King of Industry

  Chapter 688 Three deep sea mining methods

  In the office, listening to Qin Yang's "cry poor", Zhao Guoyang felt more at ease.

  According to Director Qin's tone, there must be exclusive financial support for this pilot project from the state's finances.

   That is to say, this part of the funds is completely independent and does not need to go through the "exploitation" of the provinces, cities, and counties.

  In this way, even if it is only a few million funds, it is not a small amount to fall into the actual situation of the enterprise.

   What's more, Zhao Guoyang doesn't believe that the state's support is only a little bit for such a big shipbuilding industry.

  After thinking about this, Zhao Guoyang made a clear look and said: "Director Qin, I am not afraid that you will say that I am boasting. I still know a lot about the shipbuilding industry."

   "At present, the annual production scale of the small-scale shipbuilding enterprises in the world is around 20,000 dwt. Since we are doing a pilot project, the scale of the shipbuilding enterprises I want to support should be roughly equivalent to this?"

  Listening to Zhao Guoyang's professional analysis, Qin Yang felt that an invisible "danger" was slowly approaching.

   But this researcher Zhao looked like "harmless to humans and animals", and he was just seriously analyzing the problem for himself, so he could only nod his head in a daze.

  Seeing that Qin Yang agreed with his words, Zhao Guoyang became energetic.

  He grinned and said, "If we want to reach an annual output of 20,000 dwt, we need at least an initial investment of 15 million yuan. In this regard, Director Qin will naturally need a large part of your support!"

  After Zhao Guoyang said this, Qin Yang almost spit out a mouthful of old blood.

   "Fifteen million? So much?" Qin Yang said dumbfounded.

   Seeing Director Qin’s reaction so violently, Zhao Guoyang said of course, “Director Qin, the fifteen million is just the initial investment. Subsequent research and development, quality inspection, painting, etc. will require a lot of money!”

   "However, the total financial support for our project is only 60 million, but we need to support ten to twenty private shipbuilding enterprises. It would be too unfair to give you a quarter of this pilot project at once!"

  After listening to Director Qin's pitiful words, Zhao Guoyang waved his hand and said, "Hey, Director Qin, I think the country's support for our project is not for equal treatment, there must be a focus!"

Zhao Guoyang patted his chest and promised: "I promise, as long as Director Qin can give us 15 million support funds for this pilot project, I promise for one year... no no no, after half a year, I will give you a satisfactory answer. !"

   After Zhao Guoyang finished speaking, Qin Yang couldn't believe it for a while: "Researcher Zhao, you can develop the first ship from scratch in half a year? Isn't this speed too exaggerated?"

  Before Zhao Guoyang had time to explain, Li Kejian who was beside him had already chimed in and said, "Director Qin, Guoyang won't talk big about this."

   "Not long ago, his "SMS Construction Machinery Group Company" just launched a new project on the market - the mine hoist. From the formulation of the project to the launch of the product, it only took two months in total!"

   "Although the difficulty of manufacturing a ship is much greater than that of a mine hoist, for Guoyang, I don't think it can be difficult for him!"

  This is the first time Qin Yang has heard that Zhao Guoyang's company has developed a "mine hoist".

  Because the State Oceanic Administration is responsible for the management of marine operations, Qin Yang certainly knows something about the development of offshore mines.

Deep-sea mining is currently a difficult problem in the world. Currently, the three most commonly used mining methods: continuous chain bucket mining method, fluid mining method, and shuttle mining method, all have various problems and have not yet been used on a large scale in the commercial range. .

  Under such circumstances, relevant domestic experts have asked whether it is possible to improve the "mine hoist" mining method of land mining and apply it to the development of offshore mines.

  At this time, when Mr. Li mentioned the matter related to the "mine hoist", Qin Yang immediately regained his energy.

"Researcher Zhao, listen to the meaning of Li's old saying, the mine hoist of your 'SMS company' has performed quite well in the market in the early stage? Then do you have an idea to develop a 'mine hoist' suitable for offshore mining operations?" 'Woolen cloth?"

  Hearing this, Zhao Guoyang scratched his head for a while, thinking that Director Qin really never left his work, and in minutes he turned to his own topic.

  Of course, Director Qin can now say that he has mastered his own destiny to enter the shipbuilding industry. Of course, Zhao Guoyang dare not neglect his question.

  He touched his nose, and said with a "huh": "General offshore mining operations are actually not very difficult. You only need to slightly strengthen the 'mine hoist' used on land and improve the hoisting system."

  When Zhao Guoyang said the first sentence, Qin Yang's eyes lit up.

   There is no doubt that this researcher Zhao must be knowledgeable, otherwise he would never be able to speak such professional words.

  After discovering this, Qin Yang couldn't wait to say: "Researcher Zhao, go on, go on, tell me that I'm all ears!"

  Zhao Guoyang gave a "hmm" and continued: "General offshore mining operations have a depth of about 1,000 to 2,000 meters. The requirements of this depth for the lifting system are still under control, and it is not difficult to achieve."

