Experimental investigation of cohesive soil erosion and suspension caused by a Coandă-effect-based polymetallic-nodule collector

Experimental investigation of cohesive soil erosion and suspension caused by a Coandă-effect-based polymetallic-nodule collector

Alhaddad, S.M.S. (TU Delft Offshore and Dredging Engineering)
Suleman, M. (TU Delft Environmental Fluid Mechanics)
Kirichek, Alex (TU Delft Rivers, Ports, Waterways and Dredging Engineering)
Chassagne, C. (TU Delft Environmental Fluid Mechanics)

2024

Coandă-effect-based collection stands out as the foremost technology in polymetallic-nodule mining due to the absence of direct contact between the collector and the ocean floor. Yet, this collection method disturbs the ocean floor, and minimizing such disturbance is crucial from an environmental viewpoint. To this end, a solid understanding of the interplay between the collector and the sediment bed is required. Therefore, we carried out a series of small-scale experiments, where a collector drives over a subaqueous clayey bed. These experiments provide the very first quantitative data on cohesive sediment erosion caused by a moving Coandă-effect-based collector, as well as on turbidity currents generated behind the collector head. This paper discusses the observations and findings derived from these experiments. Our findings reveal a logarithmic relationship between erosion depth and the flow impinging force applied on the clayey bed. An increased flow rate in the collection duct results in a slower turbidity current generated behind the collector head. This study enhances the ability to forecast sediment erosion caused by Coandă-effect-based collectors, offering the possibility to optimize the collector operational conditions and minimize the magnitude of the resulting sediment plumes.

Sediment erosion
Deep sea mining
Polymetallic nodules
Coandă effect
Impinging jet
Turbidity current

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9bc39c37-333e-45d1-bbc0-ca2f78a25793

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2024.102231

Results in Engineering, 22

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2024 S.M.S. Alhaddad, M. Suleman, Alex Kirichek, C. Chassagne