SIGforum
How can they pump concrete?
October 29, 2019, 12:09 PM
Pipe SmokerHow can they pump concrete?
A new high rise building is being constructed near my home. Yesterday I saw a large concrete slab being formed. A large mobile machine had long boom with four hinged segments, about 40’ long in total, carrying a 3 or 4 inch flexible tube.
Concrete mix trucks backed up to it and dumped concrete to it via a metal chute. Then, somehow, the concrete was pumped through the flexible tube and discharged to the slab area.
But how the heck can concrete, with gravel in it, I assume, be pumped? At mid span the hinged boom was about 10’ high. Maybe an impeller type pump?
Serious about crackers October 29, 2019, 12:11 PM
a1abdjPiston pumps.
October 29, 2019, 12:14 PM
WoodmanThere is a cool animation of a concrete pump on this UK webpage.
http://www.schwing-stetter.co....PumpingOverview.aspxBasically, it is a powerful pump that pumps a non-solid material like many pumps. A vacuum is a pump of sorts, and moves solids. Most of the pumps I come into contact with establish suction through a spinning impeller.
October 29, 2019, 12:47 PM
maxwayneWith a lot of horse power.
October 29, 2019, 02:02 PM
honestlouWhat I got out of this thread:
Q: How can they pump concrete?
A: With a concrete pump.
October 29, 2019, 02:13 PM
bendablethey are building a new bridge across the Mississippi river , here,
you should see the booms those pumps have !
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October 29, 2019, 02:32 PM
cne32507quote:
Originally posted by Woodman:
There is a cool animation of a concrete pump on this UK webpage.
http://www.schwing-stetter.co....PumpingOverview.aspxBasically, it is a powerful pump that pumps a non-solid material like many pumps. A
vacuum is a pump of sorts, and moves solids. Most of the pumps I come into contact with
establish suction through a spinning impeller.
Vacuum pumps won't do this job. It is well beyond their limit. Impeller-type pumps PUSH the concrete. There is no such thing as "suction"; just difference in air pressures.
October 29, 2019, 02:38 PM
GA GatorSuper P is an additive, super plasticizer adds work ability to concrete, also most pump mixes are small pea gravel sized aggregates.
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October 29, 2019, 02:41 PM
BigWhupWow, a concrete thread in which anyone is yet to call it "cement".
There IS a difference.
October 29, 2019, 02:46 PM
cparktdI have help pore enough concrete to know I'd rather be doing something else.
Out biggest pours were a pair of slabs for a grocery store we built in 1974. 60 feet wide and 160 feet long, each. The basement slab was no problem, the truck could just back in... for the suspended upper level floor it was all trucked in via wheelbarrows. Sure could have used one of those pumps but we got-'er-dun.
So now a Sigforum post is responsible for sending me down yet another Youtube rabbit hole...
.
If it ain't woke... don't fix it. October 29, 2019, 03:10 PM
Bulldog7972I use to drive a concrete truck part time to pay the kids tuition. The most important thing with these pumpers is to not let the hopper go dry. We used to back up after waiting in line, lower the chute and dump the load as fast as you can. We usually had two trucks at the hopper so one was constantly filling the hopper up.
October 29, 2019, 04:01 PM
Pipe Smoker^^^^^^^^
Indeed, there were two trucks at the hopper.
It sounds as though an impeller was the pump type. Thanks guys.
Serious about crackers October 29, 2019, 04:06 PM
chellim1Schwing!
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-rduckwor October 29, 2019, 07:34 PM
flashguyquote:
Originally posted by cne32507:
quote:
Originally posted by Woodman:
There is a cool animation of a concrete pump on this UK webpage.
http://www.schwing-stetter.co....PumpingOverview.aspxBasically, it is a powerful pump that pumps a non-solid material like many pumps. A
vacuum is a pump of sorts, and moves solids. Most of the pumps I come into contact with
establish suction through a spinning impeller.
Vacuum pumps won't do this job. It is well beyond their limit. Impeller-type pumps PUSH the concrete. There is no such thing as "suction"; just difference in air pressures.
Exactly. A "suction" pump cannot achieve more than 14.7 psi pressure, even at ground level, because that is atmospheric pressure there. A "pressure" pump can exert whatever pressure it was designed for, even thousands of psi if that is called for.
flashguy
Texan by choice, not accident of birth October 29, 2019, 07:44 PM
Chris42PISTON pumps. As in a piston in a cylinder, moving back and forth. The Schwing illustration has two cylinders, alternating strokes, powered by hydraulic cylinders. It appears the hopper gravity feeds the cylinders.
As heavy as concrete is, any other pump would likely not be enough. Higher speed impellers would be useless, pistons push the thick liquid up the pipe, then in the next stroke more concrete is pushed up behind the first.
October 29, 2019, 10:02 PM
Pipe Smokerquote:
Originally posted by honestlou:
What I got out of this thread:
Q: How can they pump concrete?
A: With a concrete pump.
CUT: “Smarter than the average bear”
Hm…
Serious about crackers October 29, 2019, 11:01 PM
NK402They don't just use these pumps on big projects. They're building a 2200 sq ft home beside mine and they used a crane and pump to pour the footings. No more wheelbarrows picking it up from the truck and being rolled to where they need it.
October 29, 2019, 11:21 PM
shiftyvtecWhat's most interesting to me is how these pumps have a "swing pipe" that alternates between two parallel pistons. Im assuming this is to manage the large aggregate found in concrete, check valves would not be appropriate in this instance.
I'm somewhat familiar with frac/cement pumps. They are essentially beefed up power washing pumps that handle water/Slurry. Their valves and packings get changed regualry since they handle so much abrasive material. A group of 16 of those pumps can move 3000 gallons of sand laced water per minute at 10k psi without much trouble.
October 30, 2019, 11:26 AM
cne32507Right. Piston pumps.
What fascinated me once was watching concrete being pumped in temperature well below freezing during a snowstorm at Lake Louise. Hard to see from the hotel, snowing so hard. Looked like the column forms were wrapped in thermal blankets. The workers didn't bat an eye; poured forms all day.
October 30, 2019, 03:50 PM
bettysnephewI worked at a commercial food processing plant and we used very similar pumps, albeit much shorter stroke, to pump cake frosting. They are very powerful and driven by hydraulic cylinders. Obviously the seals etc. were of food grade materials. They were much higher maintenance than the other gear type pumps we used but did not damage the particulates (nuts or candy chips) in the base frosting.
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