RU226407U1 - UNDERWATER BELL FOR MINING OFFSHORE FERROMANGANESUM NODULES - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to technical means for the extraction of solid minerals on the shelf, namely for the extraction of ferromanganese nodules in water areas up to 300 meters deep. An underwater bell for the extraction of shelf ferromanganese nodules by installing jet-forming devices rigidly attached to the jet-feeding rim, through which a liquid is supplied that separates the nodules from the bottom using a pressure jet method, makes it possible to increase the reliability of the device. The spring assembly, consisting of guide pins, springs, spring seats and clamping nuts, makes it possible to level out unevenness of the seabed and prevents separated ferromanganese nodules and silt from entering the surrounding water area, leading to a reduction in pollution of the surrounding water area. The technical result is to increase reliability and reduce pollution of the surrounding waters. 4 ill.

Description

The utility model relates to technical means for the extraction of solid minerals on the shelf, namely for the extraction of ferromanganese nodules in water areas up to 300 meters deep.

A known installation for collecting nodules from the bottom of deep reservoirs (author's certificate SU No. 1376652A1, publ. 06/10/1996) which includes a bottom self-propelled installation with an executive body made in the form of a tray with a vibration exciter. The unloading tray is formed by longitudinally placed plates in cross-section forming a trapezoid with a large base oriented towards the bottom. The loading part of the tray is immersed to the required depth of bottom sediments, then, using a drum with open-type buckets placed on it, it enters the vibrating screen conveyor, from which the rock floats to the surface under the influence of the lifting force.

The disadvantage of the design is the system for separating nodules from bottom sediments, which includes a vibration exciter and the presence of a drum drive, vibration exciter drives and a hydraulic cylinder drive, which makes the device metal-intensive and reduces its reliability.

A device for the extraction of ferromanganese nodules is known (patent RU No. 2182231, published on 10/05/2002) which includes a submersible apparatus connected to the watercraft through a pipeline, made in the form of a housing mounted on the running pair and a gripping-crushing mechanism located in the housing, associated with the axis of the running pair, characterized in that the gripping-crushing mechanism is made in the form of a cylindrical casing with a window on the side surface and is installed with the possibility of rotation around the fixed axis of the driven wheel pair and is kinematically connected to a pneumatic drive of reverse rotation, while the crushing unit of the gripping-crushing mechanism is made in the form of a spiral spring, rigidly connected at one end to the axis of the running pair, and at the other to the edge of the window of the cylindrical casing.

The disadvantage of the design is the presence of a gripping and crushing mechanism, which in underwater production conditions will have low reliability and low productivity, and the running gear and movement of the entire device along the bottom will cause pollution of the water area.

A device is known for the extraction of ferromanganese nodules from the ocean floor (RF patent No. 2032030 publ. March 27, 1995) which includes a collection body installed with the ability to move along the seabed using an installation for creating variable buoyancy, which is made of working modules on a honeycomb base , the cells of which are made in the form of turbines, and the installation for creating variable buoyancy is made of heat accumulators with heaters and coolers installed between the cells of the working modules.

Among the disadvantages, it can be noted that the presence of a filter-thickener and a seal piston in the design, which increase the concentration of the prepared hydraulic mixture, make the entire device metal-intensive and difficult to maintain in underwater production conditions. The design of production modules, with turbines and heat accumulators, will have low productivity due to the slow movement of the modules along the seabed.

A device for extracting ferromanganese nodules from the ocean floor is known (patent RU No. 2289696, published on June 14, 2006). The device includes a conveyor mounted on a frame and made of a chain with flexible mesh containers. The bottom FMC collection unit is connected to a self-propelled floating platform by a towing chain and is designed as a crawler chassis driven from a conveyor and a FMC pulp pumping unit by multi-section piston pumps for supplying pulp from the ocean bottom to the mesh containers of the conveyor via a loading and transport pipe.

One of the disadvantages is the presence of a caterpillar chassis for movement along the ocean floor; due to sudden changes in the heights of the bottom, the caterpillars will not provide the necessary maneuverability for the mining installation, and the water area will also be polluted. The presence of multi-section piston pumps requires primary enrichment to be carried out directly at the bottom, otherwise the productivity of the installation will be low. Operating a piston pump with an abrasive slurry will lead to significant wear and reduced reliability.

