World of Asphalt Production Product Gallery

Whether it was on offer during the recent tradeshow or being launched separately from Indy’s cold-and-snowy few days of hustle and bustle in February, we gathered the information on what’s new for asphalt and aggregate production. The somewhat annual World of Asphalt (WOA) and AGG1 tradeshow and conferences brought entrepreneurial minds and engineering efforts to one big location, that’s for sure. But original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were launching technology and iron to enhance your bottom line before the co-located shows shined it all up for beauty shots.

For example, Gear Keeper of Ventura, California, didn’t have a booth at the tradeshow, but the company does have a new wrist lanyard to help with your safety culture during plant maintenance. The Gear Keeper® TL1-2007 is a new ANSI-121 compliant side-release wrist lanyard designed for small hand tools up to 5 pounds. The system is attached to the wrist by a loop and cinch Velcro strap and connected to the tool by 10-inch lanyard with a barrel lock. Productivity is increased by the company’s patented Quick Connect tool attachment connectors that permit secure, fast and easy connection/disconnection of tools, according to the manufacturer. This lets users quickly change out many tools by simply having extra lanyards attached to the tools and then unclick one tool and click in another. Additional lanyards are available in 3- and 10-packs. For more information, contact Gear Keeper at (888) 588-9981.

Here’s a showcase of what else is new to help you get more tons this coming paving season.

Ammann

Ammann Group, Langenthal, Switzerland, featured its asphalt mixing plants, light equipment and a RAP shredding machine at WOA. It’s a special year for Ammann as 2019 marks the company’s 150th anniversary. The business was started in Switzerland and now has operations around the world. It entered the North American market a few years ago with the introduction of key asphalt mixing plants, including those that incorporate high percentages of RAP.

The Ammann ABP high recycling technology (HRT) asphalt mixing plant is designed for manufacturers who need to incorporate large proportions of RAP without sacrificing production capacity and quality. The ABP HRT plant features both warm and cold recycling systems that can be used simultaneously. The striking visual difference between the ABP HRT and traditional plants is the vertical stacking of the RAP-bearing components; the configuration is designed to reduce wear and sticking, and shortens the travel distance of hot RAP material. The plant has a production capacity of up to 440 U.S. short tons per hour and can use foamed bitumen, pigments and other additives.

Ammann also offers its UniBatch plant, ACM Prime plant and the RSS 120-M shredder.

For more information, visit www.ammann.com.

Astec

Astec Inc., Chattanooga, announced just prior to WOA its satellite storage systems.“Stand-alone mix storage systems allow operators to establish a retail location within a transportation radius of the parent plant. These storage systems enable users to expand into a location that does not yet justify a plant, while the smaller footprint of the silo system can accommodate installation at small sites that can’t support a full plant. Satellite silo system components include a truck unloading hopper (to receive mix from the trucks to fill the silos), inclined drag conveyor, long-term storage silos with anti-segregation batchers, traverse conveyors to deliver mix into the selected silo and controls.”

For more information, visit www.astecinc.com/SatelliteSilo.

Continental

Continental ContiTech North America, Fairlawn, Ohio, offers to its conveyor belting customers a more complete range of options by introducing a new non-stick compound solution called ContiClean for the North American market.

“This product is especially suited to customers whose applications require aggressive or additional scraper systems to remove the buildup of material adhering to the conveyor cover,” Chris Marchant, Continental’s product manager for conveyor belting, said.

“Excessive material build-up can transfer to other conveyor components like idlers, and that could lead to tracking issues and damage the conveyor belt and system. Scraping to clean this excess material off is costly and can lead to significant downtime. This proprietary ContiClean compounding solution works to minimize those costly instances.”

The ContiClean non-stick solution is specific to the top cover rubber that is in contact with the material being conveyed. ContiClean is available through Continental’s North American distribution network.

For more information, contact Anthony.digiacobbe@contitech.us.

Continental

Continental, Hanover, is extending its tire portfolio for the earthmoving industry. The technology company recently launched a new compound for its RDT-Master for the use on Rigid Dump Trucks. The cut-resistant compound was developed for rough and abrasive applications where tires have to withstand sharp gravel, rocks and stones.

The demands placed on off-the-road tires, especially at mining and construction sites, are constantly increasing. At the same time tires must be individually customized to their respective fields of application. The new RDT-Master cut-resistant (CR) has been developed specifically for the use on Rigid Dump Trucks. These vehicles are often used in aggressive terrain where resistance to high abrasion and cut and chip are predominantly required.

Thanks to the newly developed polymer meshing system based on high synthetic rubber and selected components, the RDT-Master CR offers protection and wear resistance while maintaining good levels of heat dissipation.

