FURTHER NG BEAVER TESTS: THE PERFECT BLEND OF PUMP AND DRIVE IHC’ engineers know that, with the New Generation Beavers and the new High Efficiency pumps, they had hit upon a most economical improvement. which performs better for less fuel and lower downtime.As seems to have become the IHC habit these days, tests revealed that actual advancements were even better than expected. With High Efficiency (HR) pumps overburdening of the diesel is a thing of the past, as is the changing of impellers during. operations, SUBMERGED PUNE DRIVES he trouble with dredgepumps i tha, tobe relly eflecive,chey should be placed as far under water ae possible. A igh concencration (atleast 40 to 50%) is what the dredgermaster wants for maximising production, bu the higher ‘the concentration the higher the ‘entry losses’ on the suction side = be he energy spent on convincing the spoil to enter the tube, To overcome this problem, much IHC-research has gone into maximising the suction ener- hwhien practically Boiled down to ‘developing technology tht allowed the [pump to be placed as near to the suc- ‘uon pipes mouth as possible. This gave ibe coche ivr baler prep al ‘the double-walled pump, which made a powerful pump down below in the Credgers bowels a sate proposition. [though it soon dawned that 3 ub, ‘merged pump, deep down in the suction tube. isthe most effective. its immersed nature caused problems: ic could be ‘made alright forthe pump itsl but the technology to make it move invariably hated water Therefore capaciy of ldder- pumps was limited, so that they always hha to be combined with a more power: fal main pump in the dredger itself hence the double waled main pumps. “The fist submerged pumps were driven by constant or variable speed (electric) DC-motors, mounted on a gearbox on ‘the top section ofthe ladder A significant kproreree watt gitar tine Feliable AC motors andthe use of well sealed roller bearings for dredgepumps Iwas dificale to rogulte thir speed by regulating the generator’ frequency through the diesels revs, which, how ever didnot work ithe dese! had to serve more purposes. Because of the suer changing eandtinn of foweste (inversely proportional to delivery dis- tance), consistency ofthe mixture snd type of sedi ment, the ameter ofthe ladder pump Impellers had to that, in order to avoid overloading, ‘aly some 0 tn 40% of ine stalled power could on average be used. [A great step forwara was IMCS ot lea low speed asynchronous submerged motor with thyristor controlled fre- quency regulator This made the sub- merged pump a practical prapasiion for tralng-uetion hopper-dredgers. With controlabe speed, they can be made powerful enough for pipe diameters up to 1.250 m.As they grow bigger, howev- er these motors need crowds of pole pairs w keep moving, which makes them Aisproportionaly unwieldy and expe. ‘A number of viable solutions have been {eveloped to meet this problem: using the power required fitng smaller, three bladed impelers, which require higher cpued and thu fewer pole par: ting to motors in tandem, which gives a smaller ighter and more economical Instatavon; or aeployig mg speea av filed motors combined with'dry’ (rot entirely of filed) gearbox -only possible ao ‘since modern shaft seals and electronic signaling have made them ‘dredger proof, Hydraulic dives for submerged pumps ar0-compacter and cheaper than elec trie motors and thei speadiseasior to contro. Yet. despite being around for some 25 yeas. they are not used very often, because standard motors are not very powerful.So you need several motors to drive a gearbox that f the motors are ofthe fat type, willbe air filed a! therefore prone to Roading With a number of (even less powerful) slow speed hydraulic motors. an ol filed speed-up gearbox can bo used, In all these cases, the limited power on the submerged ladder pump made ‘necessitated a main pump as low a5. possible in the dredger itself safety reacone peoferably ofthe double walled variety and in its own watertight engineroom, DIRECT DRIVE “Those penhlame have for stationary dredgers been solved in one stoke With the introduction of the decay riven cubmerzed dredpenump. Inthe first version the diesel was fed on the ladder, working a an inclination of 40" 1043" ana airecoy suffering all move~ ments ofthe ladder This system has been made to work very wel hough, with fast reving 6,8 oF 12 efinder diel from 300 KWW.The space shuttle’ lke attractions of the engineroom, however, mean that it must remain unmanned during operations. This, ‘especialy in bigger dredgors, considered as being a drawoack Hence the enthusiasm with which the |HC-developed pivoting gearbox was welcomed.This allows the engines to be paced on deck, while recy i= ving. through the photng gearbow. the submerged pump. Ths set-up can take tp co 2400 KV. makes the use of one igh pr tr ladder pump praia {with no need for an extra double walled pump on board the dredger) ana i easy controlled enrougn the diesels revolutions. The single pump. ‘engine on deck ly-out, reduces downtame (only one pump needing attention, ‘engine easily approachable on deck), foes vr ully Ho energy between engine and pump. and i safe, because there is no big pump down below in old that can spring a leak. I even ‘makes a main pontoon superfvous, for catamarans simple to build and even simpler to tke apart and mount again, Generation Beavers were born, NO OVERLOADING Bur there is more to ethan that forthe 21 medium pressure High Eiciency pump, ‘made in highly abrasion resistant maxidur Swi) three-bladed impeller: High Etieney purge come in four versions: super low pressure. low pressure. ed tm pressure and high pressure. For the purpore ofthis article wel concent ‘nthe broad medium pressure one, HiR-pumps have mary advantages, impellers lighter and cheaper, yet stronger than average- which need a with a petty low driving couple and hence economical drives.As their name suggests, HR-pumps revealed a very om we (si high eicen s trum. also at higher flow rates. The pase ange through the bump is beter than in conventional pumps with ive-biaded less downtime All hs is very vce imoortant advanage of HR-pumps surfaced during trials: whereas convention: demand ever more enerzy at short delivery distances up to the point where the engine is overloaded, HR, pumps dont do that. Even at distances. with ne eeunter es) be ee even BOER to pore 0 Orr arin 7% inthe Beaver grace HCW ag. Wom S014 on ral Ce gen squarely in the OY oe ore operational spec We ont cP oh tO THC pressure to speak of and working at welocity 8 to 6 m/sec, 55% concentra Wor the impeller ameter need not be reduced, while the die to become overloaded, despite stb- born attempts This implies thatthe diesel main drive ‘expectancy with no chance of over loading, while during a dredging opera drastically cuts back on downtime for changing impellers. Changeable gears are no longer necessary. The savings in corte and downtime boost dredging cfcincy to hitherto unknown levels. ‘most ecient pump, that would gobble up and lif spoil rom the bottom most economical, would last long without shedding impellers or bursting its walls, and would produce more dredged rmaceral than it guzles energy, seems to have come to a succesful conclusion, with the directly driven submerged HR-pump. Combined with the new generation flexible diesel engines work: ge of 1600 to 1300 rpm. the perfec blend of pump and pump drive has been created 5 1goah 5° CONTENTS Further NC Beaver te Seed ee ECL ee eed ees eee etre ery eee ee een ees Hard toothed Beaver grinds ASS Pere eee ire srl econ en een ee eet peeneliy nea Dros eae ed sound enclosures for vibro-piles eerie corte’ The articles appearing in this journal See en Pua quoted. SE eed rie BOC eer? Cee a) Ire s