Effect of drag-reducing additives on particle collection performance in hydraulic collectors

In hydraulic collectors, the properties of the jet fluid play a crucial role in both operational efficiency and nodule collection performance. To explore the relationship between fluid characteristics and the transport behavior of nodule particles, this study introduces a surfactant as a drag-reducing additives (DRA) into the jet fluid and investigates its effects on particle detachment and collection performance. The results show that under the same jet conditions, adding a DRA significantly reduces nodule collection time, and a DRA concentration of 1000 mg/L is a suitable choice based on overall considerations. Under the coupled effect of jet velocity and travel velocity, DRA enhances jet energy to improve nodule detachment efficiency and effectively reduces nodule aggregation caused by vortices, facilitating collection. In addition, the addition of DRA to the jet does not significantly promote the suspension of sediment particles. Finally, a neural network model optimized by a genetic algorithm is employed to further predict the nodule collection performance under DRA jetting conditions, providing a scientific basis for efficient and intelligent deep-sea mining.