   "But if it is deep sea mining, it will be much more difficult..."

  Zhao Guoyang didn’t give a shit, and told the situation he knew in detail: “Generally speaking, deep-sea mining, as defined internationally, is operated at the bottom of the ocean at a water depth of 4,000 to 6,000 meters.”

   "The so-called deep-sea mining method generally refers to the mining method designed for mining deep-sea manganese nodule deposits. There are mainly three mining methods: continuous chain bucket mining system, fluid mining system and shuttle mining system."

   "Yes, yes, that's what Academician Wang Xingguo told you during our bureau meeting last time!" Qin Yang nodded excitedly.

   Li Kejian on the side also spoke in a timely manner: "Guoyang, you should be familiar with these three deep-sea mining methods in the world, right? Can you give me a brief introduction to Director Qin?"

  After Li Kejian finished speaking, Qin Yang nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

  Old Li had orders, Zhao Guoyang of course obeyed.

  He sorted out his clues and slowly shared the information he knew in this regard.

"The so-called continuous chain bucket mining method is mining driven by machinery. Its principle is similar to that of our common chain bucket sand mining ship. It is equipped with winches, pulleys, etc., so that steel cables or buckets are tied every 25 to 50 meters. Nylon cables are constantly circulating on the seafloor, relying on buckets to scoop up the manganese nodules and lift them back to the surface."

"This mining method usually uses a single or double ship to move longitudinally and laterally for continuous mining. It has relatively simple requirements for mining equipment, is more flexible in adjusting the operating area, and is easier to deal with failures. It is not affected by water depth. and subsea topographical constraints. The downside is that entanglement of cables can occur and affect operations.”

"The fluid mining method is to extend a riser pipe from the mining ship to the surface of the seabed sediment. The end of the pipe is connected to the ore collection device. The manganese nodules pass through the high-pressure centrifugal pump installed on the delivery pipe or the air compressor on the ship. .Using hydraulic or air lift, the mined ore is lifted along the pipeline to the ship."

  “The mining system is relatively expensive to build, but the trial mining in many countries has proved that it has good application prospects.”

  It was the first time Qin Yang heard that someone had such a precise analysis of the method of deep-sea mining operations, and there was a burst of splendor in his eyes.

   But Li Kejian, because he has seen too many strong winds and waves, although what he said to Zhao Guoyang was moving, he was not too rude.

  While listening, he expressed his opinion: "Well... Guoyang, according to the two methods you mentioned, of course the second one is better."

   "But this fluid mining method has too high requirements on the mining system. In a short period of time, we don't have the ability to produce it in China, right?"

Zhao Guoyang nodded in agreement and said: "What Mr. Li said is that even our 'SMS company' has always aimed to catch up with the top level of European and American construction machinery. But to be honest, if we want to make achievements in the fluid mining method, Without three to five years, it is impossible..."

  Hearing Zhao Guoyang say "catch up with the Premier League" with a relaxed face, Qin Yang's eyes were as big as copper bells.

   During this short contact of more than an hour, he certainly felt the specialness of this researcher Zhao, and he also knew that the other party's industrial technology attainments were not in vain.

   But "the goal of our factory is to catch up with the top level of European and American construction machinery", isn't this a bit too big?

   Just when Qin Yang was shocked, Zhao Guoyang explained the last deep sea mining method.

   "The last one is the shuttle mining method, which uses a remote-controlled ore collector with its own propulsion device and operating power, and the ballast tank controls the sinking, collection and ascent."

"During operation, sinking the ballast will make the ore collector dive to the seabed for collection. When a certain amount of ore is collected, the ballast in the ballast tank will be discarded automatically, and the ballast will surface and drive back to the mother ship to complete the entire collection process. ..."

  After Zhao Guoyang finished speaking, Li Kejian sighed: "Guoyang, if I don't have the ability to follow, this third method should be the best, right?"

   "Old Li is right! This mining method is self-controlled, safe, flexible, and efficient. The only disadvantage is that the cost is too expensive."

   "Currently, only a few countries have maturely mastered this method. Even an industrial powerhouse like Germany can only be hopeless in this field..."

   Zhao Guoyang's words were like pouring cold water on Qin Yang's head.

  As a leading cadre of the State Oceanic Administration, Qin Yang is of course aware of the abundance of marine resources.

  Although China has now begun to involve in the mining of seabed mineral deposits, most of them are limited to seabeds shallower than 40 meters, which is not convincing.

  The real rich mines on the seabed are still in the deep sea area, which is difficult for human beings to reach.

  According to a report by the bureau, it is estimated that there are 88 billion tons of rare earths, 1 billion tons of cobalt, and 3 trillion tons of polymetallic nodules in the seabed.

  These minerals have broad application prospects in the fields of electronics, medical equipment, textiles, non-ferrous metals, automobiles and chemicals.

  But without mature mining methods, these resources can only become "flowers in the mirror, moon in the water".

  (end of this chapter)