Paving the way in Brazil with ABB's control and automation solutions

When told to imagine a road, many people will think of a black path, fading in the distance. When asked what smell they associate with summer, many describe the smell of rain on hot asphalt. Asphalt has become the material to pave roads - 94% of roads in the US and about 90% of the roads in Europe are paved with the versatile material.

And not without good reason. It is more affordable than other materials like concrete and can be applied more easily, making roads accessible to the people who need them as fast as possible. Furthermore, asphalt has noise-reduction qualities, can absorb heat, and is recyclable.

All these qualities make it the first choice when it comes to pavement materials. But creating asphalt from raw materials and getting it to the place where it is needed, is not an easy feat. The required precision when mixing the three core components and various other materials to ensure top quality can be achieved by using a mobile or fixed asphalt plant. Once the asphalt is mixed it must be transported to the construction site in asphalt storage tanks.

Margui is one of the companies that offer a variety of machines used for asphalt production, including fixed and mobile asphalt plants.

Quality, technology, innovation: the AC500-eCo Version 3

Since they were founded in 2011, Margui Engenharia de Equipamentos designs robust and reliable equipment to serve the construction and infrastructure segment. They are known for their state-of-the-art and efficient products like multi-capacity asphalt plants, rotary dryers, and asphalt storage tanks.

For years, Margui and ABB have been working together, building a relationship of mutual trust. ABB drives like the ACS380 machinery drives and ABB low voltage products are the standard in many Margui products. Now Margui decided to take the next step towards automation solutions for their equipment.

Gilberto Luz – President of Margui Engenharia e Equipamentos (Source: Margui)
The asphalt machines from Margui help to support the infrastructure in Brazil (Source: Margui)
PLC and drives ensure high quality of asphalt controlling the weight of all components and the mixing (Source: Margui)

In the future, the new AC500-eCo Version 3 (V3) and the AI531 analog Input/Output (I/O) module will be working in tandem with four load cells in Margui’s asphalt plants. They will guarantee smooth operation by measuring the weight of all the components necessary to produce asphalt, ensuring the perfect ratio for the mixture.

AC500-eCo V3 comes with many new features, including four times more user program memory and four times more processing performance. This performance boost allows for multiple simultaneous communications, whether in the field, management level or with cloud solutions via secure protocols such as MQTT and OPC UA. With this state-of-the-art connection with an MQTT gateway, it’s possible to monitor machine behavior in real-time. The VPN connection also allows remote operation and maintenance. The asphalt machines are managed and controlled with intuitive Human Machine Interface (HMI) CP600-eCo panels.

Asphalt consists of three parts: the aggregate, which makes up about 95% of the asphalt’s overall structure, the binder, and the filler. The aggregate consists of processed mineral materials like sand, gravel, and crushed rock. Lately, some countries even started to use plastic waste as the aggregate. The binder, as the name suggests, consists of an adhesive binder. The filler is used to keep the mixture cohesive and fill any voids.