JPH05256082A - Method of collecting submarine mineral, etc. and device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to collect submarine minerals easily by covering hot water on the seabed to collect, making it forcedly flow to the surface of the sea, and forcedly making solid-liquid separation thereof. CONSTITUTION:Forst of all, a water-absorbing cover body 6 is lowered abround a hot water injection hole from a mother ship 1, and circumstances of the seabed are imaged by a camera fixed to the water-absorbing cover body. After that, pressure air is injected from a full movable nozzle, and the water absorbing cover body 6 is slightly levitated from the seabed 2. Then, while watching the camera, the pressure air is supplied to only a part of the movable nozzle, and the water-absorbing cover body 6 is moved in the opposite direction by reaction force of the movable nozzle. The hot water injection hole is covered with the water-absorbing cover body 6 by shifting it forward, backward and side-way. In addition, pressure water is injected from a pressure water nozzle to generate an ascending current inside a delivery pipe 3, and sea water on the inside of the upper part of the water-absorbing cover body 6 is raised by jet from a supply pipe 32. Finally, the sea water is supplied to a cyclon tank 12, solid having large specific gravity is and the sea water separation is made, and metals and minerals settled in a storing chamber are collected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention lifts hot water ejected to the seabed or minerals on the seabed to the water surface together with seawater,
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for collecting seabed minerals for the purpose of solid-liquid separation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there have been many proposals for collecting minerals and the like on the sea floor. For example, the suction head is gradually lowered into the deposit to be mined, and the deposit is sucked into the suction port,
The suction head can be freely moved up and down and moved laterally, and there is a method and apparatus for mining seabed deposits through the suction pipe (Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-28999).
issue). There is also known a deep seabed mineral mining device that sends compressed air midway in the lift pipe from the sea to the seabed and transfers the seabed minerals to the sea by the buoyancy of the air (Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-23760). ). Next, there is known an ore mining device in the deep sea floor which is a combination of a transportation system, an undersea traveling vehicle, and a mining machine between an ore carrier and the seabed (Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-52479).

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional mining methods and devices are intended for mining and transporting sediments on the seabed, but the collection, transfer, and effective products of hot water ejected to the seabed. There is no proposal for separation of the above, and it is difficult to apply the above method and apparatus. For example, the transfer of a large amount of hot water and the separation of useful substances are significantly different from the above-mentioned conventional ore transportation or separation and cannot be adopted.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, according to the present invention, the hot water on the seabed is covered and collected, and the hot water is forced to flow to the sea surface for forced solid-liquid separation. Is solved.

That is, according to the present invention, hot water is collected by covering a jet hole obtained by drilling a hydrothermal deposit on the seabed or a natural jet hole, and the collected matter is forcibly flown as it is, and the water surface It is a method of collecting seabed minerals, which is characterized by solid-liquid separation and then collecting minerals. The seafloor mineral is hot water. Next, the invention of the apparatus is an apparatus for collecting seabed minerals, characterized in that the means for collecting seabed minerals, the means for transferring the minerals together with seawater, and the means for separating solid-liquid are combined. Further, the seabed mineral collecting means is one in which an illuminating means, a moving means and a detecting means are coupled to a suction cover provided at the end of the transfer pipe. Further, the means for transferring the mineral is a transfer pipe and a seawater accelerating jet nozzle provided at an appropriate position. The solid-liquid separation means in the above is a cyclone or a screw decanter provided in the hull. The inhalation cover has a cap-like skeleton covered with a tough outer skin, and a flexible contact edge member provided on the lower edge of the cap. Next, the clearing means is an illuminating lamp provided on the outer peripheral wall of the cap body at predetermined intervals. Further, the moving means is a downward or sideways jet nozzle provided on the outer peripheral wall of the cap body at a predetermined interval. Further, the detection means is a camera provided on the outer peripheral wall of the cap body at a predetermined interval and its transmission device and reproduction device.

As the detecting means in the above, an imaging method using ultrasonic waves can be used instead of the camera and the electric transmission thereof. Further, pressurized air or pressurized water can be sent to the seawater accelerating jet nozzle. When hot water is viscous, the separation efficiency can be improved by blowing pressurized air.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the mineral on the seabed can be lifted to the surface of the sea together with water and separated from the water to collect only the mineral. A large amount of water containing minerals obtained without mining can be lifted and treated in an integrated manner to separate mineral matter.

[0008]

EXAMPLE A transfer pipe 3 is installed between a mother ship 1 and a seabed 2, the upper end of the transfer pipe 3 is connected to a supply pipe 5 for a cyclone 4, and the lower end of the transfer pipe 3 is a suction cover. Connect to the top of body 6. The inhalation cover 6 has a tough outer shell 8 attached to the outside of the cap-shaped skeleton 7, and a flexible annular connecting edge 9 is continuously provided on the lower portion. The annular connecting edge 9 has, for example, a bellows shape and is expandable / contractible by 1 m to 2 m, and has a ground edge 10 having a predetermined width at the lower end. Enlarged parts 11 and 11 for blowing out pressurized water are provided on the upper part of the transfer pipe 3, and pressurized water nozzles 12 and 12 that open to the transfer pipe 3 are bored in the part. On the outer peripheral side of the suction cover 6, blow nozzles 13 and 13 for pressurized air are provided, and illumination lamps 14 and 14 and cameras 15 and 15 are provided.
The electric wires for driving each device are housed in the collecting pipe 16 and integrally attached to the transfer pipe 3 (FIG. 2). In the cyclone 4, as shown in FIG. 3, the supply pipe 5 is tangentially connected to the outer periphery of the upper portion of the cyclone tank 17, and the lower end 21a of the drainage pipe 21 is inserted and fixed in the center of the upper portion. A solid material storage chamber 18 is continuously provided below the cyclone tank 17, and a discharge pipe 19 with a valve 20 is continuously provided at a lower end of the storage chamber 18.