The now available RDT-Master CR with cut-resistant compound comes with high carcass protection against cuts and damages by foreign objects and an innovative open shoulder design for good self-cleaning abilities and enhanced traction. The new compound complements the standard compound for the RDT-Master which is best suited for mixed applications on different surfaces. The RDT-Master ST offers a well-balanced intermediate compound that covers longer load cycles than its cut-resistant counterpart while still offering a good abrasion resistance.

For more information, visit www.continental-tires.com

Conveyor

Conveyor Components Company of Croswell, Michigan, announced the Model BSD (belt speed detector) is a “traction action” motion control. It is designed to indicate when a conveyor belt has slowed or quit moving altogether. The unit can be adjusted as an overspeed, underspeed or zero speed control. The output of the Model BSD can be wired into a PLC or DCS, or to the optional RMS controller (or MSD controller) which has a DP/DT relay to control up to two separate circuits, one for machinery shutdown and one for an alarm.

The Model BSD can shut down rotating equipment before damage is encountered. It provides protection for interlocked conveyor belts. The standard construction is a mild steel/carbon steel frame with safety yellow polyester powder coating.

The main advantages of the Model BSD are no drilling or tapping of tail pulley shaft required, the unit is shielded between top and bottom of conveyor belt, and the unit can be placed anywhere on the conveyor belt.

For more information, contact (800) 233-3233 or info@conveyorcomponents.com.

Delair

Delair, headquartered in Toulouse, France, unveiled in February its Delair Aerial Intelligence, which is a comprehensive platform for converting drone-based images into actionable business insights. The cloud-based solution provides an integrated workflow to manage, analyze and share data, streamlining the process for unlocking the potential of aerial surveying.

It uses a hardware-agnostic platform. The company offers a scalable platform and broad portfolio of analytics to let producers implement a digital transformation of their assets from data collected by drones of any type.

The Delair Aerial Intelligence platform provides tools for visualizing, measuring and storing data. Intuitive commands allow the user to visualize a site in 2D or 3D and includes support for orthophotography, slope maps, digital surface models and 3D models. Measurement is made quick and simple with integrated toolsets for calculating length, determining an area size, or calculating stockpile volumes.

Real-time collaboration is enabled in the platform through annotation features, integrated conversation threads and instant notifications from team members. It allows drone data to be overlaid with other geospatial data, supporting popular commercial formats and allowing data to be easily exported to a range of industry-standard software suites and reporting formats.

For more information visit to www.delair.aero.

Hotmix

Hotmix Parts & Service, Louisville, Kentucky, offers the Tank Monitor to safely and accurately measure the level of liquids, fillers, dust and hot-mix asphalt (HMA). This is done without human contact with harsh chemicals or excessively hot materials.

“Determining the amount left in your AC tank with an antiquated lever and pulley system is a thing of the past with Hotmix Parts’ new Tank Monitor. This innovative piece of equipment makes it so that you never second-guess how much material is currently in your AC tank farms ever again.

“Through the use of this new cutting edge technology, the Tank Monitor is able to detect the accurate amount of liquid AC in your tank even in the presence of situations of heavy build up and volatile gases associated with asphalt storage. The Tank Monitor can monitor liquids, fillers, dust and HMA.”

For more information, contact a customer service rep at (800) 826-0223.

Johnson Crushers

Johnson Crushers International Inc., Eugene, Oregon, has expanded its Kodiak® Plus cone crusher series with the new K350+. This mid-range model offers higher production with a smaller footprint.

In comparison to the K300+, the K350+ features increases in drive train, stroke, horsepower, weight, head diameter and hold-down force, resulting in an up to 10 percent capacity increase.

With the same bolt pattern, the new cone can be mounted in most current K300+ applications.

“We have been testing the K350+ for a few years, especially on portable plants, and it has far surpassed our expectations. We are excited to release the K350+ to the market,” said Ian Pendergrass, product manager for Johnson Crushers International.

Like other cones in the series, the K350+ will feature an industry-leading tramp iron relief system, fully-protected internal counterweights, precision roller bearing design, patented liner retention system and 360° thread locking ring for consistent product quality.

For more information regarding Kodiak® Plus cone crushers, contact Ian Pendergrass at (605) 668-2524.

Kespry

Kespry, Menlo Park, California, announced in February its new Site Planning Toolkit designed to increase site profitability, productivity and safety. Kespry showcased the toolkit at the AGG1 Aggregates Academy & Expo, Feb. 12-14 in Indiana.

The new toolkit enables site owners, engineers and operators to drive decisions quickly. With the new toolkit, customers can create, track and analyze the progress of earthworks, extraction and safety work in their sites—all continuously updated via an autonomous drone flight with data delivered in as little as two hours.

