JP2017002533A - Air bubble amount adjustment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air bubble amount adjustment device that adjusts the amount of air bubbles in a transfer hose through which a resource containing mud is made to float from a seabed.SOLUTION: An air bubble amount adjustment device is fitted on a transfer hose through which a resource containing seabed mud is made to float using air bubbles, the transfer hose being hung down from a resource recovery vessel toward the seabed. The air bubble amount adjustment device includes: a main body pipe fitted at an intermediate location of the transfer hose; an air bubble chamber fitted on a side part of the main body pipe, for collecting air bubbles; an air bubble escape hole provided on the air bubble chamber for letting the collected air bubbles escape; an air bubble discharging hose connected to the air bubble escape hole, having an end with a bottom part thereof opened and filled with seawater inside, and letting the discharged air bubbles float; a valve that opens/closes the air bubble escape hole; and a float that moves the valve vertically to suit a water surface level of the air bubble chamber.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a bubble amount adjusting device, and more particularly, to adjust the amount of bubbles in a transfer hose when using a transfer hose to lift a resource containing mud on the seabed using the buoyancy of bubbles. The present invention relates to a bubble amount adjusting device capable of performing

As shown in Patent Document 1, the present applicant has proposed a seabed resource lift device that suspends a transfer hose from an offshore resource recovery ship to the seabed and floats mud-containing resources from the seabed with bubbles. Bubbles in the transfer hose are compressed at a high pressure at a deep water depth and expand as they rise. For example, at a water depth of 1000 m, a high pressure of about 100 atm (100 kgf / cm ² , about 10 Mpa) is applied, and if the pressure is 1 atm on the sea, the bubbles expand about 100 times in volume. If the bubble radius on the seabed is 1 cm, the bubble on the sea has a radius of about 4.6 cm. As the bubbles coalesce and become larger, occupy the transfer hose to reduce the proportion of seawater and mud. Therefore, it is desirable to adjust the amount of bubbles in the transfer hose.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2015-45120

  An object of the present invention is to provide a bubble amount adjusting device capable of adjusting the amount of bubbles in a transfer hose that floats resources containing mud from the seabed.

  A first bubble amount adjusting device according to the present invention is a bubble amount adjusting device that is attached to a transfer hose that is suspended from a resource recovery ship on the seabed and floats a resource containing mud on the seabed using bubbles. A main body tube attached in the middle of the transfer hose, a bubble chamber provided at a side portion of the main body tube for collecting bubbles, a bubble escape hole provided in the bubble chamber for releasing the collected bubbles, and one of the lower ends of the bubble tube Connected to the bubble escape hole, the other end of the lower end is opened to the sea, the upper end is connected to the resource recovery ship, the bubble discharge hose for floating the bubble, the valve for opening and closing the bubble escape hole, the water surface of the bubble chamber And a float that moves the valve up and down depending on the height of the valve.

  A second bubble amount adjusting device according to the present invention is a bubble amount adjusting device attached to a transfer hose that is suspended from a resource recovery ship on the seabed and floats a resource containing mud on the seabed using bubbles. A main body pipe that is attached obliquely in the middle of the transfer hose, a bubble chamber that is provided on the upper side surface of the main body pipe, captures bubbles, a bubble escape hole that is provided on the upper surface of the bubble chamber, and a lower end that is the bubble escape A bubble discharge hose connected to the hole, connected at the upper end to the resource recovery ship, and floats the bubble is provided.

  According to the first bubble amount adjusting device of the present invention, a main body tube, a bubble chamber for collecting bubbles, a bubble escape hole for releasing bubbles, and one of the lower ends as a bubble escape hole are provided on the side of the main body tube. Connected, the other end of the lower end opens into the sea, the upper end is connected to a resource recovery ship, a bubble discharge hose that floats bubbles, a valve that opens and closes the bubble escape hole, and the valve is moved up and down depending on the height of the water level in the bubble chamber Since the bubble amount adjusting device constituted by the float to be moved is attached in the middle of the transfer hose, large bubbles in the transfer hose can be collected in the bubble chamber and floated by the bubble discharge hose. That is, bubbles in the transfer hose can be reduced. Since a valve and a float are provided to open a bubble escape hole when bubbles accumulate in the bubble chamber, bubbles can be discharged into the bubble discharge hose instead of seawater in the transfer hose.

