an electric motor. The vertical movement screws 21 and 21 can control the rotation speed and the forward / reverse rotation, and can adjust the sedimentation speed and the rising speed.

  A plurality of cameras with lights 24 are installed on the outer periphery of the lower portion of the trunk portion 2, and the bottom of the water can be monitored on the ship through these cameras.

  In this example, the power source of the equipment installed in the mining unit main body 1 is supplied from the ship through the power cord along the pumping pipe 16, but a lithium battery is used as the power source and wireless control is used. You may make it operate each apparatus.

  The sinking operation of the miner main body 1 is carried out by adjusting the buoyancy of the buoyancy adjustment cavity 4 to float on the water surface, and while pumping the pumping pipe 16 from the settling support vessel, water is poured into the buoyancy adjustment cavity 4 to increase the buoyancy. Settling by subtracting.

  The position of the mining tool main body 1 during subsidence is confirmed by data from a depth gauge (not shown) attached to the mining tool main body 1 and a sonar provided for the subsidence support ship. Settling while controlling so as not to slip. In addition, sedimentation is performed by adjusting buoyancy and the sedimentation speed is controlled by the vertically moving screw 21. Further, the settling speed at the time of bottoming is reduced or hovered immediately before the bottoming, and the horizontal position is finely adjusted by the horizontal moving screw 20.

  In these position adjustment operations, various devices provided in the mining tool main body 1 are operated while allowing the data from the underwater camera to be visually recognized on the settling support ship, and settling to a predetermined position. The sinking support vessel may use the mining support vessel A described above.

  Also, although not shown in the figure, an unmanned submersible is used for assistance in subsidence, and image information such as the state of subsidence and the state of the bottom of the water is sent to the subsidence support ship, and the subsidence operation is carried out while observing this. Also good.

  In the mining chamber 11 of the miner body 1, excavation means 31 for excavating while crushing the methane hydrate layer 30 on the surface of the water bottom, and the excavated excavated material, that is, granular methane hydrate, is stirred in the mining chamber 11. And a stirring means for floating in water. Further, a self-propelled means 43 is provided at the lower end portion outside the mining tool main body 1.

  The agitating means for agitating the excavated excavated material, that is, the granular methane hydrate in the mining chamber 11 and floating it in water, generates vortex in the mining chamber 11, and the inner circumference of the inner cylinder 2a. A required number of vortex generating nozzles 40, 40... For injecting water by inclining the surface in the circumferential direction from the central direction is provided.

  By injecting water from the nozzles 40, 40... Constituting this stirring means, a vortex flow is generated in the mining chamber 11 around the central axis portion, and the above-described pump 13 is operated simultaneously. As a result, the excavated methane hydrate grains rise on this swirl and are transported together with water from the pump 13 to the collection support ship A through the pumping pipe 16.

  A self-propelled means 43 for horizontally moving the miner body 1 is provided on the outer periphery of the lower end of the miner body 1. As the self-propelled means 43, a traveling device is used in which a pair or a plurality of pairs of crawlers 44 are provided on the left and right of the base body 45 and are driven by an electric motor in the base body 45.

  The base body 45 is supported via a lifting / lowering means 47 using a hydraulic cylinder under a bracket 46 protruding from the outer periphery of the outer cylinder 2b, and the crawler 44 is installed by pushing down the base body 45 by the lifting / lowering means 47. The miner body 1 is lifted, and the lower end thereof is lifted higher than the water bottom.

  The self-propelling means 43 is installed so that two pairs can run in the left-right direction before and after the outer peripheral surface of the mining tool body 1, and two pairs can run in the front-rear direction on the left and right sides of the outer peripheral surface, respectively. is set up. And when moving in either the front-rear direction or the left-right direction, the crawler 44 can be moved in the front-rear direction or the left-right direction by pushing down the front-rear or left-right base 45 and lifting the miner body 1. .

  Although not shown in the figure, the self-propelled means 43 provided with a steering mechanism is used, and three or four of these are provided on the outer periphery of the miner body 1, and all the miners are provided by these self-propelled means. The main body 1 is lifted so that the self-propelled means can be operated in the same direction using the steering mechanism, and the miner main body 1 can be moved in any direction of 360 degrees. Also good.

  The excavating means 31 excavates the surface of the methane hydrate layer 30 in a ring shape along the inner peripheral surface of the lower end opening of the mining chamber 11, and as an example, as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3, and FIG. An endless guide rail 50 is installed along the inner peripheral surface of the lower end portion of the mining chamber 11, and a self-propelled mobile mount 51 is supported on the guide rail 50, and a water jet nozzle for underwater ground excavation is provided on the mobile mount 51. 52 is fixed.

