Challenge
On day-to-day basis we search for solutions to new or existing applications doing our best to satisfy the needs of our customers as fast as possible. This time it was a real emergency situation. It was late in the evening, a massive pit for an office building in a new business park in Katowice was ready to be poured with concrete. Then, one of the boom pump operators noticed that his concrete hose had plugged, he tried to remove the plug but nothing worked. With several concrete mixer trucks on the way to the construction site, there was no time for trying, they needed a new hose. Our 24h Service team in Katowice was called and asked for help. With a wide range of hoses and fittings in stock we were ready to deliver a rubber hose for a concrete pump immediately.
Solution
To provide durability and reliability to the boom pump application we decided to supply an assembly comprised of a rubber tube made of black, smooth rubber compound reinforced with four steel wire braids. The rubber compound includes natural and synthetic rubbers for excellent abrasion resistance and outstanding performance when conveying such abrasive materials as concrete, sand or plaster. The rubber tube of 125 mm diameter, 4m long was assembled with 5,5’’ fittings made of special, hardened carbon steel to stand up to the most demanding conditions. The approximate hardness of such fittings ranges between 56 and 58 of Rockwell hardness scale. The fittings were of a full flow type to prevent blockage due to concrete build up.
However, not only the wear of the pipeline but also pressure required to move concrete to the point of placement was a key factor. Because the concrete slurry must be pushed up the standpipe, the pressure in the boom pipeline must be very high to handle the task. Moreover, the pressure in the end hose must also be very high due to friction, which makes pumping through rubber hoses three times harder than pumping through steel pipes. The cement hose that we decided to use was intended to work at pressure ranging up to 80 bar maximum so it was ideal to accommodate the pumping pressure.
The rubber hose was to be attached at the end of the boom, above a working area. A hose-hand is a person who manually adjusts the end of the rubber hose to pour concrete to the right place and he is the most at risk . As the concrete hose hangs down loose, it must be fitted with the most reliable Victaulic coupling to protect the hose-hand and all workers nearby. The coupling , if clamped properly, sustains the maximum pressure applied by the pump and so protects the hose against disconnection and undesired discharge of concrete.
Result
Once again our service team saved the situation with a great hose solution. The rubber tube was delivered to the construction site, connected to the boom with the clamps and pouring of concrete started. The pit was successfully filled with concrete. The performance of the rubber tube was excellent. Since then, the rubber tubing has served dozens of such concrete placement operations. With the highest quality of the hose as well as full flow fittings we eliminated the top source of pump installation failures, therefore the boom pump works efficiently, constantly and safely.
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