The Two Main Types of Batching Plant: What Are They and How Do They Work?

With so many different options for batching plants available on the market, it can be hard to know what the differences are.

What is a batching plant?

A batching plant is a piece of construction equipment that enables the combination of various materials including sand, cement powder, aggregates and water to create concrete. Outputs on batching plants can vary, any batching plant supplied by Utranazz can start from 15m3 per hour, and some models can reach up to 200m3 per hour.

In terms of how batching plants mix the materials needed to generate concrete, there are two variants of batching plants; dry batching plants and wet batching plants. Each has their different benefits and drawbacks. How end-users judge these is dependent on the circumstances and requirements on the construction site.

Dry Plants

Taking the more traditional route, a dry batching plant can be the ideal option for start-up manufacturers as these plants tend to be cheaper than wet plants. As the concrete is not mixed until it is inside the truck mixer drum, dry plants are ideal for construction sites that are a fair distance away from the supplier.

 A dry batching plant needs to work in tandem with a multitude of different construction elements, including cement storage silos, a conveyor belt and concrete truck mixers. A dry plant measures precise amounts of the aggregates and then dispatches them into the back of a concrete truck mixer, where water is added. The product is mixed into the final concrete product in the back of the concrete mixer drum.

Wet Plant

Wet batching plants are an all-in-one solution, as they come installed with an integrated mixer as part of the mixing console. This enables the aggregates, cement, additives and water to be mixed by the plant and then dispatched into the concrete truck mixer. Providing an all-in-one batching and mixing product may come at a higher price in terms of initial investment and also maintenance costs when compared to dry batching plants. However, this can be offset and justified by the quality of the concrete produced. Wet Batching Plants are able to provide a higher level of consistency and quality of concrete compared to their dry batching plant counterparts.

Why Utranazz?

At Utranazz, we offer an extensive range of batching plants, from dry and wet, to mobile, semi-mobile and static concrete plants. We also offer batching plants on a part-exchange or refurbished basis. To discuss how we can best help you, get in contact with us by filling out our online enquiry form, calling 01280 820 770, or emailing [email protected] and a member of our helpful sales team will get back to you.