Device for monitoring deep-sea sediment environment in mining polymetallic nodules

Abstract

A device for monitoring deep-sea sediment environment in mining polymetallic nodules is provided. The monitoring system includes: acoustic Doppler flow profilers, a self-potential probe, a turbidity meter and an underwater camera. The invention can realize long-term in-situ observation of sediment disturbance, and can realize the mechanical recovery of probe rod-type equipment without large-scale mechanical devices, thereby reducing the overall weight of the recovery equipment and increasing the probability of successful equipment recovery. Compared with the existing long-term in-situ observation equipment on the seabed, it is more environmentally friendly, efficient, energy-saving and reliable.

Claims

1. A device for monitoring deep-sea sediment environment in mining polymetallic nodules, comprising: a monitoring system, a recovery system and a support system; wherein the monitoring system comprises: Doppler flow profilers configured to measure current profile data above the device for monitoring the deep-sea sediment environment in mining the polymetallic nodules; a spontaneous potential probe configured to measure a concentration of suspended solid particles in a water body below the device for monitoring the deep-sea sediment environment, a position of a seabed interface, a porosity of sediment and a redox potential; a turbidity meter configured to measure a turbidity of seawater at a single point to correct a test result of the spontaneous potential probe; and an underwater camera with light configured to record a real situation of the suspended solid particles in the water body; wherein the recovery system comprises: a recovery rack and two acoustic releasers; wherein the support system comprises a supporting frame; the recovery rack is provided on the supporting frame and connected with the supporting frame by an iron chain; wherein the iron chain passes through a bolt provided on a top of the supporting frame, and two ends of the iron chain are fixed on the acoustic releasers; wherein the recovery system further comprises: a float, a spring and a beacon; wherein both the float and the spring are provided on a top portion of the recovery rack; a height of the beacon is higher than the float; the spring is made of 316 stainless steel with a pulling force of 20-50 kg; wherein a first end of the spring is protruding to be connected with the spontaneous potential probe, and the spring is in a tensioning state; a second end of the spring is fixed on a horizontal rod on the recovery rack; the two acoustic releasers are both fixed on a middle part of the recovery rack; an upper part of the spontaneous potential probe is provided with grooves, and a lower part of the recovery frame corresponding to the grooves is provided with spring-tensioned snaps, which connect a cable and is connected to hooks of the acoustic releasers via a pulley.

2. The device for monitoring the deep-sea sediment environment in the mining polymetallic nodules, as recited in claim 1, wherein the support system further comprises a stop plate, wherein the stop plate is a circular disc made of 316 stainless steel, and a through hole is provided in a middle portion of the stop plate.

3. The device for monitoring the deep-sea sediment environment in the mining polymetallic nodules, as recited in claim 1, wherein a bottom of the spontaneous potential probe is provided with a metal bottom cone, a top of the spontaneous potential probe is provided with a collection chamber, and a middle portion of the spontaneous potential probe are provided with plurality of solid ring reference electrodes with intervals of 2 cm.

4. The device for monitoring the deep-sea sediment environment in the mining polymetallic nodules, as recited in claim 3, wherein the solid ring reference electrodes are made of titanium alloy as a skeleton, and graphene with a thickness of 0.1-1 mm is evenly covered on surfaces of the solid ring reference electrodes, after coating, the solid ring reference electrodes are put in an oven at 150? C. for 30 minutes.

5. The device for monitoring the deep-sea sediment environment in the mining polymetallic nodules, as recited in claim 1, an amount of the Doppler flow profilers are two, wherein one of the Doppler flow profilers is high frequency for measuring a velocity of a bottom water body downward, and the other of the Doppler flow profilers is low frequency for measuring a velocity of an upper water body upward.

6. The device for monitoring the deep-sea sediment environment in the mining polymetallic nodules, as recited in claim 1, wherein a rubber sleeve with a diameter in size between a diameter of the spontaneous potential probe and a diameter of the collection chamber is provided on an external of the spontaneous potential probe.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram before the device of the present invention is deployed.

(2) FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the spontaneous potential probe penetration when the present invention is deployed on a seabed.

(3) FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram when the device of the present invention is completed and deployed on the seabed.

(4) FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a probe rod pulling out a recovery system and decoupling when the device is recovered on the seabed.

(5) FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a monitoring device while floating to the sea surface.

(6) Reference numbers of elements in the drawings are as follows. 101upward acoustic Doppler profiler; 1012downward acoustic doppler profiler; 102single-point turbidimeter; 103underwater camera; 104spontaneous potential probe rod; 1041probe rod groove; 201recovery frame; 202floating ball; 203acoustic release; 204beacon; 205clockwork; 3support frame; 4crane hook for a scientific research ship; 5iron chain; 6bolt; 7buckle; 8cable; 9pulley; 10rubber sleeve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(7) In order to be able to understand more clearly the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention, the present invention will be further described below in conjunction with specific embodiments. It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application and the features in the embodiments may be combined with each other in the case of no conflict.

