Skip to main content

Astec develops innovative asphalt plant with additional recycling capability

Astec’s headline RAP plant can use up to 65% RAP content As it does for the 50% double barrel system aggregate dryer/drum mixer model, Astec is guaranteeing that its customers will get the increased percentage. The unit runs at 181-360tonnes/hour production (200-400UStons/hour). Astec, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, manufactures all of their state-of-the-art Hot Mix Asphalt plants in the US. They introduced the first double barrel plant in 1989, according to executive vice president Steven Claude, during
June 23, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
The new plant from Atsec offers increased use of RAP
RSSAstec’s headline RAP plant can use up to 65% RAP content

As it does for the 50% double barrel system aggregate dryer/drum mixer model, 1250 Astec is guaranteeing that its customers will get the increased percentage. The unit runs at 181-360tonnes/hour production (200-400UStons/hour).

Astec, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, manufactures all of their state-of-the-art Hot Mix Asphalt plants in the US. They introduced the first double barrel plant in 1989, according to executive vice president Steven Claude, during an interview at last month’s 242 Intermat construction equipment exposition in Paris.

 “We are now guaranteeing 65% on our new system,” he says, “however we will still continue to offer our traditional double barrel 50% model of which we have sold over 850 plants, and of which around 20% are outside the US.

“Customers will choose which plant best fits their needs depending on the amount of RAP available in their market. Every percent of RAP they use is sustainable and it also reduces cost, a win-win for the contractor and for the government that is funding the road project.”

The latest plant was introduced in the US in the third quarter and two have been sold. “We commissioned our first one in Daytona Beach, Florida, in March and we’re hitting our guarantees,” said Claude. “The second one in New York City was a retrofit and is being commissioned in May.”

Two primary changes to the plant design allow the increased use of RAP. “One, we’ve extended by six feet [1.8m] the internal drum where the drying takes place, so you get more drying time internally. Second, we add an external pugmill where the bitumen is injected for the actual mixing."

In addition, Astec has just introduced its patented ASTEC V-Pack Stack Temperature Control System which monitors the exhaust gas temperatures at the bag house inlet as the primary reference for control. As the exhaust gas temperature rises, the control system checks it against a set point.

When the temperature exceeds the set point, the control system speeds up the drum rotation, controlling temperature to the set point. The drum speed can be varied by the system from a minimum of about 7rpm to a maximum of about 12rpm; 8rpm is the normal speed for Astec drums without this system.

The combination of the new high rap design and the patented V-Pack enables Astec to meet the needs for higher RAP production and greater efficiencies that their customers have been asking for.  “Astec will continue to maintain its focus on improving and enhancing their design to meet the needs of both their customers and the “green” standards being established worldwide targeted to protect our environment.  Given the very positive reception we have received on our two most recent introductions of higher RAP capabilities and the V-Pack, we are convinced we are on the right track.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Turkish manufacturers key to aggregates equipment
    February 13, 2012
    Turkish manufacturers are important trading partners in the worldwide aggregate production sector, Mike Woof reports
  • Plant retrofit reducing odours
    September 1, 2022
    A retrofit to an Ammann asphalt-mixing plant is helping to lower odour emissions and is proving popular with those in the vicinity of the facility. An Ammann RAH100 dryer has replaced the existing component on a decades-old plant owned by Asfalt Productie Limburg (APL) in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. The retrofit is of note as this is the first RAH100 to be employed in the country.
  • It's all about profit, people and the planet
    February 18, 2025
    Sit in on our latest roundtable discussion on sustainability in the construction and aggregates industries, brought to you by Global Highways and Aggregates Business. AB editor Guy Woodford has been talking to two world-class experts: Jeremy Harsin from Cummins and Michael Gomes from Topcon. Make your planning, your workflows, your contract tenders, and your sites as sustainable as possible. “Sustainability is really about profit, people and the planet,” say our experts. “Being able to drive that is the work that matters.”
  • RAP Drum Benninghoven’s system in counter flow – The RAP solution for the future
    May 21, 2014
    Benninghoven’s Ralf Port talks about the German firm’s development with partner BAM of its counter flow parallel drum system for RAP material The asphalt industry constantly searches for new solutions in order to optimise processes within the asphalt plant. A major subject is the increase of RAP content in all recipes. Recycling Parallel Drum Systems work in various sizes and at various power levels. This technique has been established by different producers over the decades. However, all kinds of concepts