Clamshell pumps remove wet sand or mud from an area to be excavated or drilled. They have a one-way valve at the bottom and are used for pumping out wetlands, seabeds, and dykes. They are simple to maintain and can be fitted to trucks or vessels.
A clamshell pump is a simple type of pumping apparatus that removes wet sand or mud from an area that will be excavated or drilled. A shell pump is essentially a hollow cylinder that has a ball or one-way valve at the bottom. The cylinder exists so that the shell pump can open to suck up large or thick material, but close completely when it is turned off so that material does not flow back into the area just pumped.
Shell pumps are often used to pump out wetlands or soggy areas prior to construction. They can also be used to remove wet sand or mud from the bottom of the seabed. This is done in preparation for underwater archaeological excavations or drilling for oil or natural gas. Shell pumps are not expensive to operate, but as they are generally quite large capital equipment intended to carry out large jobs, they are generally rented or chartered from the labor as needed, although they may be owned by those with a repeated need for the items .
Shell pumps are very simple to maintain, create, and clean, making them popular for areas like hurricane-affected regions where basements and other areas can be filled with thick mud and debris. A clamshell pump offers a good option where tools and electrical power may not be readily available to repair or maintain the pumps if they start to fail or otherwise fail. Shell pumps can also be used to pump areas such as dykes in the Netherlands, where they reclaim agricultural land by building a dam and then pumping out the mud, sand and other debris to replace it with fertile soil.
Shell pumps can be fitted to trucks or, in larger cases, to vessels or trawlers which have the ability to carry away mud and sand. They can also be used in smaller form to clean small jobs. In some cases, shell pumps are used to recover sunken ships or lost treasure under the ocean, where they are used as giant dry vacuum cleaners to suck up portions of the seabed that have shifted over time to reveal the debris of a shipwreck or another maritime disaster.
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