Read Your TBTs for Production, Too

READ YOUR TBTS FOR READ YOUR TBTS FOR PRODUCTION, TOO PRODUCTION, TOO

BY SANDY LENDER

MMany readers of AsphaltPro Magazine may already be signed up to receive the weekly Toolbox Tip email we send out on Sunday nights. The free, two-minute-read content is designed to assist middle management, foremen, supervisors, safety directors, and others in similar roles in your company with tailgate talks, safety meetings, and quick bottom-line improvements around any asphalt-related job site.

The quick weekly tips usually focus on paving, pavement maintenance, pavement preservation, QC/QA and equipment maintenance activities because, as the name implies, they’re geared to the folks in the field who seek toolbox talk fodder.

Quite often, the tips hit plant production and lab specifics. For the month of January, while the print and digital versions of AsphaltPro Magazine are focused on plant production, the tips will also speak directly to the plant manager, plant operator and plant maintenance personnel who are preparing for stack testing.

For example, counterflow drum technology lends itself to gathering production gases— no matter the fuel or temperature used—and moving those gases back into the combustion area for annihilation. AsphaltPro Magazine staff is not positioned to pick and choose which counterflow drum or flight arrangement will offer the greatest return on investment when it comes to knocking those gases down, but we can share facts from industry experts every week.

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CO2 = carbon dioxide HAPs = hazardous air pollutants GCAPs = gaseous criteria air pollutants PM = particulate matter NOx = nitrogen oxides SOx = sulfur oxides VOC = volatile organic compound

Let’s start right here with Mike Devine of Asphalt Drum Mixers Inc., Huntertown, Indiana. He shared that his company’s ADM EX Series plants feature single-drum counterflow technology with separate drying and mixing zones for the purpose of achieving high levels of heat transfer and fuel efficiency, and long aggregate drying and mixing times for high quality asphalt production. He explained for readers, “Counterflow technology captures residual gases and reintroduces them back to the combustion zone, practically eliminating blue smoke and hydrocarbon emissions to meet strict environmental regulations.”

The Toolbox Tips during January will help asphalt producers think of ideas for getting plant componentry running as efficiently as possible—no matter which technologies are involved—in preparation for stack testing.

A quick note for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and service providers out there: If you would like to write any production, paving or testing tip that is useful to our readers, you are welcome to send it to sandy@theasphaltpro.com for review. We want to share best practices with the industry but reserve the right to edit tips to make sure they’re not overly promotional in nature. As you can tell by this brief article, the point of the Toolbox Tips from AsphaltPro Magazine is to educate and help folks in the field. We encourage and invite our partners to be involved in that education while upholding the high level of integrity our editorial enjoys.

This is an example of single-drum counterflow technology available in the EX Series plants from ADM. Photo courtesy of ADM

WEB EXTRA

Sign up for the free, weekly Toolbox Tip email at this link: theasphaltpro.com/upgradedaily-toolbox-talks/ For over a decade, AsphaltPro Magazine has been providing this free, weekly, digital content to anyone who wants it. If you’re a contractor, producer, equipment operator, supervisor, lab tech or manager in the field, you’ll receive your email Sunday evening to start off Monday on a positive, informative note. If you’re a consultant, OEM, salesperson or other person affiliated with the industry, you’ll receive your email Monday morning when you get to your office.