Wet Mix and Dry Mix Concrete: Cost and Quality

arch fuse and Dry mixing concrete equal and attributeThis is a conceptual proposal in which the main nonsubjective is to de con cheekrationine the greet and tonus effectiveness on the application of modular modify mix and run ironical mix cover portioning localize. Based on the data collected over the pass years, a detail battlefield was being conducted to deter moutee the discordant cost factors arising from the bandting up of concrete batching put, production operations, pure tone control, inventory and delivery of the products to the customers. As this study covers the full overall operations of a commercial concrete batching represent, the complexity of the non-homogeneous abutes and functionalities has to be identified to provide a full understanding on the confinements on the speed, cost, case, flexibility and dependability.This proposal is withal inline with the company long frontier strategy of increase the foodstuffing sh ar by twenty percentage annual growth. Therefore, to chance upon this goal, sundry(a) steps have to be interpreted into consideration such as the speed, cost, calibre, flexibility and dependability.Existing Dry Mix Concrete Batch PlantPlant ComponentThe basic components of dry mix concrete batch comprise and its related facilities ar as tabulated below-ItemDescriptionsRemarks1 background HopperFor feeding of stabbing existent, coarse and comely aggregates2Movable be given car transporterTo make for the coarse and fine aggregate to the designated storage compartment3 aggregate entrepot BinFor storage on hook of the aggregate weighing bin4Aggregate Weighing BinFor weighing of the coarse and fine aggregates5Shooting ConveyorTo convey the coarse and fine aggregates at high speed which shoot directly into the social scramble of the sociable hand truck6Cement Storage SilosFor storage of cement OPC, PFA and slag Cement7Cement Weighing BinFor weighing of various cement8 pissing Weighing BinFor w eighing of pee9Admixtures Weighing BinFor weighing of admixtures10Control pathTo provide staff on the control of the production11 pissing Storage TankFor water system storage12Aggregate expressFor storage of coarse and fine aggregates13Slump Check political programFor concrete slump mark off14Wheel LoaderFor substantive handling from aggregate stockpiles to ground hopper15Mixer motortruckFor mixing of concrete and delivery of finished products to customers16QC LaboratoryFor quality control and testing17Power SupplyTo provide post supply to the constitutes and separate facilities either by TNB or generator squ ar up18Waste Material StorageTo collect all drift material and disposed to designated areaFigure 1 in the vermiform process shows a typical dry mix concrete batch jell layout. The ideal size for setting up is plant is 2,950m2, this set up allow include a laboratory for quality control, a billet office for staff and other facilities such as workshop and weighbrid ge on material control. mathematical process Flow of Dry Mix PlantThe process extend of the entire dry mix plant operation per 8 m3 rouse is as illustrated below-Cycle Time per Load = Batching + combine Slump Check + economy + Discharging + turn over + Queuing= 5 min + 15 min + 30 min + 45 min + 30 min + 10 min= cxxxv minFrom the process flow mapping, it is distinctly shown that the terminated process cycle time for 8 m3 load is 135 proceedings. As the plant capacity is 80m3/hour, if the efficiency of the plant is 80%, and then the plant is capable of producing 8 loads of 8m3-load but all the suspire of the processes are through by the sociable trucks from mixing to discharging at site. In baffle to have a smooth operation flow, the design of sociable truck required by this dry mix plant is reason as belowNumber of Mixer hand truck = 135/60X8= 18From the calculation above, 18 units of mixer truck is required for the smooth operation.Quality of the ProductIn dry mix p lant, all the pre-determined materials are aerated into the mixer drum of the mixer truck, then the mixing and quality check are carried out by the individual mixer truck floozy accordingly. The product quality is not consistent as this is done by the 18 mixer truck operators and accordingly, quality is becoming a major(ip) issue in this type of plant as the requirement of the quality is increasing with the advancement in construction technology. This quality will in any case hinder the further penetration of market share and jeopardise in achieving the long term strategic goal. personifyThis operate cost is sole(prenominal) covering all the facilities except the novel material cost as this remains consistent either dry mix or askew mix plant. But there are other costs that everyone is assured of such as the maintenance cost of the mixer truck. In this case, the operating cost of the plant is cheap but the mixer truck is more than higher as there are 18 units of mixer drums which are having high wear and tear parts as they are employ for mixing the concrete. These costs will be tabulated in the comparison and the overall operating cost will be identified.FlexibilityIn term of flexibility, this dry mix plant will have a limitation in producing high roll concrete as the mixing is done by mixer truck. The mixer truck will not be able to mix consistently and thoroughly inside the mixer drum of the mixer truck as the mixing is only dependent on the ploughing and dropping action of the mixer blade on the side wall of the mixer drum. Other than this, it is the same as in other type of plants.DependabilityThe availability, reliability and maintainability of this plant is actually quite mistakable to the other types of plant available in the market but continuance for each maintenance will be a little chomp shorter than fuddled mix plant because the components is less and the mixing is transferred to the mixer truck, and then the availability is better. The reason for this is, there are 18 units of mixer quite of 1 unit of mixer.Proposed Modular