China's deep-sea heavy duty operation mining vehicle sea test water depth first broke 4000 meters

China's self-developed deep-sea heavy-duty mining vehicle engineering prototype "Pioneering No. 2" successfully completed the sea test, the deepest up to 4102.8 meters, the first time such mining vehicle sea test water depth exceeded 4,000 meters.

Comprehensive Xinhua News Agency and Science and Technology Daily reported that on Tuesday (July 9), information from the Shanghai municipal government said that China's deep-sea mineral resources development key technology research and equipment development has made a major breakthrough, by Shanghai Jiao Tong University self-developed deep-sea heavy-duty mining truck engineering prototype "pioneering 2" has successfully completed the sea trial. The "Exploration No. 2" completed five consecutive bottom mining operations, recovered deep-sea polymetallic crusts and nodules, realized deep-sea heavy duty operation mining vehicle sea test water depth exceeded 4000 meters for the first time, the deepest up to 4102.8 meters, in China's first deep-sea complex seabed terrain high-mobility travel, deep-sea multi-ore composite drilling and other deep-sea mining field technology.

Yang Jianmin, the chief scientist of the sea test and a professor at the School of Shipbuilding, Oceanography and Architectural Engineering of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said, "The seabed terrain is rugged, and the sea conditions are more complex, and the seabed mining equipment not only needs to come and go freely in such an environment, but also has the ability to mine and collect, and can effectively recover." Every link in this process must pass the test of sea trials."

According to the team, the research and development of "Development No. 2" has achieved six breakthroughs in similar research in China: for the first time, the depth of the deep-sea heavy-duty mining vehicle deployment operation has broken through the 4000 meters mark, reaching 4102.8 meters, and a large number of deep-sea mineral samples such as polymetallic crusts and polymetallic nodules have been obtained; It is the first of its kind to achieve the safe and stable movement of various complex submarine terrain such as steep seamounts above 30 degrees and soft sediments in deep sea. It is the first deep-sea multi-ore composite drilling and production technology to realize efficient mining and collection of different types of ores such as polymetallic crusts and nodules. The first intelligent fine control technology for deep-water heavy-duty operations, forming intelligent planning, tracking and obstacle avoidance capabilities for operation paths, and realizing centimeter-level accurate positioning in deep water; The company pioneered the deep-sea heavy-duty laying and recycling technology of non-metallic cables, realized the laying and recycling of heavy-duty equipment in 4100 meters deep water, and ranked the forefront in China in terms of safety workload and other indicators; The innovative deep-sea environmental disturbance monitoring and evaluation technology, the environmental monitoring system equipped with mining vehicles, can comprehensively monitor and evaluate the generation and diffusion of submarine plumes, underwater operation noise and other environmental impacts, providing precious first-hand materials and data for China's deep-sea mineral resources exploration and green environmental protection mining.