Trailing Suction Dredger

General Description

Trailing suction dredger is a large self-propelled, loading type dredger equipped with a rake head excavation tool and a hydraulic suction device. When dredging, the suction pipe of the rake is placed on the bottom of the river, and the vacuum effect of the mud pump is utilized to absorb mud from the bottom of the river through the rake head and suction pipe into the mud bin of the dredger. After the mud bin is full, the rake is lifted and navigated to the dumping area to open the mud gate for unloading, or the excavated soil is directly discharged from the ship. Some dredgers can also suck out the soil unloaded in the mud bin for reclamation. It has good navigation performance, can self navigate, self load, and self unload, and is in a navigation state during operation without the need for positioning devices. It is suitable for the excavation and maintenance of uncovered and narrow coastal entry channels, with the highest efficiency when excavating silt.

Working Principle

The trailing suction dredger is a self-propelled dredger equipped with a trailing pipe and a trailing head. The rake head integrates mechanical and hydraulic loosening functions. When the rake suction dredger reaches the construction position, it reduces the ship’s speed and lowers the head to the bottom of the water. The rake head cuts and liquefies the dredged material, and the liquefied dredged material is sucked in by the mud pump or rake arm pump in the cabin and discharged into the mud tank of the rake suction ship. When the ship reaches full load or economic loading capacity, stop dredging and sail to the designated location for unloading. The unloading operation methods include mud throwing, hydraulic filling, bow spraying, and backfilling.

Main Features

1. The trailing suction dredgers are often equipped with lateral thrusters at the bow, resulting in good maneuverability.
2. During construction, there is no need to anchor or anchor cables for anchoring, which has little interference with navigation. Therefore, it is very suitable for construction in ports or navigable rivers and canals, but cannot be carried out in narrow water areas.
3. The disadvantage of a suction dredger is that it cannot be excavated when the medium is hard.
4. Due to the transportation of sediment with a large amount of water to the dumping area during dredging, it will affect production.