A pug mill is the heart of industrial equipment that has been used ever since the era of industrialization for mixing purposes and uses the principle of the paddle for mixing and so are often termed as paddle mixers. These super basic mixing machines are used to mix and condition cement, concrete, and asphalt.
Working of the blender
The pugmill mixer has a single shaft that the paddle arrangement rotates in counter directions to provide for the required kneading motion which compresses and folds the asphalt that has been put inside the mixer. The shaft moreover has pitched paddles to accommodate the asphalt. This arrangement is of specific significance for industrial applications as it provides a method to control the quality of mixing and conditioning the asphalt is subjected to while taking into consideration the time that is needed to bring about the process to an expected result.
A liquid spraying system may or may not be mounted on the arrangement depending upon the factors such as accuracy and homogeneity expected from the asphalt. This system, however, doesn’t have much impact on the cost of production but can always be used to overcome the chances of human error in agglomeration.
The working and the process
The complete process after displacing the raw material into the mixer can be better understood in 3 steps:
Addition of liquid additive in the material
This, who, is the first and foremost step and involves the addition of the liquid additive which is usually water in case of Asphalt, into the raw form of material in a predetermined quantity of liquid. It is done so that a proper suspension of the mixture is made in the liquid and this provides for the proper mixing of the material to form a homogeneous complex mixture. This is then required for the use.
Also, it is this time in which lemon is added into the Asphalt to improve upon its binding property in the Asphalt plant.
Must Read: Top Features of a Pugmill Mixer
The kneading motion
The next step in the process is to knead the mixture in pugmill mixer, properly to form a strong, porous, semi-solid paste-like; a mixture that is desired by the users in a variety of purposes mainly including to use it in the base of roads to form a strong base. This is where the paddle arrangement comes into action and both the stepped paddle rotating counter directions which as a result helps the material to be lifted the center and then down at the sides along the length of the shaft. This is the step where the excess water in case added gets separated which can further be filtered out.
Pulling action along walls
This is the last step in the conditioning of the Asphalt in a pugmill mixer where it is pulled along the trough to improve upon its binding property so that it can be used as a product that is expected from the Asphalt plant.
Also Read: Benefits Of Using Pugmill Mixer In Various Industries
The last word
This blog might have given you all the information about the mixer and how it is used in Asphalt plants. This is indeed a great machine.