Method and plant for cooling a mixture of
concrete ingredients

(10) EP 3 862 157 A1

(22) 04.02.2020

(43) 11.08.2021 Bulletin 2021/32

 (57) Method and corresponding plant for cooling a mixture of concrete, said method comprising: loading in a hermetically sealed tank (1) a given quantity of ingre­dients intended to form said concrete, said ingredients comprising a predetermined quantity of water; regulating the pressure in said tank (1) so as to obtain a transitory degree of vacuum in the tank (1); regulating the pressure inside a hermetically sealed condensation chamber (4) so as to obtain a basic degree of vacuum in said con­densation chamber (4) that is greater than the transitory degree of vacuum, i.e. such that the pressure in the con­densation chamber (4) is lower than the pressure in the tank (1); operatively connecting the tank (1) and the con­densation chamber (4) so as to substantially equalise the internal pressure in the tank (1) and in the condensation chamber (4) to a resulting degree of vacuum and to cause at least partial evaporation of the water from the tank (1) towards the condensation chamber (4) so as to lower the temperature of said ingredients in the tank (1).

(71) I.C.M. S.r.l, 37041 Verona (IT)

(84) Designated Contracting States: AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR Designated Extension States: BA ME Designated Validation States: KH MA MD TN.