“We’re using Kespry for site planning because we want as much accuracy as we can get,” said Rob Manatt, project manager, Wendling Quarries. “Specifically that’s helpful on pre-strip and post-strip projects. It gives us a sense of confidence knowing that we’re using Kespry and are within centimeter accuracy on our volume calculations.”

Key benefits and capabilities of the new Kespry Site Planning Toolkit include:

• Timely tracking of earthworks and site status with elevation profile data—The Kespry Cross Section tool automatically generates elevation profile lines created in the Kespry cloud and can automatically compare that profile to data from previous flights or a design plan.
• Accurate material extraction planning and progress tracking with 3-D volume modeling—The Kespry Model Volume tool enables users to create a 3-D polygon when calculating the quantity of material to be removed for proposed excavation and blasts.
• Improved compliance and safety through ongoing tracking of haul roads, berms and other site features—The Kespry Compliance and Safety tool uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to automatically detect, monitor, and alert users of non-compliant and dangerous slopes, berms, roads, and benches throughout the site. This also helps keep employees out of harm’s way by knowing issues to address and avoid.

For more information, visit https://www.kespry.com/mine-planning/

Kleemann

At the start of the year Kleemann GmbH, a company of the Wirtgen Group, headquartered in Germany, was awarded two international design prizes: the iF DESIGN AWARD and the GOOD DESIGN Award for the jaw crusher MOBICAT MC 120 Z PRO and the screening plants of the EVO line.

The iF DESIGN AWARD has been regarded for 66 years as an internationally recognized label for first-class design. The jury consisted of 60 independent experts from over 20 countries. The award winners were selected in February based on the criterion innovation, functionality, responsibility and positioning. In 2019, the award winners include the jaw crusher MOBICAT MC 120 Z PRO as well as four mobile EVO screening plants from Kleemann.

The GOOD DESIGN Award presented in January is an industrial design programme organized once a year by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum for Architecture and Design in co-operation with the European Centre for Architecture, Art Design and Urban Studies.

Industrial products characterized by a particularly innovative and well-conceived design are nominated. The Kleemann plants also convinced this jury.

The mobile jaw crusher MC 120 Z PRO crushes stone at a rate of up to 650 tons per hour with a maximum grain size of 1,100 x 700 millimeters. The plant has a diesel-electric drive.

The crusher, conveyor belts, screens and chutes are driven electrically. For even more environmentally sound operation, an external power supply is possible as an option.

The plant is controlled at a 12-inch touch panel by means of the intuitive Spective control concept. This permits, for example, the adaptation of the crushing gap to a new application with only a few commands. The operator is guided through the menu step by step. The well-arranged design of the machine follows the course of the material flow and permits easy access from all sides. Despite its size with a maximum weight of 83 tons, the plant can be transported in one piece.

The new MOBISCREEN EVO plant line MS 702/703 and MS 952/953 includes an intelligent operator panel for intuitive and simple operation. An environmentally friendly drive via an external power supply is available as an option. The design visualizes the functionality in a clearly structured appearance.

“The challenge is to adapt the machine to human requirements and not vice versa,” Kleemann’s managing director, Dr. Volker Nilles, said. “We are very pleased that we succeeded in doing this with the MOBICAT jaw crusher and the EVO screening plants.”

For more information, contact Mark Hezinger at markhezinger@kleemann.info.

Leica

Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon, headquartered in Heerbrugg, Switzerland, and SVAB Hydraulik AB operating in Hallsberg, Sweden, announced in February they are releasing a new productivity tool for iXE3 and iGW3 machine control solutions based on SVAB’s Quantum Tool Recognition system. Tool Recognition is a wireless system that automatically detects the work tool that is used on a construction equipment machine via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The system can automatically identify which work tools are connected to the machine.

Marcus Grevelshøj, product manager for excavator and wheel loader solutions at Leica Geosystems, explained: “Some operators change bucket several times a day; with the Tool Recognition configuration, the risk of human error is eliminated. The integration with the machine control solution means the operator only needs to focus on one panel.”

With this system, the machine operator will not need to manually change settings in the Leica Geosystems machine control solution when changing work tools; this is now an automated process. The driver will also get a warning if a work tool without a tool recognition module is selected. This minimizes the risk of using the wrong bucket and the subsequent over- or under-digging and costly rework. Besides directly supporting the attached tools, the tool recognition system also supports standard tilt buckets and detachable tilt rotators.

For more information contact Fredrik Eriksson of SVAB at fredrik.eriksson@svab.se or Penny Boviatsou at penny.boviatsou@hexagon.com.

MINDS

A highway construction firm in the United States that operates many asphalt plants was using multiple asphalt plant automation systems prior to 2019. The various plant control software was not compatible with each other, making it difficult for the firm to understand at a company-wide level how its plants were performing in relation to each other, ensure production standardization and accuracy across its operations, and train plant staff.

