The present invention relates to a system for the production of thermal insulating, architectural and structural foam materials cast in molded volumes configured for a subsequent milling process, wherein molded foam volumes are cut into dimensional products or product components.

The present invention relates to a system for the production of thermal insulating, architectural and structural foam materials cast in molded volumes configured for a subsequent milling process, wherein molded foam volumes are cut into dimensional products or product components.

The disclosure provides a measurement set-up for a return cement suspension, a construction site arrangement with a measurement set-up, and a method which can be carried out inexpensively, reliably, and easily.

Embodiments relate to a hydraulic fracturing system that includes a blender unit. The system includes an auger and hopper assembly to receive proppant from a proppant source and feed the proppant to the blender unit for mixing with a fluid. A first power source is used to power the blender unit in order to mix the proppant with the fluid and prepare a fracturing slurry. A second power source independently powers the auger and hopper assembly in order to align the hopper of the auger and hopper assembly with a proppant feed from the proppant source. Thus, the auger and hopper assembly can be stowed or deployed without use of the first power source, which is the main power supply to the blender unit.

A quality assurance system for mixing a slurry comprising at least water or other liquid and at least one flowable wet or dry mass, such as cement, sand or other suitable component, has computerized control over the loading of ingredients and has an accurate and broadly variable speed control of the loading of the ingredients. The mixing chamber has scales that provide a signal indicating the current weight of an ingredient in the mixing chamber. The broadly variable control of the loading rate of the ingredients allows more accurate control of the final weight of each ingredient added. A damping period allows system vibrations to dissipate, allowing highly accurate weights to be measured. Accurate records of the addition of each ingredient are maintained using the internal computer that controls the invention.

Methods and apparatus for controlling a characteristic of a cement slurry at a cementing unit, including regulating a characteristic of the cement slurry employing a closed loop feedback arrangement in the cementing unit, and adjusting a gain of the closed loop feedback arrangement in response to sampling an error of the characteristic.

A plant for conveying material for the production of structural concrete comprises a first container configured to contain a first amount of material, a first detection member configured to detect a variation in the first amount of material and first release members configured to enable and/or disable release of the first amount of material towards a mixing area of the first amount of material. The plant further comprises a second container configured to contain a second amount of material varying between a second minimum and a second maximum reference amount, a second detection member configured to detect a variation in the second amount of material and second release members configured to enable and/or disable release of the second amount of material towards a mixing area. In particular, an unloading opening of the second container is connected to the mixing area, whereas an unloading opening of the first container is connected to a loading opening of the second container or to a mixing area. A control unit is configured at least to enable said release members to release the first amount of material when the second detection member detects the reaching of the second minimum reference amount in the second container. The present invention also relates to a process for conveying material for the production of structural concrete.

Aspects involve estimating transitions in properties of a concrete mixture prior to batching and during transport of the mixture from a first location, such as a concrete batch plant, to a second location, such as a job site and controlling a mixture of ingredients for concrete in response. A tool may execute a method for estimating an initial temperature at batching and a change in temperature of the concrete mixture during transport due to the exothermic reaction of the mixture, percentages and types of ingredients of the mixture, and/or environmental factors along a transit route. A control system at the concrete batching plant may control one or more components of the concrete batch plant in response to the estimated temperature change, such as a dispenser of an ingredient of the mixture and/or a heating or cooling mechanism to adjust the temperature of an ingredient of the concrete mixture.

Embodiments disclosed provide a pump assembly including a first pump for delivering at least one fluid. The first pump may include a first inlet coupled to the first pump for delivering at least one first fluid to the first pump, a second inlet coupled to the first pump for delivering at least one second fluid to the first pump, a first discharge coupled to the first pump for delivering the at least one first fluid at a first pressure, and a second discharge coupled to the first pump for delivering the at least one second fluid at a second pressure. In some embodiments, the first discharge and the second discharge are isolated from each other.

Described are a method and system for minimizing errors in the manufacture or management of aggregate-containing construction materials such as concrete. Aggregates used for making concrete are stored or weighed in dry bulk bin type hoppers, and conveyed from these hoppers into mixer drums which batching or mix the concrete. The hoppers or conveyor belts may contain sensor probes for measuring moisture levels in the aggregate. These sensor probes require calibration from time to time, but time and expense are required for proper calibration, leading to habitually erroneous moisture level data used in the industry on a daily basis. The present inventors believe that the smallest inaccuracies in aggregate moisture level readings can have profound effects on the properties of the resultant concrete product. To confront this long suffered problem, the present inventors surprisingly discovered that the inaccuracy of these aggregate moisture sensors, as used for evaluating the aggregate as a dry bulk material, can be detected and even addressed through the use of slump monitoring systems to evaluate the concrete slurry mix prepared from the aggregates.