Concrete Products

OCT 2016

Concrete Products covers the issues that attract producers of ready mixed and manufactured concrete focusing on equipment and material technology, market development and management topics.

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28 • October 2016 www.concreteproducts.com FEATURE BY DON MARSH Operational Optimization Capital improvements, yard utilization help ATMI precast pace strong Midwest markets ATMI Precast Inc. continues to evolve the equipment portfolio and fabrication processes at a 23-acre operation on the western stretches of the country's third largest population center. Ongoing capital investment and yard tweaks have yielded better than anticipated architectural and structural product capacity gains—coinciding with a flourish of post-recession, commercial building activity across the Chicago market—plus safety and energy efficiency improvements. The most recent upgrade at the Aurora, Ill., operation is an enclosed batch plant with 5-yd. mixer for structural products, replacing dated, 40-yd./hour equipment no longer matching volume requirements or quality levels. ATMI owner Jim Armbruster dedicated the facility to his late brother, John "Buster" Armbruster, with whom he founded the business in 1990. Construction saw more than new iron capable of producing better concrete in greater volumes. "There were three goals for the proj- ect: Improved mix quality, higher production capacity and utilities overhaul," says ATMI Operations Manager Mike Pelz, reflecting on a 2015-2016 schedule. The first two goals were addressed with Voeller Mixers' delivery of a new Cyclo-Mixer pan model, plus 400-ton overhead aggre- gate storage bin, 5-yd. bucket skip hoist, and three 350-bbl silos. Voeller crews handled bin, mixer, mezzanine and material han- dling structure erection. ATMI fabricated and erected 32 insulated panels, 10- x 55-ft. and 12-in. thick, for an enclosure just shy of 5,000 sq. ft. and topped by hollow core plank. The producer subcontracted cast-in-place concrete work, from foundation slab to below-grade skip hoist pit and a drive-over grizzly-fed bunker. The latter holds 22 tons of sand & gravel, and has freed up a former loader operator for other yard duty. Utility improvements at the suburban Chicago plant are across the board. An 800- to 2,000-amp power service boost comfortably equips the batch plant and utility lines for greater electricity demand, partly owing to the installation of stadium lighting fixtures along the main enclosure elevation and at casting bed ends. ATMI engineers detailed a 5-ft. wide trench from the batch plant enclosure to the perimeter of five main casting beds, the newest installed in late 2015. The con- crete trench carries electricity to the beds and other outdoor points; air lines for bed tools and vibrators; and, curing heat. Engineers opted for dual glycol-based systems to supply hot and cold water for the batch plant and casting operations. Hot water system efficiency hovers 90 percent. "We are able to run all five outdoor production beds year-round, down to single-digit temperatures," explains Pelz. With a fifth bed, lighting upgrades and greater mix production capacity, he adds, "Our weekly output potential has gone from about 20,000 to 60,000 square feet of structural product." Continued on page 31 The new batch plant has a receiving hopper equal to 22-ton fine and coarse aggregate loads. Newly delivered material is transferred to four, 100-ton overhead aggregate bins in the insulated panel enclosure. The bunker and bins are served with Voeller Mixers' Agtherm heating system, which forces hot air through fine and coarse aggregate, and encompasses a blower, gas burner, plus ductwork with diverting damp- ers that control flow to bins' multiple diffuser assemblies. A crusher breaks up any remaining material clumps after the heating process. PHOTOS: Voeller Mixers (construction); Concrete Products (plant)

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