A Preliminary Study on Employing High-Voltage Impulse for the Exploitation of Cobalt-Rich Crust

Abstract

The feasibility of employing high-voltage impulse for the exploitation of Cobalt-Rich Crust (CRC) was investigated in this study. Disintegration of CRC by high-voltage impulse in conductive solution and seawater was carried out. The results showed with an increase in solution conductivity, the applied voltage to cause electrical breakdown was also increased. The electrical breakdown voltage and electricity energy consumption needed for the disintegration of CRC in conductive solution were higher than in distilled water, since the majority of the electric current flowed through the solution to the ground electrode instead of CRC. However, it could be avoided by using resin-coated discharge electrode, which makes the disintegration of CRC by high-voltage impulse performed in seawater possible. Furthermore, it was possible to disintegrate the CRC when the discharge electrode and ground electrode were parallel arranged. Based on the results, a schematic diagram of employing high-voltage impulse for CRC mining was proposed.