Born to adapt to changes

The Euromecc 2MIX-MC is a clear example of a single product designed to multiple industries. Daniele Sciuto explains the 20+ years development over this masterpiece of equipment.

Brief introduction
2MIX-MC represents a range of skid-mounted continuous plant able to perform in different industries and applications such as road construction, concrete flooring and high-stress concrete, waste treatment, inertisation, recycled asphalts and so on. It is made up of a set of storage for aggregate, able to batch either by weight or volume, and a mixing unit with a wide selection of accessories and setups for all needs.

History
The first concept was developed late in the 90’s with the clear intent of designing a volumetric plant which could serve the road construction industry, and could achieve higher performances compared to the volumetric trucks, which were spreading at that time.

During last decade, we have supported customers with special arrangements and modifications that has brought this plant into the circular economy field. We started looking at the road industry, since most of our users were involved in cement mixture for road foundations. Thus, we invested some time in design and introduced the variant for Cold Asphalt, which was widely appreciated by the industry. After that, we started to get enquiries from either the mining and the recycling sector, which led to additional improvements. Lately, based on the needs of one of our special customers, we introduced some technological solutions with the aim of increase/certify the precision and add Readymix Concrete to the range of suitable applications. Today, whether they want to process grinded cold asphalt, petrochemical sludges, backfill paste or readymix concrete, there are special configurations which make this plant suitable for any need.

Setup and configurations
After 20 years of improvements, the 2MIX-MC has seen several improvements which have made it suitable to be used in different applications. Starting from the basic setup able to produce cement mixture, we find the CA version, upgraded with the dosing pump for bitumen emulsion to serve the road industry. Looking at the recycling world, with the TM setup, the plant is equipped with special solutions according to the materials meant to be treated. TM stands for tailor-made and represents the idea of this setup which has several applications and configurations starting from the proposed process or required performances.

Moving to the mine field, we find the HD version, with increased motor and reduced number of mixing paddles in order to deal with high size of aggregate (> 35 mm). On top of that there is an addition for liners and wear plates on impact areas and point subject to high-wear.

Last but not least we find the PRO model, which includes most of the abovementioned improvements together with an advanced electronic and an accurate dosing by weight.

Case studies
Readymix Romania. This plant, originally installed close to the border between Romania and Hungary, and then relocated in Moldovia, was meant to produce cement mixture. It was supplied to serve the infrastructure development of the region and has no special arrangement compared to the latest models. The most interesting aspect of this plant relates to the electronics, with special controls on belts and dosing device to guarantee the correct flow and proportion between the mix design components.

Perino Srl. Located in the northern part of Italy, this customer has bought two different units over the years. Both represents the perfect solution for cold asphalt recycling, being equipped with a special pumping system designed to convey into the mixer bitumen emulsion. In particular, the pumping system must be verified and designed according to the intended emulsion, which may have different density and/or viscosity. It’s clear that this setup is recommended where the climate and regulations allow the production of cold asphalt.

Nico Spa / Petroltecnica. Both companies are located inside the petrol-chemical area of Gela (IT) and they deal with sludges coming from the manufacturing process. Therefore, a dedicated design started from the need of a machine able to stabilise those sludges and make them disposable/reusable. Based on the daily volume required, as well as the +/- 5% degree of precision, the engineering focused on the 2MIX-MC.

The most important modification was related to the mixer and introduced a swinging system installed on its skid with the aim of adjust the mixer inclination. Doing so, there is a direct impact on capacity as well as transit time of material inside the mixer, which allow the operator to set the slope based on the specific material that is being treated.

In addition, a dedicated system of admixtures and chemicals dosage has been introduced starting from the intended mix design.

Cuguttu. This is one of the latest 2MIX-MC PRO installed, located in Sargegna (IT) and successfully started-up in April ’21 . Like every model in the PRO range, it includes all the extras and upgrades developed over 20 years of engineering. Therefore, on top of the improvements mentioned in the previous case studies, this model has additional upgrades. The main one is related to the batching method, which can be performed either by weight or volume. The accuracy of weighing operations is guaranteed by the independence of each bin that sits on load cells, and works in conjunction with the continuous weighing system fitted on the dosing belts. There is also a traffic light system to prevent operators from filling the bins during the dosing phase, although a complex software installed is able to compensate and validate the batch in case of human-mistake.

This new model also featured a double powder scale, giving to customer the possibility of either use cement and filler as well as produce high-stress concrete with elevated quantity of Cement per m³. Last but not least, the electronics have been entirely reviewed with a dedicated new software to control the inverters, which are able to adjust the speed of motors (oversized in this version) in order to extend / reduce the transit time into mixing chambre in relation of the quality prescription for the mixed product.

Conclusion
The 2MIX-MC represents today one of the bestseller at Euromecc, being recognised by multidiscipline industries as a masterpiece of equipment with its reliability and proven design that has been improved day by day over a 20+ years run, with the result of an efficient solution for plenty of applications.