The ABI Muck Grinder is designed to do tough jobs that are too small or inaccessible for large hydraulic dredges. It works like an underwater 66" snow blower with a feeder mixer in a shroud and a pump attached directly to the back of the shroud. Instead of mixing and feeding snow into a blower which blows the snow to the side, it mixes and feeds mud, muck, and sediment into a pump that discharges sludge through a pipeline.
Like all pumping equipment, the size is designated by the discharge diameter. The Muck Grinder has a 6" open auger, trash/sewage, abrasion resistant, hydraulic motor driven pump, and a 6" discharge pipe.
This pump design has been used for over 30 years to bypass sewage, and empty plugged sewage digesters. It will pass soft drink/beer cans, rags, and similar trash objects. Because of the hydraulic motor drive a hard object (boulders, tires, etc.) can jam the pump without damage. The inlet of the pump is open to the shroud so the object can be removed without disassembly.
All working parts are very hard and abrasion resistant. There are no internal seals, so reasonable wear does not affect the performance. Unlike a hydraulic dredge, entrapped gas does not affect the pump performance because there is no vacuum line or area. The material being pumped is always under pressure.
The pump is designed with a very violent pre-entrance spiral to assist the solids into the pump. No damage can be done by cavitating the pump. The pump can be completely disassembled and re-assembled with common hand tools. The pump bearings are lubricated with gun grease and there is no pump seal.
The minimum pump design criteria for this application is 1000 gpm @ 50' total dynamic head. This was achieved on the prototype with the 50HP engine. Expected performance with the more powerful engine (65 HP) is 1000 gpm of water @ 60' tdh.
The pump can easily pump sludge 2000' with a 20' head. The standard boom at 45° will go down to a depth of 11.9'. Extending to deeper depths, 4' extensions can easily be added in the field using hand tools. Working depth is 14" to 13' with the extension head.
One cubic yard is 202 gallons. 1000 gpm is 5 cubic yards of water per minute.
The production of this equipment depends on the ability to excavate the material and the ability of the pump to carry it away. Normal slurry discharge rate is 800 gpm. That would be 4 cubic yards gross slurry per minute. Sandy slurry at 20% solids by volume would be .8 cubic yard per minute. Sandy slurry at 15% solids by volume would be .6 cubic yard per minute. Organic slurry @ 50% solids by volume would be 2 cubic yards per minute. Other fine grain slurry @ 30% solids by volume would be 1.2 cubic yard per minute.
Hourly or daily production would depend upon how many minutes could be actual discharge time. The % of solids in the slurry is determined by the forward travel velocity of the machine.
The machine travels on a static cable strung on the path of the desired travel. As that cut is finished the cable is indexed over to get the next pass. This allows absolute control and a flat bottomed cut. The windlass or travel pulleys on the dredge are hydraulic motor driven and the travel velocity is infinitely variable from 0 to 100 fpm. Normal function would be to remove material on the forward pass at 1 to 3 fpm, and back up at a rapid speed. Sometimes a "cleanup pass" is made on the way back.
Very thick discharge slurry travels more slowly in the pipeline, but the % of solids is higher, so the removal rate is fairly constant. The slurry has to be fairly wet for the polymer to make proper contact and get good dewatering.
The working depth is determined by lowering the pump and shroud by winch cable. The shroud and pump are mounted on the boom, which is the discharge pipe and hinged at the back of the machine. The boom and shroud is 16 feet long. The boom can easily be extended with hand tools for deeper projects.
The shroud has built in jets for assistance excavating sandy or chelaeted materials. These jets are powered by a separate pump [3" trash pump] on the deck. This really improves production and takes a lot of strain off the cable and the machine.
The flotation of the machine is 2.14 to 1 weight ratio for stability. The floats are compartmented stainless steel. All other parts are powder coated.
The 60 HP Cummins diesel is smooth and quiet. It makes less noise than a lot of grass cutting equipment.
The pump has its own hydraulic circuit, separate from the other functions. The engine and hydraulic systems are protected with Murphy shut down systems. The hydraulic system has its own cooler.
Start up and training usually takes 3 days or less.
Full throttle diesel fuel consumption is 3 gph or less.
The machine weight: 3000 lbs.; Overall Length: 17'; Hull length: 14'; Width: 66"; Height: Less than 4'
Water Displace: 12"; The unit will float in 9" of sludge or water
Starting price for just the ABI Muck Grinder unit is $87,700.00. Hoses, trailer, training, etc. are additional.