23 March 2016
Bakker Sliedrecht is working on the drive systems and auxiliary switchboards for the world’s largest cutter suction dredger, JDN 8069, that is being built for Jan De Nul Group. Bakker Sliedrecht has been involved in this project from the very beginning, brainstorming with Jan De Nul Group about electrical configurations.
JDN 8069 is being equipped with very powerful drive systems of 8.500 kW. This makes the new vessel significantly stronger than existing cutter suction dredgers. The powerful drive system crushes rock faster, increasing production.
Bakker Sliedrecht is engineering, delivering and commissioning four high voltage drive systems for JDN 8069:
One drive system will power both the cutter and the propulsion since both applications are never used at the same time, thus saving space on board.
A high reliability of the inboard pump drive systems is very important to Jan De Nul Group. Therefore, Bakker Sliedrecht is installing redundant inboard pump drive systems. To ensure the reliability of the drive systems, Bakker Sliedrecht is delivering a spare part package of critical components.
Four additional drive systems are being built by Bakker Sliedrecht to power all winches, pumps, and other auxiliaries. The scope also consists of multiple water-jacket-cooled electric motors; they will all undergo a heat run test before installation, also to increase reliability.
Both the high voltage and low voltage systems are being built to resist the vessel’s heavy vibrations by using heavy duty vibration damping material.
All drive systems and switchboards are undergoing a Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) at the testing facility of Bakker Sliedrecht. Most systems have already successfully passed this test. After FAT testing, both the drive systems and the switchboards will be shipped to Jan De Nul Group for installation on board in Croatia. Bakker Sliedrecht will take care of the commissioning on site at a later stage. The JDN 8069 will be operational in 2017.
