Environmental dredging and high depth dredging are emerging trends in the dredging market. DRAGFLOW has developed a full line of hydraulic/electric pumps and cutters for high depth applications that have been used for environmental dredging.
A perfect example of this is a dam cleaning dredging project the company is currently undertaking in Udine, Italy. In this dam cleaning project, DRAGFLOW’s Environmental High Deep System is operating at depths of 50+ meters, cleaning an area of 30,000m³ with clay and alluvium material.
The beauty of the system is that the dam is in full service during the dredging operation.
For this purpose three hydraulic pumps (HY85/160B) and excavators with dredging capacity up to 1.400m³ per day have been used with maximum client’s satisfaction.
The company’s High Depth Systems, powered by hydraulic power packs or generators, can operate as deep as 300 meters and include hydraulic or electric pumps, hydraulic or electric cutters, high-pressure water jets and Anti-turbidity bells.
The design of the High Depth System prevents contamination. The action of both, the strong suction of the impeller and the effect of the double blade agitator (that sends a high-pressure flow of water towards the sedimented material), puts the solids in suspension, creating a high-density slurry.
This slurry is conveyed to the eye of the impeller at high velocity, containing the turbidity in a cone shaped zone adjacent to the pump. As a safety factor, the Anti-Turbidity Bell covers the perimeter where the pump and cutters are operating, keeping all disturbances within.
The DRAGFLOW system handles high concentration of solids with smaller pumps, less power and reduced discharge pipe diameters; achieving better productions than larger conventional suction dredges at a much lower operating cost.