Concrete plant

A concrete batching plant is used for the industrial production of concrete. In stationary systems one speaks also of concrete or the concrete plant. According to the federal associations of the German cement, ready-mixed concrete and precast concrete industry in Germany there are more than 4000 production.

System components

For industrial production of concrete you need:

• Storage capacity for the individual ingredients of the recipe: possibly different cement types
• The individual fractions for concrete aggregates - minimum four fractions
• Water
• Various chemical admixtures
• Concrete additives

According to the different types of concrete production, a distinction the following types of concrete mixing plants:

Ready-mixed concrete mixing plant

Today's most widely used form is the ready-mixed concrete mixing plant. It is used for producing concrete in stationary plants, which is then transported by truck concrete truck mixers to the site. Each recipe ingredients are weighed in the system with high accuracy and then the concrete mixer is filled with the batch. The mixer is the actual heart of the system dar. He has the batch mix very homogeneous in a very short time. The entire process is documented on a delivery note. Compared to the production of concrete directly at the site ready-mix concrete technology has not only led to a rationalization, but also to a traceable quality control.

Depending on the storage and supply of concrete aggregates, there are essentially three types:

• Tower or vertical installation: The various supplements store in star-shaped chamber segments, which together form a tower-like structure above the mixer and scale platforms. The loading of the tower is via a long air strip, a bucket or more rarely a lift. The feeding of supplements to weigh feeder and to the mixer by gravity. The advantage is a high performance as well as a protection of the aggregates from the weather. However, this construction is also associated with higher investment.
• Series or horizontal system: The various surcharges stored in a Storage Bins, composed of a plurality of successive chambers. The chambers are filled laterally by a wheel loader. Among the chambers there is a metering device which emits exactly prescription supplements to a conveying element and then charged to the mixer.
• Star or Scrapperanlage: The various surcharges are piled in open star-shaped chambers which are arranged around a central point. In the center is above a Scrapper which draws the individual fractions to a central opening. From there, the surcharges fall on a scale that usually also serves as the delivery tank for feeding the mixer. This type of system is now only for smaller systems application.

The individual types of cement ( or binder types ) are stored next to the plant each in silos that are pneumatically filled. The silos have a bottom closure and from there, the cement is transported by screw conveyors for cement scale.

Many ready-mix concrete plants are still equipped with a concrete recycling plant. After cleaning the truck truck mixer concrete suspension is again separated into solid and liquid components with this additional investment. This prevents the setting of the concrete residues. The extracted components are then often mixed with the Betonherstellprozess again.

Construction site concrete batching plant

Before the development of ready-mix concrete technology, the concrete was usually mixed on site with mobile drum mixers ( in-situ concrete ). This can be seen in the German speaking today only in the DIY sector. For large sites with high concrete needs, such as in the construction of airports, concrete highways, dams, etc. is a proprietary technology of concrete mixing plants developed. This portable systems are required in addition to the construction of dams, which can change their location again in a very few days. At the same time very high concrete hours services are required by these systems. In addition, reliability are both in operation and in the concrete quality the top priority, because otherwise the whole construction site can come to a standstill. The handover of the concrete can be made here with open trucks, medical evils or conveyor belts.

Precast plant

In the precast plant the production of fresh concrete is only an intermediate step. Subsequently, it strength concrete elements are manufactured, which are transported to the construction site. The performance of a precast concrete plant is usually lower than for a ready-mix concrete plant, as the concrete forms is usually the capacity- determining factor. The manufacturing process of the fresh concrete is used in the aggregates in principle the same as ready-mix concrete, but are often other recipes with more fines. The handover of the fresh concrete is usually done using internal transport buckets, from which then the prefabricated formwork is filled.