To provide an apparatus for collecting metals from seawater, in which collecting materials moored under an ocean can be easily recovered, and to provide efficient methods for mooring and recovering the collecting materials.
The apparatus 10 for collecting metals from seawater is provided with a chain 11 provided with a float on each end and having a predetermined number of specifically spaced tying devices 14 that tie the collecting materials 13. The floats are adapted to be kept floating underwater in such a way that pressure-resistant buoys 12 are engaged with the chain 11 through chain winching prefetching wires 15 and they are allowed to stay in the middles of chain winching prefetching wires 15 through underwater detaching devices 16 capable of being operated on the sea. When the floats are detached by means of the submerged detaching devices 16, the chain winching prefetching wires 15 extend to allow the pressure-resistant buoys 12 to float toward the sea surface and to keep the buoys 12 floating on or directly below the sea. Therefore, the prefetching wires 15 can be simply and manually hauled.
TAMADA MASAO
KASAI NOBORU
SEKO NORIAKI
SATO YASUSHI
AZUMA TATSUHIRO
JAPAN ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY
KAWASAKI PLANT SYSTEMS LTD