A Cutter Suction Dredger is a stationary dredger which makes use of a cutter head to loosen the material to be dredged. It pumps the dredged material via a pipeline ashore or into barges. While dredging the cutter head describes arcs and is swung around the spud-pole powered by winches. The cutter head can be replaced by several kinds of suction heads for special purposes, such as environmental dredging.
When the in-situ material is too compact to be removed by suction action alone, some form of mechanical loosening must be incorporated near the suction mouth. The most common method is a rotating cutter: the main feature of the cutter suction dredger. This is mounted at the lower end of the ladder used to support the cutter drive and the suction pipe. The loosened material then enters the suction mouth, passes through the suction pipe and pump (or pumps) and into the delivery line.
Cutter suction dredgers operate by swinging about a central working spud using moorings leading from the lower end of the ladder to anchors. By pulling on alternate sides the dredger clears an arc of cut, and then moves forward by pushing against the working spud using a spud carriage. A generally smooth bottom can be achieved, and modern instrumentation allows profiles and side slopes to be dredged accurately. Some of the larger cutter suction dredgers are self-propelled to allow easy movement from site to site.
The size of a cutter suction dredger is measured by the diameter of the suction pipe and by the installed machinery power. Pipe diameters are in the range 100 to 1,500 mm. A modern highly automated cutter suction dredger is capable of achieving high outputs over sustained periods and production rates of around 500,000 m³/week are possible under good conditions.
Cutter suction dredgers can be used to deliver through a pipe- line or to load barges. They may also be used simply as loosening devices for material to be re-handled by another type of dredger, in which mode offloading is directly over the stern to the sea. Pipeline offloading is most common but is vulnerable to waves and currents and causes an obstruction to other vessels. To avoid these problems part of the pipeline may be submerged and laid on the channel-or sea-bed.
Cutter suction dredgers are mainly used for capital dredging, especially when reclamation is associated with the dredging. Smaller vessels can be dismantled into sections and moved by road or rail for work in inland waterways, sludge lagoons, reservoirs and similar isolated areas. Large heavy-duty cutter dredgers are capable of dredging some types of rock which have not been pre-treated.
An alternative form of loosening is the use of a rotating bucket wheel at the suction mouth. Bucket wheel dredgers are most commonly used in mineral extraction operations and to date have not found general favour among the major international dredging contractors.
About OCEAN Pump
Tai’an Ocean Pump (OCEAN Pump) Co., Ltd. is the leading sand pump and sand dredger solutions manufacturer, supplier and exporter in China. We have more than 30 talented sand pump experts and 15,000 square meters factory. More than 4 series 20 kinds of dredge pumps, slurry pumps, sand dredger machines and related parts had been manufactured to satisfy your pumping requirements.
Product innovation and customer satisfaction are our continuous commitment to all our partners. OCEAN Pump is the Certification of New Hi-tech Enterprises by the Government. We provide our customers with a complete set of sand, slurry, gravel pumping solutions and related parts. They are widely used in mining, metallurgy, coal washing, power plants, sewage water treatment and dredging in such industries as mine, chemical and petroleum. We are looking for pump dealers all over the world
