# V u l ca n B u i l d s G r e en Fr ie n d l y P l an t i n Fr es n o A RTICLE D EC 2, 201 3

T h is was th e challenge t hat Vulca n Material s Compan y fa c ed when b u ilding thei r new Fr e sno plant. O ver 12 ye a rs ago, V u lcan mad e the decis i on to clos e their hot m i x asphalt ( HMA) op e ration on W est Ash l an Avenue an d supply H M A only o u t of their F riant Ro a d operatio n in F resno. W hen the d e cision wa s then ma d e to close th e Friant pl a nt, Vulcan began the p rocess of reopening A s hlan HMA. O r iginally th e site inclu d ed an asp h alt plant a n d a small tr a in kids co u ld ride. Al t hough the t rain is go n e, some o f th e original b u ildings stil l remain. D espite ha v ing an as p halt plant o n the pro p erty previ o usly, age n cies, inclu d ing the ai r district, required th a t a new pl a nt be built to m e et the stri cter enviro nmental s tandards o f today. 

# Highe r stand a rds, n e w tech n ology

So what did t h is mean f or Vulcan ? They we re charged with insta l ling an as p halt plant w hich can m eet toda y ’s va r ious mat e rial dema n ds from c ustomers and satisf y the dem a nds of age n cies and n eighbors a like. T h e plant sit e is in the S an Joaqui n Valley Ai r Pollution C ontrol Di s trict air d istrict whi c h has one of the tou g hest N O x burner requirem e nts in the s tate. San Joaquin R u le 4309 re q uires faci l ities to te s t and mee t NOx of 4 .3 P P MV at 19 % O2 (thi s is equival e nt to 40 a t 3% O2) a nd CO of 42 PPMV at 19% O 2. T omeet this challenge, Vulcan re b uilt with a n Astec do u ble barre l drum mi x plant and a Butler- J ustice Blu e S m oke Cont rol unit. T h e plant inc o rporates t he latest i n asphalt d r ums, lo w -NOx bu r ner emis s ions, blue s moke co n trol, adva n ced plant c ontrols, w arm mix capabilitie s and the a b ilities to u s e reclai m ed asphalt pavement ( R AP), if de s ired. T h e asphalt d ryer uses an Ultra L ow NOx P hoenix P h antom bu r ner manu f actured b y

Astec. T h e burner a chieves its emission reduction t h rough a l e an burn p remix desi g n. By car e fully cont rolling the m ixing of a i r and fuel, the bu r ner can a c hieve the l ow NOx e missions. Vu l can had to use a bur n er that co u ld be reli e d upon to s tand up to the dema n ds of a hig h -volume p lant with st r ict compli a nce stand a rds. The site will b e required t o demons t rate com p liance wit h this stan d ard into th e future wi t h source t esting. R u le 4309 al s o require s monthly c omplianc e test dem o nstrations with a ha n d-held ana l yzer plus a n addition a l co m pliance s ource test every tw oyears. A S P H A LT

T h e p la n t op er

a te s wit h f ou r 32 , 00 0 ga llo n C EI v er t ic a l a s ph a lt ta n ks. 

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# How it works

T h e plant op e rates wit h four 32,0 0 0-gallon C EI vertica l asphalt ta n ks. Thes e tanks ar e required t o meet e m ission st a ndards fo r

burner e m ission co n trol, vent control, a n d spill con t rol. The t a nks use a n Ultra Lo w NOx bu r ner fir e d on natu ral gas to k e ep emiss i ons as lo w as possi b le. Six inc h es of insu l ation is us e d on each tank to m i nimize he a t loss, wh i ch helps r e duce de m and on the burner. T he exterio r piping on each heati n g unit is a l so in s ulated. A m ist elimi n ator vent s each tank to control emission s that resul t from hea t ing the oil and loadin g of the tan k

. Sp i ll control f

o r the tan ks includes the use of secondary containm e nt and rel e ased hose s. F o r product s torage, t h e plant inc l udes five 3 00-ton sil o s. These s ilos are c o mpletely e nclosed w hich preve n ts e m issions fr o m escapi n g. The se a led silos a lso help to maintain t h e temper a ture of th e material s which he l ps in c rease effi c iency. The silo s use a mu l ti-stage bl u e smoke control uni t to capture f u gitive em i ssions tha t occur as the silos a re being loa d ed from t h e top and a s mix is t ransferre d from the silos to th e trucks. T he truck l o ad-out ar e a is controlle d by a tunn e l that enc a psulates a n d traps blue sm o ke emissi o ns as the h ot asphalt is droppe d into the w aiting tru c ks. These e m issions c o ntain pri m arily oil d roplets wh i ch are trap p ed in the fi l ter media

. Residual oil collects in the botto m of the u n it and can b e recycle d back int o the proc e ss. The b l ue smoke control un i t achieves its collectio n efficiency using six s tages of fi l ters that control t h e progres s ively fine r particulat e . This re d uces visi b le emissio n s and con t rols odors that are s ometime s associate d with old e r plants. 

# Prep a red for growth

T h e plant als ois equipp e d with As t ec’s WM A System

. This allo w s asphalt plants to p rovide ma t erial at re d uced te m perature s while stil l meeting t h e deman d ing perfor m ance sp e cifications needed in C alifornia. W hile there a re many b enefits to W MA tec h nology, in c luding red u ced fuel c o nsumptio n and few e r emissio n s, the un i versal ac c eptance of WMA on many job s is a long w ay off. A s tec’s tech n ology allo w s a facilit y to produc e tradition a l mix and W MA fro m the sa m e equipm e nt. The s y stem inj e cts air an d water th rough noz z les into th e asphalt w h ich allow s it to foa m . The foa m ed oil ha s a reduce d vi s cosity and allows the oil to coat the aggre g ate which makes th e final prod u ct worka b le at lowe r tempera t ures. O n ce the as p halt is pla c ed, it look s and funct i ons simila r to traditi o nal asphal t

mixes. As accepta n ce of W M A co n tinues to i n crease, t h e ability o f this plant t o produce the mate r ials will all o w this fa c ility to pro d uce asph a lt an d reduce e m issions. T h e plant sit s on a larg e piece of p roperty w h ich allow s for adequ a te mater i al storage to feed the plant. A p o rtion of t his prope r

ty include s storage f

o r aggrega t e and rec y cled asph a lt. The pl a nt is able t oreceive reclaimed as p halt pave m ent (RA P ) for the p lants and a lso to sell direct to c u stomers. RA P is prod u ced from jobs wher e asphalt i s removed du r ing demol i tion or ro a d improv e ments. R e cycling as p halt elimi n ates a wa s te strea m from the landfill an d all o ws oil an d aggregat e to be reu s ed. Once p rocessed , th e aggregat e and oil is recycled a n d blended with new as p halt to be p ut back in t o paving p rojects. Vu l can’s Ash l an HMA s ite has be e n rebuilt t otoday’s en v ironment a l require m ents and d emands f o r en v ironment a lly consci o us produc t s. Utilizin g state-ofth e -art techn o logy, this equipment allows th e facility to m e et the req u irements of today, w hile being prepared fo r the dema n ds of to m orrow. Po r tions of t h is article a re reprinte d with pe r mission f r om Calif o rnia Asph a lt magazi

n e, the official publicat

i on of th eCaliforni

aAsphalt Pa vement A ssociation. 

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