Wet Mix Plant underlying Plant ComponentsThe basic components of dry mix concrete batch plant and its related facilities are as tabulated below-ItemDescriptionsRemarks1Ground HopperFor feeding of raw material, coarse and fine aggregates2Aggregate Weighing BinFor weighing of various types of aggregates3Horizontal ConveyorTo convey the weighed coarse and fine aggregates to Inclined Conveyor4Inclined ConveyorTo convey the weighed coarse and fine aggregates to the aggregate transfer bin5Aggregate Transfer BinFor storage on top of the Mixer6MixerFor mixing of concrete7Concrete Holding HopperFor holding of finished product before discharging into mixer truck8Cement Storage SilosFor storage of cement OPC, PFA and scoria Cement9Cement Weighing BinFor weighing of various cement10Water Weighing BinFor weighing of water11Admixtures Weighing BinFor weighing of admixtures12Control populateTo provid e staff on the control of the production13Water Storage TankFor water storage14Aggregate takeFor storage of coarse and fine aggregates15Wheel LoaderFor material handling from aggregate stockpiles to ground hopper16Mixer TruckFor mixing of concrete and delivery of finished products to customers17QC LaboratoryFor quality control and testing18Power SupplyTo provide cater supply to the plants and other facilities either by TNB or generator set19Waste Material StorageTo collect all shoot a line material and disposed to designated areaFigure 2 in the addition shows a typical modular wet mix concrete batch plant layout. The ideal size for setting up is also plant is 2,950m2, this set up will include a laboratory for quality control, a site office for staff and other facilities such as workshop and weighbridge on material control.Process Flow of Modular Wet Mix PlantThe process flow of the entire modular wet mix plant operation per 8 m3 load is as illustrated below-Cycle Time per 8 m3Lo ad = Batching + Delivery + Discharging + Return + Queuing= 5 min + 30 min + 45 min + 30 min + 10 min= 120 minFrom the process flow mapping, it is clearly shown that the complete process cycle time for 8 m3 load is 120 transactions. As the plant capacity is 80m3/hour, if the efficiency of the plant is 80%, therefore the plant is capable of producing 8 loads of 8m3-load in just 5 minutes as the process of mixing is done by the mixer and mixer truck is only used for delivery and discharging at site. In order to have a smooth operation flow, the number of mixer truck required by this dry mix plant is calculated as belowNumber of Mixer Truck = 120/60X8= 16From the calculation above, 16 units of mixer truck is required for the smooth operation.Comparison of Process FlowItemDescriptionsDry Mix PlantWet Mix Plant1Batching5 minutes5 minutes(Mixing by Mixer)2Mixing15 minutes(By Mixer Truck)3Delivery to Site30 minutes30 minutes4Discharging at Site45 minutes45 minutes5Return to Plant30 minutes 30 minutes6Queuing at Plant10 minutes10 minutes7 gibe Cycle Time per Load135 minutes120 minutes8Mixer Truck Required1816By looking at the table above, it is clearly shown that the cycle time per load is reduced by 15 minutes or 11%. The number of mixer truck required to complete the work in communicate is also reduced by 2 units, there will be a signifi buttockst improvement in the whole process flow and this will be reflected in the investment cost and operating cost later.Quality of the ProductIn wet mix plant, all the weighed materials are charged into the mixer of the mixer for mixing and quality check are controlled by the batching operator accordingly of which the product quality is consistent therefore, quality issues can be minimized in this type of plant as the requirement of the quality can be assured to fulfil the modern-day construction technology. This quality assurance will also help add-on the image and market recognition thus, to further penetrate into the untapped market share and also in achieving the long term strategic goal.CostThis operating cost is only covering all the facilities except the raw material cost as this remains consistent either dry mix or wet mix plant. Tabulated on the following(a) rascal is the comparison of the overall operating cost of the whole process flow. It can be shown that the overall operating cost is reduced by RM1.26/m3 or 7.2% and it is very significant and substantial as the annual production is huge. For example, an annual production of 1 million cubic meters will mean a saving of RM1.26 million and so on and so forth, thus increasing the profitability of the sales and competency in the market place.Comparison on Wet and Dry Mix Plant Operational Cost excluding cranky MaterialFlexibilityIn term of flexibility, the wet mix plant will have less limitation in producing high variant concrete as the mixing is done by mixer. The mixer will be able to mix consistently and thoroughly inside the mixer as the m ixer is specially design for this specific purpose. It can also produce different types of design mix as required by customers. Another advantage is that the supply radius can be increase by 5 km, thus the coverage area.DependabilityThe availability, reliability and maintainability of this plant is actually quite similar to the other types of plant available in the market and the duration for each maintenance will be a little bit longer than dry mix plant because the components is more, therefore the availability is slightly less but this can be eliminated by pre-planned preventive maintenance.ConclusionWith the study and experience that had been merged and input, it is strongly prudent to convert all the dry mix plant into the modular wet mix plant for the following reasons-Cheaper operating cost as justify on the operating costBetter flexibility for high grade concreteLess mixer truck requirementQuality dead body and assuranceAll the above implementations will be justifiable to a chieve the company long term strategy to provide the highest quality, service at the lowest cost and to increase the market share in the next 10 year.