Sources: DrumBlaster North America, Tampa, Fla.; CP staff
Houston-based Campbell Concrete & Materials LLC is the premier North American user of the DrumBlaster Daily Washout System. Developed in Australia, the equipment combines a narrow, elevated booth from which mixer truck drivers or station operators activate a telescoping 8- or 10-meter boom, tipped with multiple jets directing water at 300 psi to blast residual concrete from drum wall and fins. In typical plant operations, the boom is set for two three-minute passes.
Campbell Concrete is testing the DrumBlaster at its Harwin Plant, which serves downtown Houston and has a high volume of cementitious material-rich mixes prone to higher than normal mixer drum wall and fin residual build up. Staff is gauging washout system performance by comparing the tare weights of mixer trucks maintained with the DrumBlaster versus control vehicles subject to conventional cleaning methods.
Through nearly two months of testing, Campbell Concrete is observing up to 85 percent lower residual material build up volume in the DrumBlaster mixers—a level consistent with other ready mixed producers deploying the washout system in Australia and Europe. Drivers running the system are likewise cutting by more than one-half and one-third, respectively, the time and water consumed to wash out mixers when measured against peers using regular hoses. — DrumBlaster Product Manager, North America Jim Shedden, 727/331-3796, [email protected]