A known device for the extraction of ferromanganese nodules from the ocean floor (RU patent No. 2459083, publ. 08/20/2012) adopted as a prototype, which contains an underwater vessel with atmospheric pressure, a cart, a slurry line, a working body as part of a catcher, a hydraulic motor with a shaft, a casing and a ripper . The working body is connected by a bracket with hydraulic cylinders to the trolley, and the slurry line is connected hydraulically to an underwater vessel with atmospheric pressure. The casing is made of a cylindrical shape, installed vertically and rigidly connected at the upper end to the pulp conduit and at the lower end to the catcher, which is made in the form of a confuser with a circular inlet. The hydraulic motor is of a volumetric type, built concentrically into the casing cavity and rigidly connected to it by radial ribs to form an annular channel, and the ripper is fixed to the hydraulic motor shaft. The hydraulic motor of the working body and hydraulic cylinders are powered by an oil pump mounted in the trolley.

The disadvantages are the presence of a cutting executive body, which leads to increased wear of the cutting equipment, reducing reliability. A hydraulic motor located concentrically in the casing reduces the efficiency and productivity of hydraulic lifting of nodules, and is also additionally subject to hydroabrasive wear.

The technical result is to increase reliability and reduce pollution of the surrounding waters.

The technical result is achieved by the fact that in the upper and lower parts of the housing, as well as at the end of the smaller diameter of the casing and at the end of the larger diameter of the pipeline pipe, there are flanges with six cylindrical holes at equal distances from each other for connecting the flanges with studs, while the lower flange of the housing and casing flange are connected to each other to form a gap between them, made with the ability to adjust the height by a spring unit, which is formed on studs on which a spring is concentrically installed, which is supported on both sides by spring seats and clamping nuts, externally and internally to the flanges of the housing and casing in at the place of their connection, two waterproofing gaskets are attached with the possibility of removal; a jet supply rim is rigidly installed along the perimeter of the inner surface of the casing, which is made in the form of a closed pipeline of circular cross-section, on which jet forming devices are rigidly fixed at an equidistant distance from each other at angles from 0 to 45 degrees from vertical axis, while on the outer side of the pipeline pipe, housing and casing, an energy pipeline is rigidly installed, which is rigidly attached to the jet supply rim through a hole in the casing.

A device for lifting and extracting solid minerals from the seabed is illustrated by the following figures:

fig. 1 – 3D model of the device;

fig. 2 – general view of the underwater bell;

Fig.3 – fastening the casing to the body;

fig. 4 – general view of the complex, where:

1– pipeline pipe;

2 – body;

3 – casing;

4 – pulp conduit;

5 – energy pipeline;

6 – flange;

7 – waterproofing gasket;

8 – guide pin;

9 – clamping nut;

10 – spring;

11 – jet supply rim;

12 – jet forming device;

13 – spring seat;

14 – flexible insert;

15 – main slurry pumping station;

16 – main hydropower station;

17 – carrier vessel;

18 – gap.

The underwater bell consists of a body 2 (Fig. 1, 2), made in the form of a hollow cylinder, to the upper and lower parts of which flanges 6 are rigidly attached, in which cylindrical holes are made at equal distances from each other. The pipeline branch pipe 1 is made in the form of a confuser, to the end of the larger diameter of which a flange 6 is rigidly attached. The housing 2 is removably connected to the lower part of the pipeline branch pipe 1. The casing 3 is made in the form of a confuser, to the smaller diameter of which a flange 6 is rigidly attached. To the lower part of the housing 2, a flange 6 is rigidly fixed. The casing 3 is fixed to the housing 2 through a detachable flange connection, and a gap 18 is formed between them. A flow supply rim 11, made in the form of a closed pipeline of circular cross-section, is rigidly mounted to the inner surface of the casing 3 along the perimeter, to which at equidistant At a distance from each other, the jet-forming devices 12 are rigidly fixed at angles from 0 to 45 degrees from the vertical axis.

The casing 3, the body 2 and the pipeline pipe 3 form a collapsible coaxial structure of variable diameter, and a smooth increase in diameter occurs from the casing 3 to the pipeline pipe 1, to which the slurry line 4 is rigidly attached.

The lower flange 6 of the housing 2 and the flange of the casing 3 are connected to each other by six guide pins 8, on which a spring 10 is installed concentrically, supported on both sides by spring seats 13 and clamping nuts 9, which together form a spring unit. A spring assembly with the ability to adjust the height is installed inside the gap 18. Outside and inside, two waterproofing gaskets 7 are removably attached to the body 2 and casing 3.

On the outer side of the housing 2, the pipeline nozzle 1 and the casing 3, an energy pipeline 5 is rigidly installed, which is rigidly attached to the flow supply rim 11 through a hole in the casing 3.

