How optimization can help a dynamic industry like dredging

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If there is one environment where every day is different, it is on board a hopper- or cutter dredger. The different composition of rock and its hardness, and debris and artifacts on the bottom all have significant impact on the process and can accelerate wear and occasionally induce immediate failure. To prevent this as well as one can, dredging and cutter head drives have high service factors and are designed in such a way that wear parts are relatively easily accessible. There are some redundant systems and safeties build-in, as well. That said, as these drives are custom built the lead time on parts is long and with the equipment being installed deep inside the ship, accessibility still is an issue. For that reason, (big) repairs are scheduled frequently and ahead of time. These are massive, costly and tightly scheduled logistical operations. GBS recommends at least one Optimization visit a year during an outage day to visually asses drive condition, so that if needed all parts can be ordered ahead of time and service needed can be scheduled  for that upcoming dry-dock. Of course GBS is available all year for trouble shooting too – better be safe than sorry - and we travel the world to accommodate the schedules of our dredging customers.

 

A few years back for a dredging customer, GBS has installed torque sensors and other instruments to measure effective load on the dredging system in an effort to determine if there was additional dredging capacity left in the system. After successful completion of the first, several followed  – please let us know if you have a Custom Optimization project for us.

 

Being independent and therefore knowledgeable on all brands and types, only one number needs to be on speed dial. Due to our uniformity in reporting technique and familiarity with your industry, with GBS you can expect the same – quality  - result every time.

 

Stay tuned for more best practices for dredging customers.