We study the importance of humidity in the manufacture of concrete

One of the most important aspects in the manufacture of concrete is the fact of measuring the humidity of the raw material. That is why we want to dedicate this article to deepen the information. And, for this, we have used an article from Concreto Online as a source.

The truth is that current concrete plants already dose the amounts of raw material based on the formula they want to manufacture. And in these cases, there is a sand-cement-water ratio, which is responsible for ensuring that the proper consistency is obtained.

That is why if only heavy amounts of sand were taken into account in the manufacture of concrete , there would be variability in the formula of each batch, due to humidity. This is due to the extra water added and the less amount of sand.

Water-cement ratio formula for manufacturing

We now use a graph that we found in the Concreto Online article, to learn about the importance of the water-cement ratio, and see how it can affect the properties of concrete (resistance, consistency or durability). As we well read in the article, "knowing the humidity present in the sands is an effective solution to maintain this batch-to-batch ratio and save raw material..."

Let"s see an example:

In it we find data / examples of a concrete manufacturing process. And, "as can be seen, the amount of extra water will make it necessary to use more cement to reach the target water/cement ratio, with the additional cost that this entails."

Lastly, it should be noted that ”once the materials have been dosed into the mixer and while they are being mixed, it is important to control the degree of humidity because it is a determining factor in reaching the desired degree of consistency. ”

That is why "knowing the humidity in real time in the mixer will allow dosing the amount of water necessary to reach the target humidity before unloading." Controlling this humidity will become a most important fact, since the homogeneity of the product will depend on it. In this way, this aspect will also allow us to have control over quality, consumption and time:

Mixers for concrete plants

As we can read in the Concreto Online article:

The placement of a sensor in the mixer allows the continuous measurement of the humidity during the dosing of the raw material, in addition, if it is connected to the control equipment of the plant, it will allow the control of the degree of humidity of the concrete before being unloaded.

In the graph below we can see how it works:

Manufacture of concrete and the existing regulation in Spain for the measurement of humidity

In our country, the manufacture of concrete is regulated by two regulations:

• Structural Concrete Instruction (EHE-08)
• Technical Instruction for carrying out production control of concrete manufactured at the Royal Decree 163/2019 plant.

In the lower graph, we can see the maximum water-cement ratio during manufacturing that is established in the regulations:

Concrete plants in Poyatos

Now that we have delved into the importance of humidity control in the manufacture of concrete, we would like to show you the machinery that we have at Poyatos for Concrete Plants.

And it is that, in order to offer "turnkey" factories, from Poyatos we manufacture concrete plants that carry out the complete process of dosing, transport and mixing... For this, we have mixers and Planetaries. Below we delve into each of them:

Mixers for Concrete Plants

As we can read on our own website:

In the Mixers, the tank is fully lined on the bottom and sides. It has special bolt-on and replaceable anti-abrasive sheet steel plates.

The arms of the blades of the Mixers for Concrete Plants are mounted in an articulated way. In addition, cushioned by hard rubber silent-blocs. They are also self-adjusting and replaceable, easily accessible and fully protected against dust. The pulleys are made of anti-abrasive NI-HARD casting, for their part.

In the following link you can download the pdf with all the information and in the lower graph know the production, capacity and power of the MF model:

Planetary for concrete plants

We return to our website to read about this machinery:

This is a state-of-the-art mixer patented by Poyatos for concrete plants. That has a turbine with mixing blades with planetary movement and a group of turbo blades (in the turbo-planetary ones the advantages of a planetary mixer are combined with those of a "turbo": homogeneity and speed of mixing, together with a fast discharge ).

And, in the graph below, you will be able to know the capacity, power and production of the MP model (download the pdf with all the information here):