ASPHALT RECYCLING
A Specific Application - Proven Crushing Technology with Excellent Results
Extracting a high yield of useful aggregate
Crush + Size Technology specialises in efficient crushing processes built around rotating rollers — and asphalt recycling is one of the applications where this approach pays off the most.
The reason: the recycled material’s quality stands or falls with how cleanly the stone aggregate is separated from the bitumen binder. Only when this separation works can the aggregate be reused in the next asphalt mix with virtually no loss of quality.
Primary stage — the ACR Asphalt Crusher
In the primary stage, the reclaimed asphalt is reduced to a particle size of < 80 mm. The machine doing the work is the Asphalt Crusher (ACR), purpose-built for handling and gently crushing reclaimed asphalt.
Even unwieldy clumps and oversized slabs are handled with ease: large teeth engage the material directly and slowly, with a low circumferential speed. This ensures gentle pre-crushing right from the first stage — with minimal wear. The ACR processes clumps and slabs with edge lengths of up to 1.2 m and thicknesses of up to 400 mm.
Smaller particles are screened out by a roller screen sizer before they even reach the crusher. The result: throughput rates of up to 400 t/h — even when up to 50% of the feed consists of large clumps.
Secondary stage — the SGC for asphalt
The crushing behavior of the ACR keeps the increase in fines and sand fractions to a minimum. That matters because asphalt roads are built in layers, each requiring its own grain composition — and recycled asphalt is added back into these mixes.
The real challenge starts when smaller grain sizes (<22mm, <8mm) are needed. Dynamic impact crushers tend to produce large amounts of sand and fines exactly here. SGC technology is ideal for gently crushing asphalt granulate (0–80 mm) and can deliver particle sizes from <8mm in a closed circuit to < 22 mm in a single pass.
The principle is the material is crushed by means of pressure crushing: matrix particles are displaced against each other, crushing the asphalt down into its individual components — with virtually no increase in fines.
If the asphalt is coarser and a finer fraction is needed, the SGC also acts as a splitter and produces that fraction in an attractive grain shape. Especially the highly valuable 5–8 mm fraction is produced in significantly greater quantities than with impact crushing.
It’s the result that counts
Screen analyses speak for themselves: a 0/22 aggregate produced from asphalt slabs in this type of plant contained only 12% sand and less than 2% fines. The recovered rock fraction is cubic in shape, and the largely separated bitumen binder appears as deposits adhering to individual stones.
These results show just how gently the reclaimed asphalt is processed. The low sand content in particular proves that the original rock matrix stays largely intact — no excess stress, no unwanted fines polluting the final aggregate. And the bitumen separates cleanly, ready to be reused as a valuable secondary raw material.
Process safety and flexibility
Both crushers come with hydraulic overload protection that automatically ejects foreign objects from the crushing chamber — without damaging the machine. The crushing gap in both stages can be adjusted via the control system during operation, so you can respond immediately to changes in the feed material.
A downstream screening unit is optional, for example to return oversized material to the secondary crusher. Depending on your needs, the plant can be configured as a tracked or wheeled mobile unit — or used as individual modules in stationary recycling plants. Depending on the model, throughput rates of more than 400 t/h are achievable, and a control system ensures consistently optimal feeding.
Uptime is everything: that’s why every machine is equipped with a quick-change concept that lets you swap crushing segments in very little time.
The ACR Asphalt Crusher
With the ACR, Crush + Size Technology set out to combine two things in a single machine: the labour-intensive handling of milled material, broken-up asphalt, and asphalt chunks — and gentle crushing. The goal: continuously process road rubble in all its forms (slabs, chunks, milled material) and turn it into a high-quality, coarse-grained end product below 80 mm.
The SGC Sand and Grit Crusher
The SGC Sand and Grit Crusher is purpose-built for smaller particle sizes. Feed material up to 100 mm is processed into high-quality grit fractions — with or without recirculation, depending on the target. The gentle crushing process delivers a coarse-grained aggregate with very little sand and fines.