• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.257-267
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• 2003

Deep-sea bottom photographs acquired in the Clarion-Clipperton fracture zone of the northeast equatorial Pacific were analyzed to reveal the controlling processes for the spatial variation of manganese nodule. The results show that regional-scale occurrence variations of manganese nodule are mainly controlled by primary productivity of surface water, sedimentation rate, and water depth (or carbonate compensation depth). As a result, the diagenetic accretion on nodules increases toward southwest while hydrogenetic accretion increases toward northeast. Considering the northwestward movement of Pacific Plate, this regional-scale variation of manganese nodule occurrence seems to be affected by oceanic environment during the active growth period (Oligocene-Miocene) of Pacific Plate.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Resources Recycling Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.45-49
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• 2004

• 한국해양학회지
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.248-257
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• 1994

Growth rates of two manganese nodules collected in the Korea Deep Ocean Study (KODOS-89) site in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zones in the central Equatorial Pacific have been estimated by employing uranium-series disequilibrium techniques to investigate the geochemical processes leading to the formation of deep-sea nodules. the growth rates estimated from the profiles of excess /SUP 230/Th activities and ratios of excess /SUP 230/Th to /SUP 232/Th to /SUP 232/Th are in the order of a few millimeters per million years. Growth rates at bottom-side of nodules are 2-3 times faster than those at top-sides. Diagenetic supply of manganese could explain the faster growth at the bottom-side of nodules.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.33-41
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• 2016

A scale up tests (380 kg/day) using a continuous solvent extraction and electro-winning system was carried out to separate and recover cobalt from a solution containing 1.91 g/L Co and 14.65 g/L Ni. The solution was obtained during a process including solvent extraction and precipitation stages for removal of Cu and Fe from a synthetic sulfuric acid solution of manganese nodule matte. The optimal condition for solvent extraction was : solvent concentration of 0.22M Na-Cyanex 272 (45% saponified with NaOH) and O:A phase ratios of 1:1.5, 10:1 and 1.5:1 used in extraction, scrubbing and stripping stages, respectively. The extraction and stripping efficiencies were found to be 99.8% and 99.88%, respectively. The stripped solution contained 40.27 g/L Co with 4 ppm Ni. Cobalt metal of 99.963% purity was yielded with current efficiency of 67% and current density of $0.563A/dm^2$ during the electro-winning process.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.229-236
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• 2008

The deep-sea miner is the tracked vehicle system which drives on the deep-seabed and gathers a manganese nodules. The miner is operated by remote control in real-time by the station of surface vessel. So operating S/W is a important part of miner remote operating. At present, the test miner has been designed and manufactured for near-shore sea-test. The test miner consists of mechanical parts, and electric-electronic parts. Because those parts should be controled and monitored remotely, operating S/W for control and monitoring is necessary by all means. In this paper, real-time operating S/W for a control and monitoring of the test miner was designed and developed using PXI, embedded controller and LabVIEW. This real-time operating S/W was developed for an efficient test of test miner in a near seabed area. Moreover, database management system(DBMS) was developed too for the data management of test miner monitoring using MS SQL and LabVIEW.

• Proceedings of the KSEEG Conference
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.552-554
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• 2007

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.32-38
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• 2009

An FMEA for the waterjet-lifter of a DSNM is performed to prevent the occurrence of device failure. A waterjet-lifter raises and transports manganese nodules from the deep-sea floor up to a somewhat elevated place, from which a pin-scraper transports the lifted nodules to the inner space of the DSNM. A concept design for a device using the axiomatic design methodology is shown as the mapping between the functional domain and physical domain. The FMEA for a DSNM is introduced briefly and the rating criteria of severity, occurrence, and detection for the DSNM are defined. The FMEA of the functional requirements of a DSNM device is accomplished. Three kinds of failure modes, as well as their effects and causes, are predicted. Current design control methods for detecting potential failures, such as physical or computational experiments, design confirmation, and mathematical calculation, are described and the recommended actions for several significant causes are suggested.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.187-197
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• 2004

The purpose of this paper is to investigate economic feasibility of manganese nodules in Korea area (Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone). We assumed that the production scale of manganese nodules were 3.0MT or 1.5MT and analyzed that the capital cost and operating cost were estimated in the four sectors, exploration, mining, transportation and metallurgical process. The capital cost and operating cost evaluation reflects the latest technical practices. First, for analyzing economic feasibility, the scenario suggests that the production of 4 metals can be made for 25 years. Assuming the discount rate at 8.0%, equity capital at 50% and tax at 27%. When manganese nodule were mininged 3.0 MT, economic feasibility analyses showed that IRR was 12.8 and pay-back period was 9.2 years, and when manganese nodules were mininged 1.5 MT, economic feasibility analyses showed that IRR was 4.0 and pay-back period was 11.8 years. This study indicated there is economic validity of at the product of manganese nodules 3.0 MT. In addition, we carried out a sensitivity analysis at the change of cobalt price on mining 1.5 MT. The result of sensitivity analysis clearly showed that economic validity is high at increasing of cobalt price 50% up.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 1996.11a
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• pp.891-895
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• 1996

Performance and efficiency of hybrid (hydraulic-mechanical) pick-up device of deep sea manganese nodules collector are very sensitive to altitude and altitude of pick-up head relative to undulating seafloor. For this reason, motion control of pick-up head relative to the changing deep sea topography and other disturbances is of particular importance in design of pick-up device. The concept of design axiom is applied to a pick-up device of hybrid type. Kinematic analysis conducted in absolute Cartesian coordinates gives position, velocity, and acceleration of the hydraulic cylinders which enable the pick-up head to keep the preset optimal distance from seafloor. Inverse dynamic analysis provides the driving forces of hydraulic cylinders and the reaction forces at each joint. Design sensitivity analysis is performed in order to investigate the effects of possible design variables on the change of the maximum strokes of hydraulic cylinders. The direct differentiation method is used to obtain the design sensitivity coefficients.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.68-74
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• 1998

Performance and efficiency of deep seabed collector is a primary factor for feasibility of commercial deep ocean mining. The efficiency of manganese nodules collector depends on vehicle mobility relative to undulating seafloor and is attributed pickup head to keep altitude and elevation of it against seafloor. For this reason, motion control of pickup head relative to the changing deep-sea topography and other disturbances is of particular importance in design of pickup device. The concept of design axiom is applied to a pickup device of hybrid type in order to evaluate the concept design. Kinematic analysis conducted in absolute Cartesian coordinates gives position, velocity, and acceleration of the hydraulic cylinders which enable the pickup head to keep the preset optimal distance from seafloor. Inverse dynamic analysis provides the driving forces of hydraulic cylinders and the reaction forces at each joint. Design sensitivity analysis is performed in order to investigate the effects of possible design variables on the change of the maximum strokes of hydraulic cylinders. The direct differentiation method is used to obtain the design sensitivity coefficients.