Heatec’s Polymer-blending Skid

With the increase in polymer-modified asphalts (PMAs) in our industry comes the need to blend polymers into product efficiently. The team at Heatec, an Astec Industries company, Chattanooga, Tennessee, has built the Polymer-blending skid to facilitate the process and offer return for additional blending. Here’s how it works.

While the process is “quick” enough that you won’t lose much heat, Heatec’s Greg Jones recommends you start out your base asphalt cement (AC) about 50 degrees hotter than you want your final product to be. Hook up your base asphalt supply to come in through the inlet pipe, located in the center of the skid. A variable-speed pump for the base feed, located on the floor of the skid, meters the AC through two pipes to the Vortex.

Step two is to drop the SBS polymer bag (or ground tire rubber material) into the hopper on one end of the skid. The hopper’s load cells help monitor weight/flow of material.

The system augers the polymer up an 18-foot, 6-inch-diameter tube and then drops the material down the vertical impact meter.

The base asphalt enters the Vortex from opposite directions at the same time that polymer enters from the impact meter. The swirling motion caused by the incoming forces facilitates the wetting of the polymer.

After the material is fully wetted in the Vortex, the blended material drops to a pipe that will either bypass the mill on the end of the skid, or go to the mill, depending on the operator’s predetermined preference. From the polymer mill, the material is pumped to the holding/reaction tank. The pipes are set up with the versatility to bring blended material back through the mill, which can help reduce the time necessary for holding in the reaction tank.

For more information, contact Greg Jones at (423) 821-5200.