Mixing apparatus and system

A process for breaking down and mixing a semi-solid material with a treatment additive in a mixing apparatus to absorb and capture liquid in the semi-solid material, and thereby discharge from the mixing apparatus a mixture that will become a low slump material, the process comprising:

• receiving the semi-solid material and the treatment additive into an inlet of the mixing apparatus, the mixing apparatus having a housing defining a primary chamber with the inlet and an outlet, the outlet being disposed vertically below the inlet;
• routing the semi-solid material and the treatment additive onto a plurality of rotating shafts of the primary chamber, each rotating shaft being disposed perpendicular to a flow path that the semi-solid material and the treatment additive take from the inlet to the outlet of the primary chamber, each of the rotating shafts being vertically spaced from another of the rotating shafts along the flow path;
• breaking down and mixing the semi-solid material and the treatment additive by interaction with a plurality of flailing fixtures movably attached to each of the plurality of rotating shafts, with each flailing fixture having a disrupter end that moves about freely relative to its respective rotating shaft to make contact with the semi-solid material and the treatment additive due to centrifugal force and momentum provided by the respective rotating shaft, wherein during the breaking down and mixing action the treatment additive absorbs and captures liquid in the semi-solid material to create the mixture to be discharged;
• and
• discharging, from the outlet of the mixing apparatus, the mixture that will become the low slump material.