Status and progress on researches and developments of deep ocean mining equipments

In recent years, the competition of the international communities on the deep ocean mineral resources exploitation is rapid growing, relevant to this situation, high attention and fund are being paid and invested again on the research and development of the deep ocean mining technologies and equipments by the world's major industrial countries, emerging industrial countries and some international large-scale enterprises. According to the different development stages of the deep ocean mining technologies and equipments, the configurations and development status of three typical deep ocean mining systems, including the continuous line bucket, shuttle boat type and hydraulic(pneumatic) lifting pipeline, are introduced. The key technologies, the special problems to be faced and the current progress for the research and development of the deep ocean mining equipments from the four aspects, including the collecting technology for seafloor mineral resources, walking technology for seafloor mining vehicle, mineral transportation technology from seafloor to surface and surface support system technology are systematically and comprehensively analyzed, finally the feasibility and research modes of the deep ocean mining equipment development are summarized and expected, which can provide reference and guidance for research and development of China's deep ocean mining technology and equipment. © 2014 Journal of Mechanical Engineering.