Methods and systems using concrete mix temperature measurement

Abstract

The temperature of concrete can be monitored by a temperature probe. Typically, large volumes of concrete such as are typically carried in mixer trucks or mixed in industrial concrete production drums have a relatively stable, or slowly varying temperature, given the high thermal capacity of concrete. A sudden change in temperature can thus be attributed to an external event. A sudden addition of even a relatively small amount of water for instance, which has an even higher thermal capacity, can produce a notable sudden change in temperature. Examples where the detection of the addition of water can be particularly useful in the production and/or transport of concrete are provided herein. Moreover, if the temperature of the added water is known, and the quantity of concrete is also known, the sudden difference in temperature can be correlated to a volume of added water.

1 . A method of using temperature measurements of concrete in a mixer drum, the method comprising:
 obtaining a sudden temperature variation threshold of said concrete for said period of time;   measuring an actual temperature variation of said concrete over said given period of time using said temperature measurements;   using a processing unit, comparing the actual temperature variation to the sudden temperature variation threshold; and   generating a signal based on said comparison.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing data in a memory upon said generating. 
     
     
         3 - 7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . A method of using temperature measurements of concrete in a mixer drum, said method comprising:
 determining a temperature evolution curve projection for said concrete over a period of time;   using a processing unit, comparing the measured temperature of the concrete to said temperature evolution curve to associate the concrete to a moment in time of said period of time; and   generating a signal based on said comparison.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising mixing said concrete in said mixer drum during said period of time and stopping the mixing based on said signal. 
     
     
         10 . A method of using temperature measurements of concrete in a mixer drum, said method comprising:
 obtaining a target temperature of the concrete;   determining a temperature of water in a water system;   obtaining a quantity and a thermal capacity of said concrete in the mixer drum;   using a processing unit, calculating an amount of said water to be added to the mixer drum to reach said target temperature based on said quantity and thermal capacity of the concrete and said measured temperature of said water; and   adding the calculated amount of water from the water system to the mixer drum.