Hot asphalt recycling drum plant cuts costs

At its high-volume asphalt facility in Hayes, UK, Tarmac has successfully integrated a state-of-the-art hot recycling drum plant into its operations.

The 387 Benninghoven RAP pre-dryer at the site, west of London, is currently capable of using up to 50% RAP material and processes road planings removed from nearby areas for use on local roads. Processed RAP is introduced at a constant speed to the Benninghoven system and is dried and heated at approximately 120°C in a uniflow largevolume drying drum equipped with a specially developed burner. After heating, the processed asphalt is stored in an insulated buffer silo, then batch weighed and introduced to a paddle mixer as required (with varying percentages depending on the mix) where it is homogenously mixed with virgin aggregates.

The hot drum recycling machinery processed RAP material for use on a major resurfacing project on the M25 motorway around London. The project, a partnership between 868 Tarmac and 3830 Mouchel, on behalf of the 3827 UK Highways Agency, achieved the highest ever reuse of recycled RA in a surface course material on the national highway network, “setting a new industry benchmark for road renewal in the UK.”

Nigel Bean, Tarmac manager at the Hayes plant, said: “We are now able to produced RAP products in-house, which means that we are able to further reduce the amount of material sent to landfill and cut carbon emissions and costs through reduced transport miles.” Tarmac currently has two other sites operating hot recycling drums in Ipswich, eastern England, and Hillwood, near Edinburgh, Scotland.