In Patagonia, Argentina, great potential has been identified for hydroelectric power generation as a renewable source of electricity. A major challenge to build the necessary dam structure with high quality mass concrete is the warm summers and cold winters. Therefore, we have provided our customer with a year-round concrete production solution that guarantees a fresh concrete temperature of 10 °C / 50 °F to meet the required quality standards.
After we delivered our solutions for the production of mass concrete in winter to our customer in Patagonia in the extreme south of Argentina at the beginning of 2020, the delivery of a solution for concrete cooling followed towards the end of the year. The construction of a hydropower plant there requires the highest demands on the temperature of the mass concrete, as extreme ambient temperatures prevail and the durability of the concrete must be ensured. Not for the first time, we were able to convince the customer with our competence and the wide product range of concrete heating and cooling equipment. From a single source, we supplied and commissioned our equipment for year-round concrete production. In order to avoid thermal stress, cracking and unwanted shrinkage, a rule of thumb states that the fresh concrete temperature to be achieved should be equal to the annual average ambient temperature. In this project, the fresh concrete temperature was defined as 10 °C / 50 °F, while the ambient temperature reached 30 °C / 86 °F in summer and was below 10 °C / 50 °F in winter. The total daily production capacity was set at 3,000 m³ of concrete per day.
At least in summer
Maximum in winter
To ensure the required concrete temperature, we supplied a complete solution for concrete tempering consisting of the following components and providing a heating capacity of approx. 4000 kW and a cooling capacity of approx. 1300 kW.
Plate ice
1x HWS1000 type hot water system
3x clean air silo heater type OLH1000
Air nozzles for the silos
Insulated air ducts with automatic damper control
Flake ice
1x plate ice machine type PLIP120, with integrated ice water cooler
1x MIS23 type automatic ice storage system
1x silo cooling with cold air of type CCAP800
1x air purifier / airwasher
1x CCWT58 type insulated cold water tank