APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR COOLING OF FRESH CONCRETE

Abstract

An apparatus for cooling fresh concrete using a frame through which the fresh concrete can flow and at least one spoke arranged in the frame. Wherein the at least one spoke has at least one nozzle for discharging a coolant into the fresh concrete. The coolant may be liquid nitrogen or liquid carbon dioxide. The coolant may be introduced into fresh concrete in such a way that the coolant is enclosed by the fresh concrete. In this way, the fresh concrete can be cooled efficiently without large amounts of the coolant being released into the environment and without the fresh concrete becoming so cold in places that damage to, for example, the transport vehicle can occur. The apparatus may be used, in particular, when filling the transport vehicle.

Claims

1-14. (canceled)

15. An arrangement for filling a mixer with cooled fresh concrete, comprising: a) a transfer element via which the fresh concrete can be introduced into the mixer, and b) an apparatus for cooling fresh concrete, comprising a frame surrounding an open section through which the fresh concrete can flow and an injection structure attached to the frame and extending inwardly from the frame, wherein the injection structure has at least one nozzle for discharge of a coolant into the fresh concrete flowing through the open section, each nozzle being in fluid connection with a coolant inlet of the apparatus, the apparatus being mounted on or in the transfer element so that fresh concrete introduced into the mixer via the transfer element flows through the open section of the apparatus.

16. The arrangement of claim 15, whereby the injection structure comprises one or more spokes pointing inwardly from the frame.

17. The arrangement of claim 16, wherein at least one of the one or more spokes has at least one of the nozzles for discharge of a coolant into the fresh concrete flowing through the open section.

18. The arrangement of claim 17, wherein the one or more spokes having at least one of the nozzles is/are at least partly hollow so that the coolant can flow through said one or more spokes to the at least one nozzle.

19. The arrangement of claim 16, wherein a plurality of the one or more spokes come together radially in the center of the frame and at least one of the nozzles is arranged in the center of the open section of the frame.

20. The arrangement of claim 16, wherein a plurality of the spokes come together radially in the center of the frame and at least one of the nozzles is arranged outside the center of the frame.

21. The arrangement of claim 16, wherein the at least one spoke has a droplet-shaped cross section.

22. A method for cooling fresh concrete, whereby an arrangement as claimed in claim 15 is used for filling the mixer with the fresh concrete and wherein the fresh concrete is made to flow through the open section of the apparatus, and wherein a coolant is supplied to the coolant inlet of the apparatus and is introduced into the fresh concrete via the at least one nozzle of the apparatus.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the coolant is nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or a mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the coolant is in liquefied form.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the coolant is helium, neon, argon, air, or oxygen.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the coolant is in liquefied form.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the coolant supply is computer controlled and/or remotely controlled.

28. The method of claim 27, whereby the coolant supply is switched on automatically when a sensor detects that fresh concrete is flowing through the open section of the apparatus, and, when no more fresh concrete is detected, the coolant supply is switched off automatically.

29. The method of claim 27, whereby the mixer is mounted on a transport vehicle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0059] The invention will be illustrated in more detail below with the aid of the figures. The figures show a first particularly preferred working example and a second alternative working example, but the invention is not restricted to these. The figures and the size ratios depicted therein are purely schematic. The figures show:

[0060] FIG. 1: a plan view of an apparatus according to the invention for cooling fresh concrete,

[0061] FIG. 2: a cross-sectional view of part of the apparatus of FIG. 1,

[0062] FIG. 3: a side view of an arrangement according to the invention for filling a transport vehicle with cooled fresh concrete,

[0063] FIG. 4: an enlargement of part of FIG. 3,

[0064] FIG. 5: a top view of an alternative embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention,

[0065] FIG. 6: a front view of the apparatus of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0066] FIG. 1 shows a plan view of an apparatus 1 for cooling fresh concrete. The apparatus 1 comprises a frame 2 which is configured as a ring and through which the fresh concrete to be cooled can flow. The frame surrounds a circular open section 2′. In the depiction shown, the fresh concrete can flow through the open section 2′ of the frame 2 perpendicularly to the plane of the drawing. The apparatus 1 further comprises a plurality of spokes attached to and 3 arranged radially in the frame 2. In the embodiment shown, there are three spokes 3. The spokes 3 have nozzles 4, 5 for discharge of a coolant into the fresh concrete. Possible coolants are, in particular, liquid nitrogen and liquid carbon dioxide. When the fresh concrete flows through the open section 24 of frame 2, the coolant can be discharged into the fresh concrete via the nozzles 4, 5, so that the fresh concrete is cooled by the coolant.

