초록 ▼

Fragmented old asphaltic concrete or the like is recycled into new hot-mix by temporarily separating larger pieces from the smaller fragments, generating heat internally within the large pieces with penetrating microwave energy, separately heating the smaller fragments by exposure to hot gas, and th

Fragmented old asphaltic concrete or the like is recycled into new hot-mix by temporarily separating larger pieces from the smaller fragments, generating heat internally within the large pieces with penetrating microwave energy, separately heating the smaller fragments by exposure to hot gas, and then recombining and remixing the separately heated components. The old concrete can be heated very rapidly, highly uniformly and economically while avoiding asphalt degradation and pollution problems that can be caused by exposure to extreme high temperature and while avoiding the relatively high costs of heating the entire volume with microwave energy. Sorting, heating and mixing apparatus (11, 11a) embodying the invention may be made transportable to a site at or near a repaving operation or may be travelable along a roadbed to pick up old concrete and deposit new hot-mix or may be integrated into a fixed hot-mix plant (73, 73a, 73b) to enable, among other modes of operation, production of hot-mix wholly from old reclaimed concrete or production of hot-mix from both old and new materials in any desired proportions.

대표청구항 ▼

A method of recycling fragments of asphaltic concrete or the like comprising the steps: sorting said fragments on the basis of size to separate coarse fragments exceeding a predetermined size from fine fragments of lesser size, separately heating the coarse and fine fragments with different heating

A method of recycling fragments of asphaltic concrete or the like comprising the steps: sorting said fragments on the basis of size to separate coarse fragments exceeding a predetermined size from fine fragments of lesser size, separately heating the coarse and fine fragments with different heating procedures by directing said fine fragments to a first location and heating said fine fragments thereat at least primarily by exposure to hot gas, and by directing said coarse fragments to a second separate location and heating said coarse fragments thereat at least primarily by directing microwave energy into said coarse fragments to generate heat internally therein, recombining said fine and coarse fragments following said separate heating of said coarse fragments, and mixing said recombined fine and coarse fragments while in the heated condition to provide new hot-mix.