Asphalt Plants and Bitumen Systems

Phone: +44 7776 107231

Email: sales@meckow.com

Asphalt Plants and Bitumen Systems

Asphalt Plants are one of the most essential pieces of equipment for use in the manufacture of asphalt, macadam and other forms of coated roadstone for use in road construction.

The manufacture of coated roadstone demands the combination of a number of aggregates, sand and a filler (such as stone dust), in the correct proportions, heated, and finally coated with a binder, usually bitumen or, in some cases, tar.

There are three main classes of plant:

• Batch heater
• Semi-continuous (or "asphalt plant")
• Continuous (or "drum mix")

The batch heater has the lowest throughput, the continuous plant the highest at up to around 500 Tonnes per hour.

Asphalt Plant (Semi – Continuous)

An Asphalt Mixing Plant or semi continuous plant is made up of various parts such as 4 bin feeder, vibrating screen, slinger conveyor, dryer drum, mixing section, multi cyclone exhaust, bitumen tanks, control cabin, LDO tanks, and load out conveyor.

Asphalt Batch Mix Plants

An Asphalt batch mix heater plant weighs the raw aggregates into a heater drum, where the batch is then heated up to temperature. The hot aggregate is discharged into a mixing drum where (dry) filler and binder are added. The blend is mixed and discharged either directly into the delivery vehicles or into a small weighing and collecting hopper. To increase throughput, the heater can be heating the next batch while the previous is being mixed. Capacity is usually of the order of tens of tonnes per hour.

A Batch heater plant is used where short production runs are common (a different recipe can be used on each mix) or where total volume is low. These plants can be fixed, mobile or semi-mobile for ease of use.

Asphalt Drum Mix Plants

In a continuous plant, raw aggregate is brought up from ground hoppers at a precisely controlled rate and fed into a heater drum similar to that used in the asphalt plant. Once heated it is immediately coated in the same drum (with the binder spraybars situated behind the burner) or in a smaller drum situated immediately behind it. The finished product is almost invariably discharged into a hot store rather than directly into delivery vehicles.

Drum mix plants are not really suitable for short production runs; although with sophisticated controls the change of mix can be accurate to within some seconds, production rates of hundreds of tonnes per hour may equate to a tonne every ten seconds or so.

Hot Storage

Finished roadstone must be kept heated to avoid setting. It is commonly stored in large electrically heated insulated stainless steel silos, from which it is weighed into delivery vehicles. This may be achieved by intermediate weigh hoppers (which may shuttle between hoppers) or by mounting the hoppers directly on load cells. Control of loadout by this method involves accurately predicting the material "in flight" between the discharge door and the vehicle.

Asphalt Plant Parts

We understand that our customers’ asphalt plants are an integral part of the completion of their projects and also that the parts need replacing seasonally. We can supply liner plates, mixer arms, belts, chains and paddle tips for all types and brand of asphalt plant including Parker Plant, Phoenix Transworld, Marini and Ammann. Not only can we replace wear parts for asphalt plants but also electrical components and burners. We can provide a whole package of parts for the refurbishment of your plant or simply a replacement part alone.

To request a quote for asphalt plant parts, complete our enquiry form.