심해저 망간단괴 시험집광기(미내로)의 근해역 집광성능 평가

Abstract

Inshore tests for verifying the design concept of deepsea manganese nodule miner were performed in site near to Hupo at East Sea of Korea in June of 2009. The total mining tests of the test miner, named 'Minero', together with flexible hose, lifting pump and lifting hose were accomplished. In this study, collecting performances of Minero, such as pickup, crawling, transporting, launch & recovery and power supply performance, except lifting performance, are analyzed for assessment of the feasibility of self-propelled remotely controlled miner and for the further purpose of constructing the basic database in designing of pilot miner. Performances of Minero are defined based on the Functional Requirements in the earlier study by authors. The sea tests unveiled that the test miner, Minero, satisfies the functional performances in general. Finally, the feasibility assessment and discussions are conducted.