SEA MINING PRODUCTION PACKAGE AND PROCEDURE FOR ITS OPERATION AND TRANSPORT CONDITIONS Russian patent published in 2010 - IPC E21C50/00 

FIELD: mining.

SUBSTANCE: invention refers to mining and can be implemented at complex industrial development of mineral resources of world ocean. The package consists of a transport floating sea-based station in kind of a semi-submersible floating platform with an underwater hydraulic support-container. On the platform there is made a through vertical shaft and above-surface decks. The following is arranged on the station: a hydraulically hoisted installation consisting of a hoisted pipeline of interconnected pipes installed in the shaft of the hydraulic support-container. In its upper part the pipeline communicates with an unloading hopper and with a receiving chamber also connected with a cavity of the hydraulic support-container by means of the pipeline. In its lower part the pipeline is coupled with a collector. The installation also consists of an evaporating system connected to a condenser via a steam line and to the unloading hopper via an evacuating pipeline. The evaporating system is equipped with a heating battery and a brine chamber coupled with the unloading hopper by means of the pipeline. Further, the installation consists of a thermo-siphon of a nuclear plant connected with the heating battery of the evaporating system through the steam line. The thermo-siphon is connected with its own condenser by means of the steam line and pressure line. The condenser of the thermo-siphon is installed under the condenser of the evaporating system and coupled with the latter by means of a down-take pipeline. Also the installation consists of bottom excavating devices tied with the collector of the hoisted pipeline by means of slurry lines. The novelty of the invention is like follows: additional through shafts are made in the hydraulic support container. The additional shafts have inter-shaft through slit apertures communicating the additional shafts and the shaft of the hoisted pipeline. Also there are the thermo-siphon of the nuclear plant and bottom excavating devices installed in these shafts. Under water the excavating devices automatically retract from the shafts and enter into them together with connected pipelines, steam lines, slurry lines and other communications freely arranged in the inter-shaft through slit apertures. Notably, to eliminate clogging, equipped with valves branches of blow-off main are connected to hinged facilities. Novelty of the procedure of package operation and transport condition consists in retracting equipment, including the hoisted pipeline, from the shafts and under water lowering, in hoisting it back and receiving it into shafts together with communications coupled and connected to equipment. Thus, submerged floating stations are attributed with controlled, correspondingly, negative or positive buoyancy.

EFFECT: raised efficiency and reliability of package operation due to reduced time and labour for lowering-hoisting operations and due to eliminating assembly and disassembly operations at excavating site.

7 cl, 10 dwg