Ore-Collecting Characteristic Analysis of Deep-Sea Polymetallic Nodule Collection Device Based on Variable Cross-Section Flow Channel

• Published in: 水下无人系统学报 Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 495 - 503
• Main Authors: Jiakang WEI, Xiuzhan ZHANG, Xixi LIU, Jiancheng LIU, Lei LI, Fengluo CHEN, Tiedong ZHANG, Hao LI
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: Science Press (China) 01.06.2025
• Subjects: deep-sea mining; flow field analysis; hydraulic collection; ore-collecting capacity
• ISSN: 2096-3920
• DOI: 10.11993/j.issn.2096-3920.2025-0044

With the rapid advancement of deep-sea mineral resource exploitation, there is an escalating demand for enhanced technological capabilities in equipment. The design flaws of the flow channel structure caused by the complex fluid-solid coupling effect of the polymetallic nodule hydraulic collection device have significantly reduced the nodule capture efficiency, seriously restricting the commercialization process of deep-sea mining. In this paper, for the widely used dual-row jet and wall-attached jet devices, based on the shear stress transfer k-ω turbulence model and the numerical analysis method of the discrete element method(DEM), the flow field distribution, particle movement law, and the compatibility of the collection head with the variable cross-section flow channel of the two hydraulic ore collection methods were explored. The findings reveal that both collection methods exhibit increasing transport rates with elevated jet velocities, and the collection efficiency demonstrates limited sensitivity to j