"Buying Used Concrete Batch Plants - Things To Know And Consider"

Alternate fine aggregate materials include pumice, slag, fly ash, slate, shale, and clay.

Alternative coarse aggregates include crushed stone, crushed quartzite, crushed granite, limestone, and marble.

Purchasing one can be a smart move for a concrete contractor that is expanding, or for contractors who regularly need batches of concrete for commercial construction projects.

Batch plants are not a cost-effective asset for even the most ambitious DIYer, but I guess having one would provide a unique hobby.

The plants come in several varieties, including portable and stationary. Portable concrete batch plants are portable in the sense that they can be moved in pieces from one site to another and rebuilt on-site.

Here in the USA, each state has its own rules about limitations on the amount of time a plant can spend at one site and still be considered portable.

Used Concrete Batch Plant Parts

They are big and often require outdoor installation.

Dust collectors are available in numerous designs, using different dust capturing principles and with variations in up front cost, operating cost, maintenance costs, and effectiveness.

Pulse jet collapse cleaning is one of the more common types of dust collectors in used concrete batch plants.

Some pulse jet dust collectors attempt to decrease the fabric filter sizes by increasing flow rates through the fabric that does the cleaning.

With pulse-jet designs, a compressed air jet operates for a fraction of a second and causes a quick ripple in the fabric which dislodges dust.

At the same time, outflow of compressed cleaning air and trapped air in the top clean air plenum help to sweep the pulsed-off dust away from the filter.

Pulse jet design systems are used partly because they are easier to maintain than reverse jet systems.

Pulse jet dust collectors are smaller and less expensive than reverse jet systems and work better because the motion used in cleaning is more efficient. While you may think that one cement silo is as good as another, that's often not the case.

In fact, concrete makers are faced with rapidly changing technology including reclamation equipment, materials handling, and mixing techniques.

Rather than being just vertical containers, silos have to be designed correctly for the material they are expected to handle.

It is not safe to assume that you can store fly ash, silica fume, lime, or slag in a used concrete batch plant.

Silos have to be aware of physical properties and flow patterns of any material that is going to be stored in a silo, and the silo has to be designed accordingly.

If you are buying a cement silo as part of a used concrete batch plant, you will need product data worksheets for any materials you want to store there to make sure they will not cause problems.

For example, if you were to store fly ash in a cement silo made of steel, you might think it would be safe because fly ash is less dense than cement it would be safe.

But, in fact, the silo was designed to take into account cement, which has a lower coefficient of static friction than fly ash.

This means that fly ash will "stick" to the walls more, creating more pressure on the silo hopper or bottom cone.

The less dense fly ash could cause a silo failure because of its different coefficient of static friction compared to cement.

Mixing Blades & Concrete Batch Plant Controls

For example, a horizontal shaft spiral blade mixer is more portable and quicker to set up.

It can mix 400 yards of concrete per hour, whereas a traditional tilt mixer can only produce 300 yards of concrete per hour.

Modern used concrete batch plants use computer controls to ensure you get fast, accurate measurement of input ingredients.

The computer controls also coordinate the various parts of the system for safer operation.

Look for controls that account for differing amounts of moisture in the aggregates when calculating the amount of water needed.

Buying used concrete batch plants at auction isn't quite like purchasing vintage cologne.

You must make sure that you review the seller's feedback rating, are getting all the specifications you need, and do your best to evaluate the quality and overall value of the plant.

Otherwise, there could be safety issues, or you could end up with concrete that is insufficient for your needs made by a batch plant that took a big chunk of your cash flow.

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