Home

	Frequently Asked Questions
If you did not find your questions answered here and wish to email us directly, please go to our information request page.

	1.	Just what does the HYDROMIX® 3000 do?
		The HYDROMIX® blends high-pressure water and cementitious materials in a high-shear environment into a consistent slurry. It is not intended to accept aggregates, but to deliver a constant supply of slurry to be ribbon-fed onto the flow of aggregates as they enter the readymix mixer truck.
	2.	Where does all that water come from and where does it go?
		The HYDROMIX® 3000 uses your prescribed batch water, the amount selected by your automation system. The water is forced into the cement particle to make slurry and is then thrown onto the aggregates as they enter the mixer truck. There can be excellent mixing at the point of contact and the aggregates help to carry the slurry into the barrel. No other water is used or needed except at cleanup time.
	2.	What is the typical use for the HYDROMIX® 3000?
		This machine was engineered to be an integral part of a concrete readymix plant. It is small enough to retro-fit into most existing plants with little modification to the plant.
	3.	How is the slump affected?
		Slump loss is minimized. Since the cement is already wet it has less to absorb during transit. The driver typically does not need to wait long after loading to know what his slump is. The load will not "tighten up" as with a usual dry batch load. However, this does not mean that it will "go off" earlier or later.
	4.	How does all of this affect the workability of the mud?
		Flat workers love HYDROMIXed ready mix. It is creamier and easier to work with and finish. Our flatwork contractors know whether their loads were wet batched or dry.
	3.	Where does it go in my plant?
		You may choose to install the HYDROMIX® 3000 directly under the cement weigh batcher because it is less than 23 inches tall from the cement entry port to the bottom of the discharge chute. You may also choose to redirect the cement by auger feed and locate the HYDROMIX® in a more advantageous location for optimizing mixer truck charging.
	4.	What advantages do I gain by installing one in my plant?
		One of the original goals for the HYDROMIX® 3000 was to control errant cement dust and the environmental impact of that dust. Dust is effectively eliminated by slurry batching with the HYDROMIX®.
	5.	Are there other advantages?
		Yes. Because of super-hydration of the cement there is a consistent improvement in quality, consistency and workability of the resultant readymix. Mixer truck drivers have discovered significantly less slump loss during delivery. Drivers have also discovered that they can accurately read slump as soon as their truck is loaded; they do not need additional mixing time. Contractors frequently comment on the improved workability of HYDROMIXED concrete over dry-batch. There is noticeably less fin pack. Some plant managers have noted a reduction in wear and maintenance on mixer trucks, including the hydraulic systems.
	6.	Does this method slow down the batch process?
		No. The HYDROMIX® 3000 is capable of mixing more than 50 lbs. of cement per second. This results, for an optimized plant, in 10 second per yard batching -- 90 seconds for a 9 yard load.
	7.	What does 'optimized plant' mean?
		Feeding the aggregates into the truck charging hopper in-line is best. Locating the HYDROMIX®precisely to ribbon-feed the slurry onto the aggregates at the point of entry results in the best speed and the fastest blending of slurry and aggregates. Plant optimization is not required and the process works very well with other plant configurations.
	8.	My plant is located in a state with severe winter conditions. It rains a lot and my aggregates are in the open so I have too much water already in the batch. Can the Hydromix® handle low water/cement ratios?
		Yes. In fact the HYDROMIX® was developed in just such an adverse location. While delivering low water/cement ratios has been a problem for other systems, we routinely process slurry with a ratio of 0.15:1, even with heated water, without difficulty, which when added to wet aggregates produces excellent concrete readymix. We can even run dry cement through our machine if there is a need to tighten up a load.
	9.	What about admixtures and color; where are they included?
		We believe there will be advantages to dispensing admixtures throughout the loading process. Because of compatibility issues with the various types of admixtures we leave final applications to HYDROMIX® users and their admixture suppliers. We do offer software control for admixture dispensing.
	10.	What about fiber reinforcement?
		We recommend adding these at the truck hopper. The HYDROMIX® is not designed to accept either metal or glass fibers.

If you did not find your questions answered here and wish to email us directly, please go to our information request page.