The front-end design of the Additional Mining Vessel 3 (AMV3) is based on the current mv Mafuta (MFT) design, comprising of a crawler that is used to recover material from the seabed. This material is then pumped through a 700NB riser pipe to a four-way splitter, whose discharge reports to the static drain panels via a boil box, before being discharged to the scalper screens. The operating philosophy on the MFT allows for the feed to the splitter to either be equally distributed among the four head feed streams that lead to four dewatering bins.
The main focus of this study is to use experimental methods to explore the feasibility of an alternative Dewatering Bin concept (Lamella Clarifier) that can successfully operate in the unique mining environment, with the increase in operating capacity without jeopardising the dewatering bins operational efficiency. Using the existing Mafuta mining vessel which uses four dewatering as a baseline.
A CFD study was conducted to determine the effect of using lamella plates on the existing dewatering bin prior developing a new concept. Based on the findings from the study, +0.5, -1.4 mm sized particles interjected, which indicated diamonds could escape. An alternative concept was developed and on a 7th scale Lamella Clarifier test rig to establish a fundamental understanding of the alternative dewatering bin concept. This document defines the scope of work for test work to be conducted at Paarden Eiland for the Dewatering Bin concept development.