In 2009, the company made the switch from its multiple plant control systems to the DrumTronic software for asphalt plant automation and control from MINDS Inc., Boisbriand, Quebec. MINDS’ customizable asphalt plant software was designed after consultation with plant operators to allow plant managers to get a quick and clear understanding of their operations, and handles everything from simple blending to total plant control.

The construction firm saw immediate improvements from switching to the MINDS software beyond the simplicity of having one plant control solution instead of several.

According to a plant maintenance manager, DrumTronic was superior to the vast majority of plant software on the market in key metrics such as calibration, ease of operation, and overall plant production consistency and accuracy. As well, the plant manager said, the program offered far superior reliability for its plants.

The simplicity of use is thanks to the way DrumTronic was designed to communicate all the metrics that operators need to understand, to prevent confusion and misinterpretation of data. MINDS prioritized symbolizing information clearly, such as how delays and timing can be shown over a graphic representation of material flow and plant, in order to save operators from having to look at overwhelming collections of numbers.

By standardizing on a system, the company was also able to reduce the amount of time it was spending on operator training and orientation. Prior to using MINDS’ software, personnel would be trained on one type of plant control system only to be moved to a new asphalt plant and need to be trained again on a new system. With DrumTronic, the company had the ability to move personnel from plant to plant without re-training. The MINDS system is highly customizable and has a consistent interface on drums, batches, hybrids plants or even bitumen terminals and emulsion plants, “When they opened the door in the control house, it was an identical screen that they had from their old plant,” said the plant maintenance manager. With more than 30 personnel who would need to know how to operate the plant software, this was a huge time savings.

The firm has been using MINDS’ DrumTronic for 10 years now.

For more information, contact (866) 938-1124.

PHCo

Process Heating Company, Seattle, offers its Lo-Density® Hot Oil Circulating Heater systems to provide automatically controlled, even-temperature heat-transfer fluid. The systems offer unique benefits for asphalt plants, including lower operating costs, improved product quality, reduced maintenance, longer heater life and enhanced sustainability, according to the manufacturer. With the PHCo indirect heating systems, heat from electric energy is transferred to the oil, which then carries it to the area or process where it is needed. Using PHCo’s unique Lo-Density patented Coil-Lock-design heating elements, which reside within a drywell, the units dissipate controlled heat as low as eight watts per square inch on the heater’s sheath. This is designed to eliminate coking or carbonization of the transfer oil. Because the drywell-style elements are accessible from outside of the system, they also may be serviced without draining the heater.

Each Hot Oil Circulating Heater is a complete system that includes a properly sized, vented expansion tank with a sight glass and a low-level shut-off switch. Like all fluids, heat transfer oil expands when heated. The expansion varies with the temperature to which it is heated. For example, 100 gallons of oil at 50° F will expand to 114 gallons when heated to 450° F. The expansion tank permits expansion of oil as it is heated, without exposing hot oil to air. It functions as an oil seal to accommodate the increased volume of expanded oil in a quantity of colder oil, which comes into contact with a limited amount of air. The low temperature of the oil seal will contribute to the long service life of the oil. A secondary function of the expansion tank is to provide a means for the escape or intake of air as the oil level in the tank rises and falls.

The system also includes an exchanger built to ASME standards, covered with high density insulation and an aluminum jacket. There is a motor-driven, special high-temperature centrifugal pump for circulating heat transfer oil, and a UL-listed industrial control panel in a weatherproof enclosure, with standards that include a programmable time clock for early morning startup, main indicating controls, and over-temperature controls. Also contained in the package are additional features on these heaters, including a strainer for easy cleaning, shut-off valves for the system and the fill lines, and strategically located air purge valves to assist in filling the system. PHCo Hot Oil Circulating Heater systems are completely pre-wired, pre-plumbed, and ready for installation.

With fluctuating energy prices, efficiency becomes critical to the cost of doing business. One PHCo customer, F&R Asphalt of Easley, South Carolina, replaced its diesel-fired hot oil with a PHCo electric hot oil heater in 2009. The diesel system had burned 800 gallons of fuel per week, and F&R Asphalt was paying $4.00 per gallon—resulting in weekly fuel costs of $3,200 (an annual cost of $166,400). After switching to the PHCo electric hot oil heater, the customer was able to reduce heating costs to $210.10 daily, for an annual cost of $76,686—and an annual savings of $89,714. Given today’s energy costs, with diesel fuel at approximately $3.00 per gallon and industrial electricity costs at about the same as 10 years ago, the data is still relevant.

For more information about Process Heating Company’s entire line of electric heating systems, call 866-682-1582 or visit www.processheating.com.