Key points
- TMC Chief Offshore Innovation and Technology Officer Rutger Bosland describes a commercial nodule collection system in which a nodule’s journey from the seafloor to the surface vessel takes about 25 minutes.
- The collection vehicle’s nozzles use a curved plate to generate a water jet that creates suction, drawing nodules into a hopper while sediment exits through a rear diffuser and settles behind the vehicle.
- Nodules pass through a 700-meter flexible jumper hose into a riser system that uses an airlift mechanism, injecting air to reduce weight so the nodules rise about 4.2 kilometers to the surface vessel.
- At the surface, nodules arrive at the riser head and pass over dewatering screens that separate them from water and sediment before being moved to onboard nodule storage.
