Twin-shaft batch mixer used in concrete pipe production

The twin-shaft batch mixer of BHS Sonthofen is furnished with a special drive technology that is convincing even if demanding tasks are concerned. BHS has already supplied such mixer types to the precast concrete industry in Indonesia for the second time – two machines were supplied to the precaster PT Calvary Abadi. This clearly proves the fact that twin-shaft batch mixers are suitable for applications in the field of precast concrete, contrary to widespread opinion.

Being the exclusive cooperation and sales partner in Indonesia, PT Detede is authorized to sell the BHS Sonthofen products and to promote them accordingly. The company is manufacturing complete concrete and asphalt mixing plants, and BHS supplies the high-quality mixers required for the production of concrete. In March 2017, PT Calvary Abadi, the market leader for precast concrete products in Surabaya (East Java), explicitly inquired a BHS Sonthofen twin-shaft batch mixer from Detede – that is a rather unusual choice for precast concrete products.

Powerful BHS twin-shaft batch mixer

Precast products require concrete with a lower content of water than ready-mixed concrete, for example; due to the relative dryness, the concrete is very viscous, thus posing a challenge to the mixing mechanism and the drive system. For this reason, among others, pan mixers and planetary mixer have been dominating the precast industry for about 30 years.

BHS Sonthofen equips their twin-shaft batch mixers of type DKX with worm gears, ensuring the highest level of operational reliability and a long service life even under extreme conditions. The gears are attached to the mixing shafts without a rigid connection to the mixing trough, thus compensating the changes of load that occur each time the mixer is charged. Therefore, BHS Sonthofen is certain about the resulting wide range of application for the twin-shaft batch mixers. The area sales manager for the Asia-Pacific region, Philipp Parnitzke, selected the appropriate series for Calvary: „The mixer of type DKXS is an all-rounder and suitable for all kinds of application ranging from pumped concrete and ready-mixed concrete, to wet mortar, through to the field of precast concrete.“

Persuasion required

Calvary explicitly requested the powerful twin-shaft batch mixers made by BHS from Detede. Previously, the manufacturer of the complete system had always supplied them with a pan or planetary mixer. „We had to do a lot of persuading in cooperation with the supplier for this project,“ Parnitzke stated. The mixers installed definitely convinced the company. Hence, a follow-up order was placed immediately, and two additional twin-shaft mixers of type DKS 2.25 were delivered in March 2018.

In the long run, Parnitzke is aiming at making the high performance of the BHS mixers and their fields of application even more known among both the manufacturers of complete systems and end customers – in fact all over the world. „We invented twin-shaft batch mixers more than 130 years ago and have continuously developed them since then. Thanks to our special and technically well-engineered drive configuration it is possible to manufacture all types of concrete.“

Wide range of advantages based on 130 years of experience

According to the manufacturer, BHS twin-shaft batch mixers convince above all by their efficiency and the low space requirements. Owing to their compact design they require smaller installation space and as a consequence, fewer steel structures, while achieving the same production volume. The faster discharging process of the twin-shaft mixer shortens the mixing cycle and ultimately increases the performance in m³/h. The discharge which is centrically positioned between the mixing shafts of the BHS twin-shaft batch mixer provides for shorter discharge times because the counter-rotating mixing shafts transport the concrete into the discharge shaft. Another feature of the twin-shaft batch mixer is the fact that it ensures almost complete emptying.

This means that a twin-shaft batch mixer allows producing a larger output at the same batch size, hence increasing the efficiency of the entire process. Consequently, the customer is provided with a wide range of benefits, resulting from BHS Sonthofen‘s experience gained over 130 years with this special mixer and an advance based on traditional engineering expertise and continuous optimization.