[0067] The apparatus 1 has a coolant inlet 10. The spokes 3 are at least partly hollow so that the coolant can flow from the coolant inlet 10 through the spokes 3 to the nozzles 4, 5. The spokes 3 come together radially in the center 6 of the open section 2′ of frame 2. One of the nozzles 4 is arranged in the center 6 of the frame 2. Nozzle 4 will be referred to as the central nozzle. The three remaining nozzles 5 are arranged outside the center 6 of frame 2. As a distinction from the central nozzle 4, these nozzles 5 are referred to as noncentral nozzles.

[0068] FIG. 2 shows a cross section of part of the apparatus 1 along the marked line A-A in FIG. 1. One of the spokes 3 is shown here. It can be seen that the spoke 3 has a droplet-shape cross section. This spoke 3 has this cross section even outside the marked line A-A. The remaining spokes 3 likewise have this cross section. In use as intended, the fresh concrete flows from the top downward in the depiction of FIG. 2. Due to the droplet-shape cross section of the spokes 3, deposits of the fresh concrete on the spokes 3 can be prevented.

[0069] FIG. 3 shows an arrangement 7 for filling a transport vehicle 8 with cooled fresh concrete. The arrangement 7 comprises a silo 11 in which cement can be stored. Furthermore, arrangement 7 has a sand store 13. The cement and the sand can be mixed together with water in a mixing device 14. The fresh concrete formed in this way can be introduced into a transport vehicle 8 via a transfer element 9 configured as a transfer funnel. The process can be controlled from a control building 12. The arrangement 7 has the apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 on the transfer element 9. This is shown in FIG. 4.

[0070] FIG. 4 is an enlargement of the part of the arrangement 7 indicated by a dotted circle in FIG. 3. The transfer element 9 of the arrangement 7 with the apparatus 1 can be seen therein. An inlet funnel 15 of the transport vehicle 8 is shown under the transfer element 9. The transport vehicle 8 with the inlet funnel 15 is not part of the arrangement 7. Fresh concrete can be discharged from the arrangement 7 via the transfer element 9 into the inlet funnel 15 of the transport vehicle 8. The fresh concrete thus flows through the apparatus 1 and can be cooled thereby.

[0071] A coolant such as liquid nitrogen or liquid carbon dioxide can be introduced into fresh concrete by means of apparatus 1 in such a way that the coolant is enclosed by the fresh concrete. In this way, the fresh concrete can be cooled particularly efficiently without large amounts of the coolant being released into the environment and without the fresh concrete becoming so cold in places that damage to, for example, a transport vehicle 8 can occur. The apparatus 1 can, in particular, be used during filling of the transport vehicle 8.

[0072] The apparatus shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 differs from the apparatus of FIG. 1 in that: [0073] frame 2 is square rather than ring-shaped, so that open section 2′ is likewise square rather than circular, [0074] the injection structure is roughly pyramid-shaped and extends both inwardly from the frame (i.e. towards the center) and downstream with respect to the frame and according to the flow direction of the concrete, as a consequence, central nozzle 4 is located on an axis of the frame through the center of open section 2′, [0075] spokes 3 are interconnected by hollow connectors 3′, the noncentral nozzles 5 being located on said connectors 3′ and not directly on spokes 3.

TABLE-US-00001 List of Reference Numerals 1 Apparatus 2 Frame 2′ Open Section 3 Spoke 3′ Connector 4 Central nozzle 5 Noncentral nozzle 6 Center 7 Arrangement 8 Transport vehicle 9 Transfer element 10 Coolant inlet 11 Silo 12 Control building 13 Sand store 14 Mixing device 15 Inlet funnel

[0076] It will be understood that many additional changes in the details, materials, steps and arrangement of parts, which have been herein described in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments in the examples given above.