Aggregate Case Study: CRH Company: Tarmac, Mountsorrel Asphalt Plant

“Expels were put in to protect a bitumen selector valve and an air-controlled dust valve that suffered from water damage. We now have no issues and are extremely happy with Expel.”

Jason Fairbrother – Plant Manager – Tarmac

About the customer

Tarmac, a CRH company, is the UK’s leading sustainable building materials and construction solutions business.

With 150 years of experience to their name, Tarmac is a national network of local businesses, combining the knowledge and expertise of two of the construction industry’s most iconic brands: Tarmac, pioneers and inventors of the modern road, and Blue Circle, the company that patented Portland Cement.

Tarmac employ around 7,000 people across a network of more than 400 sites across the UK.

Project Background

Moisture in compressed airlines was becoming increasingly problematic at the Mountsorrel Asphalt plant. Like many other asphalt plant workers, Mountsorrel for many years thought that the problems associated with moisture and particulates in compressed air lines were unavoidable.

Prior to installing Expel, Plant Manager Jason Fairbrother and his team were experiencing the inconvenient problem of dirty and wet air causing faulty operation with the bitumen selector valve. These compressed air contaminants make a spool inside the valve, resulting in sticking and function failure. When this happens, there is no alternative but to completely replace the valve, wasting money and causing downtime.

Another prevailing problem for the Mountsorrel site was the air-controlled dust valve suffering from water damage. Dust valves have an internal rubber diaphragm that when exposed to liquid, cracks over time and needs replacing. This echoes the familiar consequences of more unnecessary costs and downtime.

Why did Tarmac choose Expel?

Like most other Tarmac Asphalt Plant Managers, Jason Fairbrother was keen to improve his site efficiency and reduce equipment downtime where possible. Mr Fairbrother found that Expel was far superior to a standard water separator which meant that Expel made this goal a reality. So, Mr Fairbrother took the well-informed decision to install Expel to eliminate these issues caused by moisture and dirt in compressed airlines.

“Expels were put in to protect a bitumen selector valve and an air-controlled dust valve that suffered from water damage. We now have no issues and are extremely happy with Expel.” Jason Fairbrother, Plant Manager, Tarmac

By installing the Expel compressed air line filter just before the areas that need protecting (in this instance, one Expel was installed just before the bitumen selector valve and the other Expel unit was installed immediately before the air-controlled dust valve), the problems caused by water damage have been completely eradicated.