Concrete plant is also known as stationary batching plant or batch plant. It combines raw aggregates, sand, cement, additives, and water to make concrete. A batch plant is distribution center in which concrete mixes the above components into a mixer and loads them into waiting trucks to deliver the same to the customer.
The raw materials used are manufactured and procured away from the site. Cement is manufactured in its plant; aggregates and sand are procured from quarry facility and then stockpiled at the site. Aggregates are stored in its storage bins for use in the plant; likewise, cement is stored in closed structure, also known as silos. Cement silos prevent the cement from getting in contact with moisture. The idea is to keep cement as dry as possible.
Main component of any concrete plant is the mixing unit, which combines all the items together for mixing. Other components include aggregate storage bins, aggregate batchers, transfer conveyors, cement silos and screw conveyors; weigh batchers for cement, water, and additives and control unit.
Commonly Concrete plant types:
- Truck mix / ready mix and
- Central mix
Truck mix / ready mix are essentially dry batch concrete plants which includes all the ingredients for making concrete except water. This mixture is then loaded into a truck (also known as transit mixer). Water is then added into transit mixer for making it wet.
Central mix or wet concrete batching plant mixes all the ingredients including water into a mixing unit to form concrete.
Stationary and Mobile Concrete Batching Plant
Now it is possible to get stationary and mobile concrete plants in various capacities. Different designed plants are for different applications and satisfy different needs of customers. It is possible for the operator to produce exactly the required quantity and quality of concrete easily.
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Applications:
Concrete mixers are used to produce concrete, which are used for large scale construction projects like buildings, airports, bridges, dams, stadiums, roads, etc. The recent development in these machines has led to the popularization of the mobile wet concrete batching plant. The mobile plant can be taken to small and difficult-to-access construction sites for quick production of concrete in huge volumes.
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Weighing systems:
Weighing systems of concrete mixer determine the success of the machine. The very base of the large scale mixers depend on the weighing system. Customer is looking for dependency and reliability of the weighing systems to get the required grade of concrete.
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Automation and controls:
Automation and controls of modern machines are highly advanced. They allow the operator to input the exact quantity of various components. The same components are weighed before being added into the mixer for mixing. Mixing time can also be controlled.