  The water jet nozzle 52 injects jet water obliquely toward the front lower side in the moving direction of the movable gantry 51, that is, directs the water jet nozzle 52 obliquely in the direction of nozzle movement with respect to the methane hydrate layer surface. It is preferable. Alternatively, the water jet nozzle 52 may be oscillated by a predetermined angle in the horizontal direction, jet water may be sprayed in a fan shape, and the excavation width of one nozzle may be increased.

  Jet water to the water jet nozzle 52 is supplied through a flexible hose 54 from a pump 53 installed on the top end reinforcing structure 10.

  The gantry 51 is moved by, for example, supporting the gantry 51 so as to be movable along the guide rail 50 and meshing the drive gear 56 supported by the gantry 51 with the rack 55 installed on the guide rail 50. Alternatively, a structure in which this is rotated by the motor 57 can be adopted.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the excavating means 31 uses a rotary excavator 60 having a large number of excavating teeth 59 protruding from the outer periphery of the rotary drum 58 as shown in FIG. A structure in which the base 51 is supported and moved can be employed, whereby the surface of the methane hydrate layer 30 may be excavated in a ring shape and the methane hydrate may be pulverized into particles.

  In addition to this, although not shown in the figure, a farming tractor-type tiller rotor having a large number of excavating teeth projecting on the outer periphery of the rotating shaft may be used. The surface of the methane hydrate layer may be scraped off.

  In addition to these mechanical excavation means, ultrasonic waves may be applied to the surface of the methane hydrate layer to destroy the crystalline particles of the methane hydrate layer. The hydrate particles are crushed, the surface becomes uneven, the surface area is increased, and the decomposition of water and methane gas is promoted. The gas component thus separated may be raised through the pumping pipe.

  When the rotary excavator 60 is used as these excavation means 31, it is supported by a lifting device 61 such as a hydraulic jack so that the height relative to the lower end of the mining chamber 11 can be adjusted, and the excavation depth can be adjusted. And evacuate upward when excavation stops.

  Next, a method for collecting methane gas from methane hydrate on the bottom surface using the above-described bottom surface layer resource collecting device will be described.

  First, the above-described miner body 1 is extended from the settling support ship while the pumping pipe 16 is extended, and the above-described buoyancy adjustment and the respective screws 20 and 21 are driven as necessary on the methane hydrate layer 30 on the desired bottom surface. Lower. This descent point is preferably on any edge of the methane hydrate layer surface.

  When the miner main body 1 is grounded to the bottom of the water in this way, the self-propelled means 43 is raised to a state where it is not grounded. Further, in this state, when the strength of the methane hydrate layer 30 on the bottom surface of the water is high, a gap is formed between the lower edge of the miner body 1 and the bottom surface due to unevenness of the surface, and this is the intake port 17. Will play the same role.

  In this state, the excavating means 31 is operated to excavate the surface of the methane hydrate layer 30 in a ring shape along the inner periphery of the lower end of the mining chamber 11. At the same time, water is jetted from the vortex generating nozzle 40 which is a stirring means, the water in the mining chamber 11 is swirled and stirred, and the water pump 13 is operated to pump the water in the mining chamber 11.

  In the mining chamber 11, the granular methane hydrate excavated and pulverized by the excavating means 31 is swirled in the mining chamber 11 by jetting water from the vortex generating nozzle 40 that is a stirring means in a state of being mixed with water. Thus, the water is fed into the pumping pipe 16 together with the water by the pumping machine 13 without settling.

  In addition, mud is collected on the surface of the methane hydrate layer together with methane hydrate, but a material having a high specific gravity such as pebbles settles in the mining chamber 11 and remains on the bottom of the water without being sucked up by the pump 13. .

  The water in the mining chamber 11 that is reduced by the pumping is supplied from the above-described gap between the bottom of the water and the lower edge of the mining device main body, and the intake port 17 at the lower end of the mining device main body 1, and the granular methane hydrate that has been mined and crushed. Raise the rate on the water stream.

  As a result, the methane hydrate that has been crushed in the mining chamber 11 and floating in the water is transported to the collection support vessel A through the pumping pipe 16 together with water. During this conveyance, the water pressure is lowered, so that the stabilization of methane hydrate is impaired and dissociates into water and gas. The dissociated methane gas dissolves in water and becomes highly concentrated water, and some of the gas rises in the form of bubbles.

  On sampling support ship A, gas components are separated from high-concentration water by a gas-liquid separator, the remaining water is exhausted into water, the gas components are stored in a temporary storage tank, and transported as necessary. To the storage tank and transport to the ground base.

