ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR UNDERWATER MINERAL MINING TECHNIQUE Russian patent published in 2008 - IPC E21C50/00 E21C45/00 F04F1/20 

FIELD: mechanical engineering, particularly underwater mineral deposit mining.

SUBSTANCE: method involves lifting underwater mineral deposit members included in hydraulic mixture; creating multi-component mixture; injecting compressed air into hydraulic mixture flow; transporting multi-component mixture flow inside lifting pipe of marine airlift; supplying compressed air into separate water flow along with following conveyance of compressed air included in water-air mixture and supplying compressed air extracted from water-air mixture flow to lifting pipe of marine airlift. First of all hydraulic mixture flow rate in airlift supply pipe is set. Ocean stream energy is converted into electric power to be supplied to electric drives of airlift compressor and pump. Hydraulic mixture rate in marine airlift supply pipe is controlled and said controlled value is compared with predetermine value to provide equality between both values by regulation of depth of electric power station submersion in ocean. Said electric power station converts ocean stream energy into electric power.

EFFECT: increased lifting efficiency and ecological safety of underground mineral mining due to possibility of supplementary natural energy source usage.

2 cl, 6 dwg