Simulation Study on the Sediment Dispersion during Deep-Sea Nodule Harvesting

Lin, Yuan; Weng, Zixin; Guo, Jin; Lin, Xingshuang; Phan‐Thien, N.; Zhang, Jian

doi:10.3390/jmse11010010

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…To gain insight into this, Ouillon et al conducted the first investigation of a gravity current continuously released from a moving source using direct numerical simulation (DNS) [17]. The related numerical predictions were consistent with the field experiment results, which were conducted at a depth of 4500 m in the CCFZ region of the Pacific Ocean [18]. Nevertheless, the idealized numerical model [17] did not resolve individual particles and their interactions, settling, or propensity to flocculate, but instead used an equilibrium-Eulerian description of a buoyancy scalar to represent the sediment mass concentration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…The discharge of the plumes in these studies have been treated as a source point producing sediments at a certain releasing rate, and the advection-diffusion equation has been solved to describe the dispersion of these plumes. As a result, a normal distribution in the horizontal direction is assumed as the initial condition of the plumes [15,18], and the coupling between the DSMV and the plume is neglected. However, the accuracy of the plume evolution estimation is determined by the effect of the wake of the deep-sea mining vehicle on the initial distribution of the plume during the plume discharge phase [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Numerical Investigation of the Dynamic Interaction between the Deep-Sea Mining Vehicle and Sediment Plumes Based on a Small-Scale Analysis

Liu

Yang

Lü

et al. 2023

JMSE

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The discharge of sediment plumes, which occurs mainly in the two depth zones, has a critical impact on assessing the deep-sea environment. Therefore, it is necessary to establish the corresponding physical oceanography for the evolution of these sediment plumes. For a more accurate evolution estimation of the plumes, the model in this research is concerned with the dynamic interaction between the deep-sea mining vehicle (DSMV) and the sediment plumes on small scales (t ≤ 2 s), contributing to a focus on the vital physical mechanics of controlling the extent of these plumes. The sediment concentration and particle trajectories of the plume emissions were determined using the Lagrangian discrete phase model (DPM). The results show that (1) the wake structure of the DSMV wraps the plume vortex discharged from the rear of the vehicle and inhibits the lateral diffusion of the plume, (2) the length of the entire wake (Lw) increases exponentially as the relative discharge velocity of the plume (U*) increases, where U* is defined as the dimensionless difference between the traveling velocity of the DSMV and the discharge velocity of the plume, and (3) at the same traveling speed of the DSMV and U* less than 0.75, the dispersion of the sediment particles in the early discharge stage of the plume does not vary with the plume discharge rate. This will be beneficial for the more accurate monitoring of ecological changes in deep-sea mining activities and provide theoretical guidance for the green design of DSMVs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Numerical Investigation of the Dynamic Interaction between the Deep-Sea Mining Vehicle and Sediment Plumes Based on a Small-Scale Analysis

Liu

Yang

Lü

et al. 2023

JMSE

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Experimental and numerical investigation of the effect of deep-sea mining vehicles on the discharge plumes

Liu,

Yang,

Lyu

et al. 2024

Physics of Fluids

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During mining activities, deep-sea mining vehicles (DSMVs) are highly susceptible to causing massive disturbance to the seafloor sediment, resulting in the formation of plumes due to underlying turbulence and currents. To gain a better understanding of the dispersion mechanism of sediment plumes, both experimental and numerical methods were employed. The numerical model was primarily used to characterize the solidity and liquidity of the sediment plume through volume of fluid and discrete phase model methods, respectively. The experimental data were validated against the numerical results. The plume distribution was studied in physical experiments for three different DSMV parameters. The study findings indicate that the discharge of the plume in the near field occurs in three stages due to a combination of plume release inertial forces, negative buoyancy in the water column, and wall restoring forces. Additionally, the increase in the travel velocity of the DSMV reduces the propagation of the plume in the direction of discharge and instead increases its lateral spread across the bottom surface. As the size of the DSMV decreases in three dimensions, changes in the vertical vortex structure become dominant in the plume distribution. This leads to a reduction in the length of the plume head and a faster sinking of the plume. When the wake Froude number Frw is between 0.7 and 6.8, representing the wake turbulence effect of DSMV on plume discharge, the diffusion width of the plume on the bottom surface is linearly related to Frw.

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Particle plume dispersion with various incident velocities: Particle–fluid interaction regimes from coupled discrete element-large eddy simulations

Yang,

Chen,

Wang

2024

Physics of Fluids

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The particle plume, a ubiquitous particle–fluid coupled phenomenon in tailing discharge from deep-sea mining, undergoes suspension and diffusion over distances transportation. Our study is motivated by predicting plume dispersion patterns driven by different initial momentums, relying on understanding complex fluid–particle interaction mechanics. To consider irregular particle shapes and discrete effects, a discrete element method and large-eddy simulation coupled model is established in our in-house solver to simulate particle plumes and investigate flow characteristics from a Lagrangian perspective. The influence of the initial incident velocity W0 on particle flow regimes, movement patterns, velocity, concentration, Reynold shear stress, fluid–particle interactions, and energy budget is explored. The results show that a counter-rotating vortex pair forms in the initial stage, with ambient fluid entrainment inducing coherent vortex splitting into numerous vortex filaments, causing significant radial diffusion. Plume transportation begins with rapid settling, followed by a decrease to a roughly constant level. Increasing W0 enhances the particle velocity, allowing plumes to advance faster. This results in particle diffusion rate and concentration dilution rate increasing with decreasing W0. Away from the nozzle centerline, negative axial velocity magnitudes increase as W0 decreases, prompting particle radial diffusion. Additionally, for cases with low W0, significant particle concentration in regions far from the nozzle dampens pulsatile velocity, resulting in decreased Reynolds stress with decreasing W0. Notably, despite the complexity of particle–fluid interactions in plumes, the conversion of initial gravitational potential energy into particle and fluid kinetic energy is limited across all W0.

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Simulation Study on the Sediment Dispersion during Deep-Sea Nodule Harvesting

Cited by 3 publications

References 29 publications

A Numerical Investigation of the Dynamic Interaction between the Deep-Sea Mining Vehicle and Sediment Plumes Based on a Small-Scale Analysis

A Numerical Investigation of the Dynamic Interaction between the Deep-Sea Mining Vehicle and Sediment Plumes Based on a Small-Scale Analysis

Experimental and numerical investigation of the effect of deep-sea mining vehicles on the discharge plumes

Particle plume dispersion with various incident velocities: Particle–fluid interaction regimes from coupled discrete element-large eddy simulations

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