  In this way, after excavating the surface of the methane hydrate layer into a ring shape of a predetermined depth at a fixed point, the self-propelled means 43 is lowered to lift the miner body 1 and the self-propelled means 43 is driven to drive the miner The main body 1 is moved horizontally. This horizontal movement amount is set to be equal to or smaller than the width of the excavation groove formed by excavating the ring first.

  After horizontally moving in this way, the self-propelled means 43 is raised to lower the miner main body 1 onto the water bottom surface, and methane hydrate is excavated in a ring shape as described above. By repeating this operation and scanning the surface of the methane hydrate layer while excavating it to the same width as the inner diameter of the lower end of the miner body 1, the surface of the methane hydrate layer is scraped flat at a constant depth. In addition, by repeating this operation on the surface of the previously excavated portion in a similar manner, for example, the surface of the methane hydrate layer with a thickness of several tens of meters is repeatedly excavated by a certain thickness while leaving no excavation. Is obtained.

  In the above-described example, the self-propelling means 43 is raised and the mining tool main body 1 is grounded every time excavation work is performed, but the mining tool main body 1 is lifted by the self-propelling means 43 and a gap is formed between the water bottom surface. After the excavation in the above-described ring shape, the excavating means 31 may be repeated while the mining tool main body 1 is moved by the self-propelled means. May be continuously excavated by moving along the inner peripheral surface of the miner body 1.

  In the example described above, it can be used for excavation of the methane hydrate layer that is exposed on the bottom of the water surface or in a shallow position below the bottom of the water surface. It can also be used to collect various subsurface mineral resources such as mud layers containing rare earths at high concentrations, and rare metals such as manganese nodules.

A Sampling support vessel 1 Mining device main body 2 Trunk portion 2a Inner tube 2b Outer tube 3 Ceiling plate 4 Buoyancy adjustment cavity portion 5 Drainage valve 6 Exhaust valve 7 Air cylinder 10 Top end reinforcement structure 11 Mining chamber 12 Pumping port 13 Pumping machine 14 Ribbon Screw Conveyor 15 Electric Motor 16 Pumping Pipe 17 Water Intake Port 20 Horizontally Moving Screw 21 Vertically Moving Screw 23 Rudder 24 Lighted Camera 30 Methane Hydrate Layer 31 Excavation Means 40 Eddy Current Generation Nozzle 43 Self-propelled Means 44 Crawler 45 Base 46 Bracket 47 Lifting means 50 Guide rail 51 Moving stand 52 Water jet nozzle 53 Pump 54 Flexible hose 55 Rack 56 Drive gear 57 Motor 58 Rotating drum 59 Drilling teeth 60 Rotating excavator 61 Lifting device

Claims (5)

It has a mining body made of steel box whose lower side is released,
The miner body is integrally provided with a mining chamber that is surrounded by a cylindrical trunk portion that is directed in the vertical direction and a ceiling portion that has its upper end closed, and whose lower end is released,
In the lower end opening of the mining chamber, provided with excavation means for excavating while pulverizing the resource-containing surface of the surface of the water bottom surface in a state where the miner body is submerged in the water bottom,
The ceiling of the mining chamber is connected to a pumping pipe leading to a sampling support ship on the surface of the water, and the excavated material excavated and crushed by the excavating means is sent to the sampling support ship together with the water in the mining chamber through the pumping pipe. It can be taken out,
The pumping pipe is provided with a pump for raising the water inside the pipe.
The underwater surface layer resource collecting apparatus provided with a self-propelling means capable of moving the mining tool main body forward, backward, left and right, and allowing the self-propelling means to horizontally move the mining tool main body.   2. The bottom surface layer resource collecting device according to claim 1, wherein the excavating means is an excavator that excavates a bottom surface in a ring shape along an inner periphery of a lower end of a mining chamber.   The underwater surface layer resource collecting device according to claim 2, wherein the excavator is supported by a guide rail provided on an inner peripheral surface of a lower end portion of the mining chamber and excavates the bottom surface in a ring shape while moving along the guide rail. .   The mining tool main body has a double cylindrical body portion made of a steel outer cylinder and an inner cylinder, and the inside of the inner cylinder is used as the mining chamber and between the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder. The water bottom according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the space is a buoyancy adjustment cavity that constitutes the buoyancy adjustment device, and the buoyancy of the miner body is adjusted by pouring and draining into the cavity. Surface resource collection device.   Using the bottom surface layer resource collecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the excavator is excavated by a certain depth while moving the digger main body by the self-propelled means and horizontally scanning the bottom surface. A method for collecting bottom surface layer resources that is repeatedly drilled to a desired depth.

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