Final Scientific/Technical Report: Real Time Particle Size and Settling Velocity for In-Situ Monitoring of Deep-Sea Polymetallic Nodule Mining
- Sequoia Scientific, Inc., Bellevue, WA (United States)
In the coming decade, it is anticipated that deep-sea mining activities will commence throughout the deep ocean, at depths around 4000-6000m where vast deposits of baseball-sized rocks called polymetallic nodules lay on the seabed. These nodules contain resources such as cobalt, copper and nickel which are needed to produce batteries for electric vehicles. Collector machines driving on the seabed and gathering these nodules will stir up clouds of sediment, and there is concern about how the resulting concentration of sediment in the near-bottom ocean water will affect deep and mid-ocean biology. There is currently no technology capable of comprehensively monitoring the concentrations and properties of stirred up sediment in the deep. This project addressed this critical gap by developing a deep-sea particle measurement system (Real-Time Size and Settling Velocity, RTSSV) that uses a multi-camera high-resolution video imaging system, with accompanying image processing, to measure the concentration, size distribution and settling speed of sediment. Importantly, these measurements are made in-situ, so that delicate sediment aggregates will not be disturbed, as is the case when collecting samples at depth to be measured in the lab. The instrument can be mounted on a variety of established deep-sea platforms such as moorings, AUVs and ROVs, providing data in near real time, where the key measurements need to be made—from the source of the sediment disturbance and throughout the resulting plume—vital for determining if deep-sea mining can be done in an environmentally responsible manner. The developed system (RTSSV) will possess the only such capability worldwide, giving a US-based group a substantial competitive advantage as this newly evolving global industry develops. As added value, the technology will also have widespread application to the offshore oil and gas industry, dredging industry, and to sediment science research.
- Research Organization:
- Sequoia Scientific, Inc., Bellevue, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AR0001232
- OSTI ID:
- 1972026
- Type / Phase:
- SBIR (Phase I)
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-SEQUOIA-0001232
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Mineralogical transformations in polymetallic nodules and the change of Ni, Cu and Co crystal-chemistry upon burial in sediments
The Influence of deep-sea bed CO2 sequestration on small metazoan (meiofaunal) community structure and function