In the above-described embodiment, the suction cover 6 is lowered from the mother ship 1 to the vicinity of the hot water ejection hole 22. Deep sea (eg 1
(In the range of 00 m or more), the suction cover 6 is installed in a correct position according to an instruction from a deep-sea boat or the like, but a self-standing type can be used in a relatively shallow place (several 10 m to 100 m). This example describes a self-supporting type. The state of the seabed is grasped by the camera 15 first fixed to the suction cover 6. In many cases, if the illumination lamp 14 is turned on and the seabed 2 is illuminated, the situation in the vicinity can be determined by the mother ship 1 through the camera 15. Then, when pressurized air is blown out from all the moving nozzles 13, 13 as indicated by the arrow 23, the suction cover 6 slightly floats above the seabed 2. Therefore, when the pressurized air is sent only to a part of the moving nozzle 13 while looking at the camera 15, the suction cover body 6 moves in the opposite direction by the reaction force of the moving nozzle 13. By moving the suction cover 6 forward, backward, leftward and rightward in this manner, the suction cover 6 can be coated on the hot water ejection holes 22. Next, the pressurized water is ejected from the pressurized water nozzle 12 as shown by the arrow 24 to generate an upward flow in the transfer pipe 3. Then, the seawater inside the upper part of the suction cover 6 rises as indicated by the arrow 25 by the jet of the pressurized fluid from the supply pipe 32. In this case, if the water in the upper part of the transfer pipe 3 is raised, the water in the transfer pipe 3 is automatically pushed up by the water pressure applied to the lower part, so that it is necessary to generate a jet water flow into the deep transfer pipe 3. There is no. For example, if a jet is jetted at a water depth of 10 to 20 m, an upflow can be automatically obtained after the jetting. However, if the jetting pressure of hot water is large, an upward flow can be easily obtained by using this.

The hot water that has risen as described above is supplied from the upper portion of the cyclone tank 17 to the cyclone tank 1 as indicated by an arrow 26.
7 is supplied and flows spirally as shown by arrow 27, so that the solid matter having a large specific gravity is pressed outward and falls by its own weight and stays in the storage chamber 18, and the separated seawater is discharged into the discharge pipe 21. Is passed through as indicated by arrows 28 and 29, and is discharged to the outside (sea surface) by the pump 30 as indicated by arrow 31. The storage room 1
Metals and minerals accumulated in 8 (in the case of hot water, gold, copper, lead,
Zinc, etc.) is further refined and separated into separate substances. 33 in the figure is the sea surface.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the hot water ejected from the seabed can be continuously and continuously lifted up to the mother ship to effect solid-liquid separation. In addition, the jet force raises the inside of the transfer pipe, so without using mechanical power for transfer,
There is an effect that it can be easily collected regardless of whether the mineral is large or small. Further, since the suction cover is provided with the illumination means, the moving means and the detection means, there is an effect that the suction cover can be moved autonomously on the seabed and installed at a desired point. Since a cyclone is used for separating minerals and the like, it has the effect that a large amount of continuous pumping can be continuously treated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view in which a part of the suction cover is also cut.

[Fig. 3] Similarly, a vertical enlarged front view of the cyclone.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the cyclone.

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the power of the transfer pipe.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Mother Ship 2 Seabed 3 Transfer Pipe 4 Cyclone 5 Supply Pipe 6 Suction Cover 7 Hat Skeleton 8 Outer Shell 9 Ring Connection Edge 10 Grounding Edge 11 Enlarged Area 12 Pressurized Water Nozzle 13 Moving Nozzle 14 Lighting Lamp 15 Camera 16 Collecting Pipe 17 Cyclone Tank 18 Storage Room 19 Discharge Pipe 20 Valve 21 Drain Pipe

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A jet hole obtained by boring a hydrothermal deposit on the sea floor,
Alternatively, a submarine mineral characterized by collecting hot water by covering natural ejection holes, forcibly flowing the collected matter up to the water surface, and then solid-liquid separating to collect minerals and the like How to collect etc. 2. An apparatus for collecting seabed minerals, characterized in that the means for collecting seabed minerals, the means for transferring the minerals together with seawater, and the means for separating solid-liquid are combined. 3. The apparatus for collecting seabed minerals according to claim 2, wherein the seabed mineral is hot water. 4. The apparatus for collecting seabed minerals according to claim 2, wherein the means for collecting the seabed minerals comprises a suction cover provided at the end of the transfer pipe, and an illumination means, a moving means, and a detection means. 5. The means for transferring minerals is a transfer pipe and a jet nozzle for accelerating seawater provided at an appropriate position.
Equipment for collection of listed seabed minerals 6. The apparatus for collecting seabed minerals according to claim 2, wherein the solid-liquid separating means is a cyclone or a screw decanter provided inside the hull. 7. The seabed mineral according to claim 4, wherein the inhalation cover comprises a cap-like skeleton to which a tough outer cover is applied to form a cap, and a soft contact edge member is provided at a lower edge portion thereof. Collection device 8. The apparatus for collecting seabed minerals according to claim 4, wherein the clearing means is an illuminating lamp provided on the outer peripheral wall of the cap body at predetermined intervals. 9. The apparatus for collecting seabed minerals according to claim 4, wherein the moving means is a downward or lateral jet nozzle provided on the outer peripheral wall of the cap body at a predetermined interval. 10. The apparatus for collecting seabed minerals according to claim 4, wherein the detection means is a camera provided on the outer peripheral wall of the cap body at predetermined intervals, a transmission device for the camera, and a reproduction device.