Ferromanganese nodules have been recognized as a potential future metal source for over 50 years. Many research and development efforts have been conducted by many organizations. Most of the efforts have been concentrated into the mining technologies especially for hydraulic lifting through riser pipes with bulk-scale nodule collector. However, no commercial mining venture exists. Uncertainty in the economy of nodule mining is considered to be the reason for this. In order to improve the economy, a mining subsystem based on mechanical lifting and small-scale collectors is proposed and the preliminary economic feasibility is examined in this study. The benefit was at a favorable level compared with that using hydraulic lifting with bulk-scale collector. From the viewpoint of environmental impact assessment, environmental considerations of deep-sea sediment plume are explained.

When a deep-seabed lifting pump is kept this device has bending and deformation in the axis due to its long length(8m). These influences can be caused a breakdown. Therefore, a mounting must be developed to keep the lifting pump safe. This paper discusses the hydraulic cylinder design of the lifting pump and structural safety estimation of the mounting using SBD(simulation-based design). The multi-body dynamic simulation method is used, which has been used in the automotive, structural, ship building, and robotics industries. In this study, the position and diameter of the hydraulic cylinder were determined based on the results of the strokes and buckling loads for the design positions of the hydraulic cylinder. A structural dynamic model of the mounting system was constructed using the determined design values, and the structural safety was evaluated using this dynamic model. According to these results, this system has a sufficient safety factor to manufacture.