Influence of production capacity on design of cutter suction dredgers

As with other types of dredgers, production capacity is determined by market demand and the available dredgers for specific projects. Since many cutter suction dredgers are expected to dredge a variety of soils throughout their service life, the design parameters of a dredger must be set taking into account the type of soil it must be able to dredge. A cutter suction dredger designed to dig rock should also be able to dredge sand, but a cutter suction dredger designed to dig sand should not dredge rock. In addition, sand-type cutter suction dredgers are cheaper than rock-type cutter suction dredgers. In other words, the productivity of a cutter-suction dredger is related to the hardness of the soil it can dig. For example, the production capacity of a 10 MPa rock type cutter suction dredger is 100 m/hr. It is important that the unit of throughput be defined as m2/week, h, or s. The smaller the time unit selected, the greater the production value. (and thus a smaller long-term average production). More attention should be paid to reamer head cutting throughput when the required throughput is known for excavating a given soil type. Because not all the soil that is cut can be sucked through the suction nozzle, the cutting output is much greater than the dredging output. - Generally, 20–30% of the waste remains after overflowing. This factor must be taken into account when determining the production capacity of a cutter suction dredger.

As mentioned above, the maximum cutting output is higher for smaller time units. For cutter suction dredgers, this is mainly reflected in the way they work. Production is usually highest in the middle of a cut. When cutting corners, it is mainly operated by the reamer arm or steel pile trolley, and the cutting output is low or even zero. In practice, it will result in a value ratio of m/h when the cutting output unit is m/sec. Units are 20–30% higher in value. For practicality, a cutter suction dredger designed to excavate rock should be equally suitable for excavating other types of soil. This means that, once set, cutting equipment designed to excavate rock still needs to be suitable for excavating other types of soil.