Ecologically friendly ocean mining

摘要

A "freezing grab" friendly to the marine ecology for the stripping and raising of ores from deep sea beds is described. Freezing the material to the grab while dispensing with a horizontal movement of the material, which clearly encourages mud emission, permits grabbing of the nodules for vertical transport. In the process, a larger nodule zone is simultaneously stripped with a single elevating grab movement. Liquid air or liquid carbon dioxide or carbon dioxide snow provided in the grab is used to freeze material and water. Also described is a deep-sea drill whose percussion and rotary drive is operated by liquid air stored in the drill, the exhaust air allowing the drilled out material in the hollow drilling nose to be frozen and raised free of mud. Here, cryopneumatics becomes the key to modern ecologically friendly ocean mining.