  According to the second air bubble amount adjusting device of the present invention, a main body tube that is attached obliquely in the middle of the transfer hose, a bubble chamber that is provided on the side surface of the main body tube, captures bubbles, and an upper surface of the bubble chamber. Since the bubble hose adjustment device comprising the bubble escape hole provided, the lower end connected to the bubble escape hole, the upper end connected to the resource recovery ship, and the bubble discharge hose that floats the bubble is attached to the transfer hose, the transfer hose Large bubbles inside can be captured and discharged to a bubble discharge hose, which can be floated. Since there are no moving parts such as valves and floats, there is no failure and the operating rate can be improved.

It is a block diagram of the 1st bubble quantity adjustment apparatus by this invention. Example 1 It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the bubble quantity adjustment apparatus shown in FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the bubble quantity adjustment apparatus shown in FIG. It is a block diagram of the 2nd bubble quantity adjustment apparatus by this invention. (Example 2)

  Hereinafter, an air bubble amount adjusting device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a first air bubble amount adjusting device 100 according to the present invention. A resource recovery ship (not shown) is anchored on the sea, and the transfer hose 1 is suspended from the sea floor. The resources including the mud 9 at the bottom float up in the transfer hose 1 together with the seawater by the bubbles 8 and are recovered by the resource recovery ship. The bubble amount adjusting device 100 includes a main body pipe 7 attached in the middle of the transfer hose 1, a bubble chamber 5 provided in the main body pipe 7 for collecting bubbles 9, and a bubble release hole for releasing the collected bubbles 9 provided in the bubble chamber 5. 4, a bubble discharge hose 6 connected to the bubble escape hole 4, the lower end being opened and the inside being filled with seawater, and floating the discharged bubble 9, a valve 3 for opening and closing the bubble escape hole 4, and a valve 3 And a float 2 that moves up and down according to the height of the water surface of the bubble chamber 5.

  FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of the bubble amount adjusting device 100 shown in FIG. FIG. 2A is a view showing a state before the bubble amount adjusting device 100 attached to the transfer hose 1 is submerged in the sea. There is no seawater in the bubble chamber 5, the float 2 is lowered to a predetermined position by its own weight, and the valve 3 opens the bubble escape hole 4 in the "open" state. Therefore, the inside of the bubble chamber 5 communicates with the bubble discharge hose 6. The float 2 floats on the water surface because it has an air chamber inside and is sealed. The bubble discharge hose 6 is open at the lower end. If the lower end of the bubble discharge hose 6 is closed, buoyancy is generated and it is difficult to sink into the sea, and the bubble discharge hose 6 needs to be made of a material that cannot be crushed by water pressure.

  FIG. 2B shows a state in which the bubble amount adjusting device 100 attached to the transfer hose 1 is in the sea. The bubble discharge hose 6 is filled with seawater that has entered from the opening at the lower end. Since the lower end of the transfer hose 1 is open, the bubble chamber 5 is filled with infiltrated seawater when submerged in the sea. The float 2 is lifted by the buoyancy of the air chamber, and the valve 3 keeps the bubble escape hole 4 in the “closed” state.

  FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of the bubble amount adjusting device 100 shown in FIG. FIG. 3A shows that bubbles 8 are injected into the bottom of the transfer hose 1, and seawater containing mud 9 is rising due to the bubbles 8. When the bubbles 8 exceeding the inner diameter of the transfer hose 1 enter the large diameter portion of the bubble amount adjusting device 100, the bubbles 8 expand from an elliptical shape to a spherical shape and move in the right direction of FIG. Then, it is trapped in the bubble chamber 5. The small bubbles 8 rise along the flow and are not trapped in the bubble chamber 5. Since the valve 3 places the bubble escape hole 4 in the “closed” state, the bubbles 8 are accumulated in the bubble chamber 5.

  FIG. 3B shows a state in which the bubbles 8 occupy the bubble chamber 5 and the float 2 is lowered due to buoyancy. When the float 2 descends, the valve 3 opens the bubble escape hole 4 in the “open” state. Therefore, the gas in the bubble chamber 5 passes through the bubble escape hole 4 and moves into the bubble discharge hose 6 and rises. When the water level of the bubble chamber 5 rises, the float 2 rises, and the valve 3 puts the bubble release hole 4 in the “closed” state, the gas in the bubble chamber 5 is discharged from the bubble release hole 4 to the bubble discharge hose 6. Being stopped. That is, the state shown in FIG. Note that the valve 3 is supported from both sides so as to be accurately engaged with the bubble escape hole 4 even if it moves up and down.

  The bubble 8 can use air. When the water depth is shallow, air is injected into the opening of the transfer hose 1 on the seabed with a submersible pump installed in the resource recovery ship. The bubbles 8 are not limited to air but can be hydrogen gas or oxygen gas. When the water depth is deep, high voltage electricity is supplied from the resource recovery ship to the water electrolyzer installed on the sea floor, the water is electrolyzed to generate hydrogen gas and oxygen gas, and the bottom of the transfer hose 1 is opened. inject.

When the bubble radius r1 on the seabed is set to r2 and the bubble radius on the sea is r2, the bubble volume V1 on the seabed is (4/3) π (r1) ³ , and the bubble volume V2 on the sea is (4/3). ) Π (r2) ³ and V2 / V1 is calculated as (r2) ³ / (r1) ³ . For example, if the seabed is 1000 m, 1 atmosphere increases at 10 m, so the relationship of V2 / V1 = 100 is established. Therefore, since (r2) ³ / (r1) ³ = 100, about r2≈4.6r1 is obtained. If the bubble radius (r1) at the sea floor is 1 cm, the bubble radius (r2) at the sea is calculated to be about 4.6 cm. Therefore, in this case, a thick transfer hose having a radius of at least 4.6 cm is required.

  At water depths of 250 m, 500 m, and 750 m, V2 / V1 is equal to 25, 50, and 75, respectively. If the bubble radius at sea is 4.6 cm, the bubble radius is as small as 1.6 cm at a water depth of 250 m, 1.3 cm at a water depth of 500 m, 1.1 cm at a water depth of 750 m, and 1 cm at a water depth of 1000 m. It becomes. If the volume at a water depth of 1000 m is 1, the volume of bubbles is proportional to the cube of the radius of the bubble. Therefore, 1.3 times at a water depth of 750 m, 2 times at a water depth of 500 m, 4 times at a water depth of 250 m, and 100 at sea. Swells twice. For this reason, air bubbles become excessive, and the amount of seawater containing mud is significantly reduced above the transfer hose. Therefore, removing part of the bubbles leads to an appropriate amount of bubbles in the transfer hose. In addition, the ratio (V1 / V2) of the volume (V1) of the bubbles occupied per unit volume of the transfer hose 1 and the volume (V2) of seawater is usually about 0.1 to 0.2.

The bubble receives a buoyancy F calculated by F = ρgV. ρ is the density of water, 1000 kg / m ³ , g is the acceleration of gravity, 9.8 m / s ² , and V is the bubble volume (m ³ ). If the bubble radius is r, then V = (4/3) πr ³ . When these are substituted, the buoyancy F is F = (4/3) × ρgπr ³ . For this reason, larger bubbles receive greater buoyancy than smaller bubbles. In general, since the rising speed of a large bubble is larger than that of a small bubble, the bubbles are likely to coalesce and become large.

  FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the second air bubble amount adjusting device 200 according to the present invention. It is assumed that a resource recovery ship (not shown) is anchored on the sea, and the transfer hose 1 is suspended from the sea floor. The resources including the mud 9 at the bottom rise with bubbles 8 in the transfer hose 1 together with the seawater, and are recovered by the resource recovery ship. The bubble amount adjusting device 200 is provided in the middle of the transfer hose at an angle with respect to the vertical direction, the main body tube 7, provided on the side surface of the main body tube 7, the bubble chamber 5 for collecting the bubbles 9, A bubble escape hole 4 that is provided and allows the collected bubbles 8 to escape, and a bubble discharge hose 6 that is connected to the bubble escape hole 4 and floats the discharged bubbles 8 is provided. The bubble discharge hose 6 is filled with seawater in the sea. Note that a weight (not shown) is hung from the lower side of the main body pipe 7 in order to make the bubble amount adjusting device 200 oblique. When the transfer hose 1 is submerged in the sea, the side with the weight faces downward (the bottom of the sea), so the bubble chamber 5 faces upward (the sea).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the large bubbles 8 have a large buoyancy and rise along the upper surface side of the inner wall of the transfer hose 1. Therefore, it is easily trapped in the bubble chamber 5 of the main body pipe 7 of the bubble amount adjusting device 200 attached obliquely. The bubbles 8 that have entered the bubble chamber 5 are discharged from the bubble escape hole 4 to the bubble discharge hose 6. The discharged bubbles 8 float up on the bubble discharge hose 6. The bubble removing apparatus 200 is not provided with a valve or a float for opening and closing the bubble escape hole 4 as shown in the first embodiment. The case where seawater enters the transfer hose 1 from the bubble escape hole 4 or the case where seawater escapes from the transfer hose 1 is assumed, but since there are no movable parts including a valve, the operating rate can be improved.

  In FIG. 4, the bubble discharge hose 6 has a smaller diameter than the transfer hose 1, but the same diameter as the transfer hose 1 may be used. In that case, the main body tube 7 is a substantially Y-shaped tube. Since one of the branched two transfer hoses 1 is above the other, the upper transfer hose has an overwhelming number of bubbles 8.

  The present invention is suitable as a device capable of adjusting the amount of bubbles in the transfer hose.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transfer hose 2 Float 3 Valve 4 Bubble escape hole 5 Bubble chamber 6 Bubble discharge hose 7 Main body pipe 7a Y-shaped main body pipe 8 Bubble 9 Mud 100, 200 Bubble volume adjustment device

Claims (2)

A bubble volume control device attached to a transfer hose that is suspended from a resource recovery ship on the sea floor and floats resources containing mud on the sea floor using air bubbles,
A main body pipe attached in the middle of the transfer hose;
A bubble chamber provided on a side of the main body tube for collecting bubbles;
A bubble escape hole provided in the bubble chamber for releasing the collected bubbles;
One of the lower end is connected to the bubble discharge hole, open the other lower end on the sea, is connected to the upper end is the resource recovery vessel, a bubble discharge hose for floating bubbles,
A valve for opening and closing the bubble escape hole;
A float that moves the valve up and down depending on the height of the water surface of the bubble chamber;
A device for adjusting the amount of air bubbles.
A bubble volume control device attached to a transfer hose that is suspended from a resource recovery ship on the sea floor and floats resources containing mud on the sea floor using air bubbles,
A main body pipe attached obliquely in the middle of the transfer hose;
A bubble chamber provided on a side upper surface of the main body tube for capturing bubbles;
A bubble escape hole provided on the upper surface of the bubble chamber;
A bubble discharge hose that has a lower end connected to the bubble escape hole, an upper end connected to the resource recovery ship, and floats the bubble,
A device for adjusting the amount of air bubbles.

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