Back to results
US 9,550,311 B1Granted
Systems and methods for mixing an asphalt composition
AssigneeEnergy Creates Energy LLC
InventorJack Elvis Neel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for monitoring and adjusting a constant flow asphalt manufacturing process includes monitoring the ratios of recycled material to virgin material to minimize costs and adjusting the mixture in real time. Pulverized asphalt shingle (PAS) material may be used as a source of recycled asphalt oil and fed to a mixing drum with real-time monitoring while making real-time adjustments to supplement the asphalt with new asphalt oil to the mixer. The systems and methods may also be used for monitoring, metering, and supplementing recycled aggregate from recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) with new aggregate. The systems and methods may use one or more processors or programmable logic controllers (PLC) to meter the addition of new materials.
Claims37
An asphalt production system comprising:
- a recycled oil source to provide recycled oil for an asphalt mixture;
- a virgin oil source to provide virgin oil for the asphalt mixture;
- a mixing drum to receive the recycled oil and the virgin oil for the asphalt mixture;
- a first delivery system to deliver the recycled oil from the recycled oil source to the mixing drum, the first delivery system comprising a sensor to measure amounts of the recycled oil delivered by the first delivery system to the mixing drum;
- a second delivery system to deliver the virgin oil from the virgin oil source to the mixing drum;
- and
- a control system comprising:
- at least one processor;
- a database to store component amount data identifying a total oil amount of the recycled oil and the virgin oil for the asphalt mixture;
- and
- instructions executable by the at least one processor to:
- receive measurement data from the sensor identifying an amount of recycled oil added to the mixing drum for the asphalt mixture;
- compare the measurement data for the recycled oil to the component amount data for the asphalt mixture to determine an amount of virgin oil needed for the asphalt mixture;
- and
- transmit a signal to a metering device in fluid communication with the virgin oil source to control adding the amount of virgin oil to the mixing drum for the asphalt mixture.
12 more elements
An asphalt production system comprising:
- a recycled aggregate source to provide recycled aggregate for an asphalt mixture;
- a virgin aggregate source to provide virgin aggregate for the asphalt mixture;
- a mixing drum to receive the recycled aggregate and the virgin aggregate for the asphalt mixture;
- a first delivery system to deliver the recycled aggregate from the recycled aggregate source to the mixing drum, the first delivery system comprising a sensor to measure amounts of the recycled aggregate delivered by the first delivery system to the mixing drum;
- a second delivery system to deliver the virgin aggregate from the virgin aggregate source to the mixing drum;
- and
- a control system comprising:
- at least one processor;
- a database to store component amount data identifying a total aggregate amount of the recycled aggregate and the virgin aggregate for the asphalt mixture;
- and
- instructions executable by the at least one processor to:
- receive measurement data from the sensor identifying an amount of recycled aggregate added to the mixing drum for the asphalt mixture;
- compare the measurement data for the recycled aggregate to the component amount data for the asphalt mixture to determine an amount of virgin aggregate for the asphalt mixture;
- and
- transmit a signal to a metering device in fluid communication with the virgin aggregate source to control adding the amount of virgin aggregate to the mixing drum for the asphalt mixture.
12 more elements
A control system comprising:
- at least one processor;
- a database to store component amount data identifying a total oil amount of recycled oil and virgin oil for an asphalt mixture;
- and
- instructions executable by the at least one processor to:
- receive measurement data identifying an amount of recycled oil added for the asphalt mixture;
- compare the measurement data for the recycled oil to the component amount data for the asphalt mixture to determine an amount of virgin oil for the asphalt mixture;
- and
- transmit a signal to a metering device in fluid communication with a vessel containing the virgin oil to control adding the amount of virgin oil to the asphalt mixture.
5 more elements
A control system comprising:
- at least one processor;
- a database to store component amount data identifying a total aggregate amount of recycled aggregate and virgin aggregate for an asphalt mixture;
- and
- instructions executable by the at least one processor to:
- receive measurement data identifying an amount of recycled aggregate added to the asphalt mixture;
- compare the measurement data for the recycled aggregate to the component amount data for the asphalt mixture to determine an amount of virgin aggregate for the asphalt mixture;
- and
- transmit a signal to a metering device in communication with a vessel containing the virgin aggregate to control adding the amount of virgin aggregate to the asphalt mixture.
5 more elements
A system comprising:
- at least one processor;
- a database to store asphalt component amount data comprising a total oil amount and a total aggregate amount for an asphalt mixture;
- and
- instructions executable by the at least one processor to:
- receive first measurement data from a first sensor of a recycled oil amount added for the asphalt mixture;
- receive second measurement data from a second sensor of a recycled aggregate amount added to the asphalt mixture;
- compare the first measurement data to the total oil amount to determine a virgin oil amount to be added to the asphalt mixture;
- compare the second measurement data to the total aggregate amount to determine a virgin aggregate amount to be added to the asphalt mixture;
- transmit a first signal to a first metering device in communication with a first vessel containing virgin oil to control adding the virgin oil amount to the asphalt mixture;
- and
- transmit a second signal to a second metering device in communication with a second vessel containing virgin aggregate to control adding the virgin aggregate amount to the asphalt mixture.
8 more elements
An asphalt production system comprising:
- a recycled oil source to provide recycled oil material for an asphalt mixture;
- a recycled oil delivery system to deliver at least some of the recycled oil material from the recycled oil source to a mixing drum;
- a sensor to measure an amount of the recycled oil material delivered by the recycled oil delivery system;
- a virgin oil source to provide virgin oil for the asphalt mixture;
- a virgin oil pump to pump at least some of the virgin oil from the virgin oil source through a virgin oil delivery system to the mixing drum;
- a database to store component amount data comprising a pre-defined amount of recycled oil material for the asphalt mixture;
- and
- a computer comprising at least one processor to:
- retrieve the component amount data from the database;
- receive from the sensor the measured amount of recycled oil material;
- compare the measured amount of recycled oil material to the component amount data to determine an amount of the virgin oil needed for the asphalt mixture;
- and
- transmit a signal to the virgin oil pump to control pumping the determined amount of virgin oil for the asphalt mixture.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.