(8) In the following description, set forth many specific details in order to fully understand the present invention; however, the present invention can also be implemented in other ways different from those described here; therefore, the present invention is not limited to the specific details of the following disclosure Example limitations.

Embodiment 1

(9) 1) Refer to FIG. 1 for the overall schematic diagram of the monitoring device. Install the upward acoustic Doppler flow profiler 101, downward acoustic Doppler flow profiler 1012, turbidity meter 102, underwater camera 103, spontaneous potential probe 104, etc. In the lower position, each device has its own storage function to store all monitoring data in its own SD card, and the data is processed after the device is recovered. In addition, before installation, it is necessary to set conventional parameters for each equipment according to the monitoring requirements. During the installation process, the weight is evenly distributed to keep the center of gravity of the recycling system in the center of the recycling rack. When installing the monitoring equipment, ensure that no other objects above and below block the monitoring effect. There are no special requirements for position sorting. Except for the self-potential probe rod, the other monitoring equipments are fixed and locked with hoop and bolts. The probe rod is limited by a rubber sleeve 10 with a height of 5 cm. The probe rod passes through the sleeve, and the diameter of the sleeve is larger than that of the rod body and less than The diameter of the collection chamber enables the probe rod to move from top to bottom without falling out, and the rubber material has a certain shock absorption effect. The upper part of the rubber sleeve is the buckle 7. When the buckle 7 is opened, the rubber sleeve cannot be moved, and the rubber sleeve is not restricted by the displacement when it is fastened. 2) Install each equipment of the recovery system, and fix the acoustic releaser 203 to the middle of the recovery rack with screws, one on each of the left and right sides, and the release hook is in an open state; the floating ball 202 is screwed to the upper part of the recovery rack And the side wall, pay attention to the normal use of monitoring during the fixing process, and fix the beacon 204 on the top of the recovery rack, the height exceeds the floating ball, and ensure that no other objects block; Finally, fix the clockwork 205 on the top of the recovery rack On the bottom crossbar, the pulley 9 is fixed on the middle crossbar of the recovery rack, and the connecting cable with the probe rod from the clockwork 205 bypasses the pulley 9 and connects to the buckle 7 on the lower crossbar of the recovery rack. The length of the spring can be estimated according to the mechanical properties of the seabed sediments in the expected deployment area and the weight of the probe rod. The larger the pulling distance, the greater the pulling force. The estimated spring tension can be calculated according to the following formula: Estimated spring tension=probe rod Weight+friction resistance of the probe rod inserted into the sediment, where the weight of the probe rod in water is calculated, and the friction resistance of the probe rod inserted into the sediment is obtained by pre-measurement. 3) The cable connection involved in the fixing process of the equipment mainly includes three aspects: one is to connect the recovery system with the support system through the chain 5, the chain 5 passes through the bolt 6 on the top of the support frame, and the two ends Hook on the acoustic releaser 203 in the recovery rack; at the same time, use a cable to pull the end of the buckle 7 through one end of the pulley, and connect one end to the acoustic releaser 203, and then lock the acoustic releaser to the working standby state, as shown in FIG. 2, when the probe rod penetrates into the sediment and the buckle is in a clamped state, the rubber sleeve will not restrict its displacement, and the buckle is only kept in a tight state under the action of the cable pulling force; finally Use the cable to bypass the pulley 9 and connect one end to the lifting ring on the top of the probe rod, and the other end to the hook 4 of the crane on the scientific research ship. tensioned to complete the connection. 4) The device that is installed and connected is hoisted to the bottom of the sea by the scientific research ship crane, and now the probe rod 104 is in a tensioned lifting state, and the cable 8 connecting the spontaneous potential probe rod is taken off subsequently when the device is decoupling, At this time, the probe rod penetrates down into the sediment under the action of its own gravity, and the double wheels of the buckle 7 limit its position and slow down its downward impulse. 5) A top of probe rod 104 has groove 1041, and the bottom of recovery device is provided with buckle 7, and the buckle is tightened by spring, and when probe rod 104 falls to when buckle 7 and groove 1041 overlap, buckle 7 The probe rod 104 is inserted into the groove 1041 to stop falling, and the penetration process is completed, and the penetration depth is about 50 cm. 6) At the moment, each equipment of monitoring system is opened, carries out monitoring work; After monitoring work is completed, release order is issued to acoustic releaser 203 by deck unit, now the iron chain 5 between recovery system and support system is disconnected, the cable that tightens the buckle 7 is disconnected, and the tension generated by the mainspring 205 directly acts on the probe rod 104 to generate an upward pulling force, which pulls the probe rod out of the sediment and lifts it to the upper part with the clamp The position of the buckle fixes the probe rod 104 again; at this time, all the observation devices float to the sea surface under the action of buoyancy, and the beacon 204 sends out positioning information to complete the recovery of the devices.

(10) One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.

(11) It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. Its embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.