Concrete recovery system
AssigneeKnelson Patents Inc.
InventorsDavid James Beckham, Alan Joseph Lowe, Michael John Fullam
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for recovering usable material from waste concrete is herein described. Specifically, waste concrete is mixed with water containing hydration stabilization admixtures, forming an aggregate slurry. The aggregates are then removed from the slurry for recycling. The slurry itself is then used for mixing with additional waste concrete, during which time the density of the slurry is monitored and action taken to ensure that the density of the slurry remains within acceptable parameters. The slurry is then used in place of fresh water when preparing subsequent batches of concrete.
Claims13
A method of recycling waste unset concrete materials containing water, aggregates and partially hydrated cement, the method comprising:
- providing a recovery tank;
- introducing into the recovery tank water and hydration stabilization chemicals to provide system water including a mixture of water and the hydration stabilization chemicals;
- providing a plurality of transit mixer drums, each containing of waste concrete;
- for each transit mixer drum:
- transferring from the recovery tank a portion of the system water from the recovery tank into each transit mixer drum;
- mixing in the transit mixer drum the waste concrete and the system water thereby forming an aggregate slurry;
- transferring the aggregate slurry into an aggregate re-claimer so as to separate the aggregate slurry into aggregates and slurry;
- and transferring the slurry to the recovery tank to mix with the system water to form a batch slurry;
- providing a slurry supply system of a batching slant for supplying the batch slurry in the recovery tank to a concrete batching plant for use of the batch slurry in mixing with aggregates and cement to form fresh concrete in the batching plant;
- and transferring the batch slurry from the recovery tank to the slurry supply system for use of the batch slurry;
- wherein separate portions of batch slurry from the recovery tank are transferred to the slurry supply system through a transfer duct for use of each portion of the batch slurry at the slurry supply system;
- and wherein each portion has the density thereof measured at the transfer duct and, if necessary, changed in the transfer duct, such that each portion is supplied to the slurry supply system at the same constant density.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.