Large scale mixer
-
Do they make a large scale mixer? I've seen some things on Alibaba but I'm pretty hesitant to purchase anything from those sites. I'm located in Florida and we are planning to build a whole community of domes.
-
Are you intending to make your domes using aircrete or concrete? The reason I ask is that the concept of using large mixers is more associated with concrete. In the process of making aircrete there is the initial mixing of the cement powder with water and that is generally followed by a high speed entrainment of foam into the cement slurry. Neither of those processes would be appropriate for a large scale mixer from what I have experienced.
-
Moved from Domes and AirCrete by
Zander
-
@zander we're intending to use aircrete. Since we're in need of so many structure i was going to create a form work system and pour it like you would a concrete wall. I've never worked with aircrete before but I've worked with structural concrete for many years. Is there something i need to understand that would not allow me to mix a huge amount and pour into wall form?
-
The concept of mass producing aircrete domes through the use of forms and mass pours is often considered. The complexities involved with such forms have prevented most attempts, but I know it can be done.
When making concrete we are able to make use of slowly turning drums because the shifting weight of the rocks and sand actually do most of the work of mixing for us, like lead balls in a can of spray paint. In contrast, aircrete has no such heavy bits. Slow churning has no effect. The closest we can come to that type of production is with a continuous aircrete generator, which is mostly just a concept at this point. I have seen such devices on the commercial market selling for a couple hundred grand. A few mad scientists have been actively developing a consumer model for years, and continue.
Assuming you find a way to make dome forms, the best currently known way to make aircrete using commonly available equipment is in a 55 gallon drum with a foam generator and a mud-mixer. A 45-gallon batch takes about 10 minutes with some practice. Questions begin to arise about how to get the aircrete into the dome forms.
-
@damian-0 you want a stucco mixer, not a cement mixer. The stucco mixer uses paddles to mix.
-
@zander okay, thank you for the insight. My thoughts were that if i couldn't find a more commercial size unit with a pump. That i would create my own system. I figured i could find a line pump without an issue that could do the pumping It would just be nice to not have to mix only 55 gallons at a time. I'd prefer a continuous mixer but it would have to be very accurate on the mix since I'll be pouring in place.
-
@ignacio-dhome okay, thank you I'll look into that
