The inclusion of the suction depth

The inclusion of the suction depth to
recent series designations introduced
unnecessary confusion. One of the
unique features of the IHC Beaver®
series is precisely its versatility《多功能》; it
provides a wide range of dredgers with
several design dredging depths while
using one and the same design concept《设计构思》,
as described in the leading article of
this issue.
The new IHC Beaver® 50
The IHC Beaver® 50 (figure 1) replaces
the old 1600 type. With a track record
of hundreds of sold units, the position
of the IHC Beaver® 1600 looks
invincible, but there is a fair chance 《既有可能》that
the newcomer will replace her sisters
quite quickly. Clearly, she wasn’t
introduced for the sake of the increase
of about 100+ horsepower compared to
the 1600 that gave the older series its
name.《1600 马力》 It is her state-of-the-art《最先进的》 and
environmentally friendly technology
that will take her users to the cutting
edge 《不懂》of the competition in today’s
dredging world.
Dredge pump and powering
The dredger has been equipped with a
direct-driven IHC Cutter Special® HRCS
inboard dredge pump 《舷内泵》which combines
the benefits of high-efficiency pumps
with a large ball passage, allowing the
dredger to achieve high production
rates, even in coarse, sticky and stony
material. Of course, the pump bearing
block 《不懂》and the gearbox have been
integrated as in the predecessors, but
an even more appealing feature is that
the pump has a special mechanical seal
that allows it to run without any
lubrication or even gland water. This
reduces the number of parts requiring
servicing on the dredger and opens up
a new range of applications for landbased
booster stations when a water
source is not available. Exceptionally,
the dredger is powered by only one
diesel engine, a Caterpillar 3512 B HD or
3512 C HD rated at 1249 kilowatts at
1600rpm. The main shaft end drives the
dredge pump while PTOs do the job for
the 12 kVA, 230VAC electric alternator
and the hydraulic pumps. An ingenious
intermediate stage ensures that mains
voltage and frequency remain constant
as the speed of the diesel engine varies
depending on the dredge pump load.
Amply dimensioned batteries and an
inverter, or power supply through the
installed shore connection, can supply
electric energy if the main engine is
idle. Spare part management and
maintenance greatly benefit from this
one-engine strategy, as they do from
the ‘white iron’ wear parts in the
dredge pump.
One more step towards a green
dredger ...
One interesting benefit of the pump
arrangement described here is how
‘green’ it is: no lubrication or grease
remnants pollute the dredged material,
nor does gland water dilute the mixture
delivered to the deposit. IHC Merwede
is continuing to work on sustainability.
Of course, emissions from the diesel
engine are at least a match for current
regulations and those of the near
future. But there is more. The ladder