The device works as follows. The carrier vessel 16 (Fig. 4), made on the basis of a floating crane, lowers the underwater bell to the bottom of the shelf using crane winches. In the process of lowering the bell to the bottom, a stage-by-stage installation of sections of the slurry pipeline 4 and flexible insert 14 takes place. The rigid connection of the pipeline branch pipe 1 with the sections of the slurry pipeline 4 is made directly on the floating crane, after which the crane winches lower the underwater bell to the height of the section of the slurry pipeline, to the end of which the next one is rigidly connected section. After installing the required number of sections, a flexible insert 14 is rigidly attached to the end of the last section of the slurry pipeline 4, to the end of which sections of the slurry pipeline 4 are rigidly attached until the underwater bell reaches the bottom of the water area.

After installation operations, the mining area is covered with a casing 3. To level out unevenness of the seabed and protect the surrounding water area from the possible ingress of separated ferromanganese nodules (FMC) and silt, a gap 18 is provided between the casing 3 and the housing 2, allowing the casing 3 to deviate from the vertical axis of the housing 2 and thereby leveling out the unevenness of the seabed, the vertical size of which can be adjusted by a spring unit consisting of a guide pin 8, a spring 10, a spring seat 13 and clamping nuts 9.

To separate nodules from the bottom, sea water under pressure is supplied from the main hydropower station 16, in which a high-pressure pump is mounted, located on the ship, through the power pipeline 5 to the jet-supply rim 11 and then to each of the jet-forming devices 12. The installation angle of the jet-forming devices 12 varies from 0 to 45 degrees, which is caused by the need to cover the maximum area covered by casing 3. Installation angles less than 0 degrees will lead to the fact that the jet will hit the casing 3, and installation angles greater than 45 degrees will lead to the fact that the jets released from oppositely installed jet-forming devices will interact with each other and reduce operating efficiency. Pressure jets from the jet-forming devices 12 separate the FMC in an area covered by a casing 3. Thus, the separation of the FMC from the bottom is carried out using a hydromonitor pressure method. Separated FMCs, mixing with sea water, form a hydraulic mixture, which is transported through casing 3, housing 2 and pipe fitting 1 and further along the slurry line 4 and flexible insert 14. If the hydraulic mixture gets into the gap 18, it can lead to a malfunction of the spring unit, and accordingly, a malfunction of the device , therefore, the gap 18 is closed on the outer and inner sides by a waterproofing gasket 7. The hydraulic mixture is transported by creating a reduced pressure in the suction pipeline, which together consists of casing 3, housing 2, pipeline pipe 1, slurry line 4 and flexible insert 14, the main slurry pumping station 15 installed on the carrier vessel 17. After mining the area covered by the casing 3, using crane winches, the underwater bell is lifted and moved to a new location, after which the mining process is repeated.

An underwater bell for the extraction of shelf ferromanganese nodules by installing jet-forming devices rigidly attached to the jet-feeding rim, through which a liquid is supplied that separates the nodules from the bottom using a pressure jet method, makes it possible to increase the reliability of the device. The spring assembly, consisting of guide pins, springs, spring seats and clamping nuts, makes it possible to level out unevenness of the seabed and prevents separated ferromanganese nodules and silt from entering the surrounding water area, leading to a reduction in pollution of the surrounding water area.

Claims (1)

The underwater bell for the extraction of shelf ferromanganese nodules is made in the form of a collapsible coaxial structure of variable diameter, including a cylindrical body, rigidly connected by the upper part to the end of the larger diameter of the pipeline branch pipe of the slurry, made in the form of a confuser, and the lower part - to the end of the smaller diameter of the casing, also made in in the form of a confuser with an inlet in the shape of a circle, characterized in that in the upper and lower parts of the body, as well as at the end of the smaller diameter of the casing and at the end of the larger diameter of the pipeline pipe, there are flanges with six cylindrical holes at equal distances from each other for connecting the flanges with studs, in this case, the lower flange of the housing and the flange of the casing are connected to each other to form a gap between them, made with the ability to adjust the height by a spring unit, which is formed on studs on which a spring is concentrically installed, which is supported on both sides by spring seats and clamping nuts, outside and inside two waterproofing gaskets are attached to the flanges of the housing and the casing at the point of their connection, and a jet supply rim is rigidly installed along the perimeter of the inner surface of the casing, which is made in the form of a closed pipeline of circular cross-section, on which jet forming devices are rigidly fixed at an equidistant distance from each other at angles from 0 to 45 degrees from the vertical axis, while on the outer side of the pipeline pipe, housing and casing, an energy pipeline is rigidly installed, which is rigidly attached to the flow supply rim through a hole in the casing.