Mini asphalt mixing plant is a compact, portable asphalt concrete production system designed for low volume demand, with a production capacity usually between 10-60 tons per hour (TPH). Unlike stationary asphalt mixing plants serving large infrastructures, it is designed for quick assembly and relocation through modularization, and is capable of producing hot mix asphalt (HMA) directly at the construction site. The core principle is to heat up the aggregate and mix it evenly with the asphalt binding material to satisfy the material needs of road paving, patching and other scenarios.

Core advantage: why more and more people choose mini asphalt mixing plant?

Controllable cost: The initial investment is much lower than that of a large fixed plant, and on-site production reduces asphalt transportation losses and logistics costs.

Flexible and efficient: trailer-mounted or modular design supports frequent relocation, and installation and commissioning can be completed in 2-4 hours, suitable for decentralized, short-cycle projects.

Compliant and easy to operate: Small size and low emissions make it easier to pass city or village environmental approvals. The digital PLC control system simplifies the operation process and can be used by novices after training.

Strong adaptability: Whether it is narrow city streets and alleys to fill potholes, or remote rural highway construction, can be flexibly deployed, without complex site modification.

A high-quality mini asphalt mixing plant consists of a number of key systems, whose performance directly determines the asphalt quality and production efficiency, the core components include:

Cold Aggregate Supply System

Through the cold silo to achieve different specifications of the aggregate rough weighing and delivery, to ensure that the raw material ratio is accurate, the common capacity of 3.5-4 cubic meters, to match the different output requirements.

Drying Drum And Burner

Adopting counter-current heating technology, with higher thermal efficiency and less dust emission; the burner is mostly of dual-fuel design, which can choose fuel oil or coal, and some high-end models are equipped with automatic adjustment function, which can reduce fuel consumption.

Dusting System

Dusting is divided into two levels – primary to remove large particles of stone, and secondary water filter or bag filter (bag filter is more environmentally friendly and has a longer life) to ensure that it meets the local air quality standards.

Screening And Weighing System

The vibrating screen is made of 65mn wear-resistant material, which prolongs the service life and reduces the maintenance cost; the precision of the weighing system can reach ±0.3%±0.5%, which can accurately control the proportion of aggregate, asphalt and additives.

Asphalt Storage Tank

Equipped with thermal insulation layer design, the maximum asphalt temperature to maintain stability, to avoid temperature loss affecting the quality of the mixture, common capacity of 10-30 tons.

Mixing System

Twin-axle double screw + high power coupling double chain structure, to ensure that the aggregate and asphalt fully mixed, no dead ends, no segregation, to protect the strength of asphalt concrete.

Finished Product Storage System (Optional)

Temporary storage of finished asphalt, suitable for construction sites and production areas have a certain distance from the scene, the capacity is usually 3-7 tons.

Mini asphalt mixing plant is mainly divided into intermittent (Batch Mix), drum mix and ultra-small continuous (Mini Continuous) three types, different types of adaptable scenarios are significantly different, the choice should be closely linked to the project requirements:

Intermittent (Batch Mix) small asphalt mixing plant

Working Principle: Drying, heating and mixing of aggregates and asphalt are completed in batches, with a production cycle of about 45 seconds per batch, allowing precise control of the formula and quality of each batch.

Core advantages: high mixing consistency, flexible formula adjustment, support for multiple material inputs, suitable for projects with strict requirements on asphalt quality, and batch production records can be traced to meet the acceptance standards of municipal projects.

Applicable scenarios: projects requiring frequent switching of asphalt formulations (e.g., simultaneous paving of base layer and surface layer), municipal roads with strict quality specifications, and long-term projects for medium-sized contractors.

Precautions: slightly higher initial investment, relatively slow production efficiency, requires a larger installation space.

Drum type mini/small asphalt mixing plant

Working principle: through the rotating drum to realize the aggregate drying, heating and mixing continuous operation, process simplification, no need for batch operation.

Core advantages: high production efficiency, low operating cost, simple structure and easy maintenance, continuous operation mode is suitable for long time stable production, and fuel consumption is more economical.

Applicable scenarios: rural highways, parking lots, large-area road renovation and other single-formula projects, the need to quickly complete the construction, frequent relocation scenarios (mobile drum model can be 3-5 days to complete the relocation).

Cautions: the formula adjustment is not flexible enough, if not calibrated properly there may be uneven heating problems.

Ultra-compact continuous mixing plant

Working Principle: Ultra-compact design, mostly diesel or propane-powered, supports instant production and instant use.

Core advantages: extreme portability, fast start-up, low investment threshold, only a small number of operators are required.

Scenario: Pothole repair, narrow road renovation, emergency repair and other small batch operations, suitable for entry-level contractors or municipal maintenance teams.

Cautions: limited capacity (usually less than 15 tons/hour), short life span under high intensity use.

The core factors affecting the selection

Project size and production demand

According to the average daily demand for asphalt to match the production capacity, to avoid “big horse-drawn carts” (waste of energy) or “small horse-drawn carts” (construction) bottleneck). For example: daily repair selection of 5-15TPH model, rural road construction selection of 20-40TPH model, the annual demand of more than 50,000 tons need to consider larger capacity equipment.

Frequency of movement

Frequent change of construction sites (such as multi-area road maintenance) choose trailer type mobile asphalt plant, equipped with stabilizing jacks and lighting kits; long-term fixed site construction can be selected fixed to reduce the initial investment.

Fuel and environmental requirements

Diesel models are suitable for remote areas (easy access to fuel), urban areas prefer natural gas, LPG or dual-fuel models to ensure compliance with emission standards.

Material suitability

If the local aggregate contains high moisture or impurities, give priority to the drum model (more tolerant to wet materials); if special additives are required, the batch batching system of the intermittent model is more advantageous.

Site conditions

for narrow urban sites or mountainous construction, choose modular design, small footprint models; for long-term operation on flat sites, consider fixed equipment with more stable structure.

Maintenance and after-sales service

Priority should be given to brands with easy access to spare parts and local service outlets, so as to avoid stoppage of work due to shortage of spare parts (the arrival cycle of spare parts for some imported equipments is as long as 6 weeks).

9-step hands-on selection process

Define project demand

Estimate weekly asphalt demand, construction cycle, site accessibility, the core of the question to ask yourself: “How much capacity do I need for my typical project?”

Determine the type of equipment

Choose batch type for precise demand, drum type for efficient mass production, and ultra-small continuous type for emergency repair.

Verify compliance requirements

Confirm local emission and noise standards, and make sure the equipment has CE, ISO and other certifications to avoid compliance risks.

Evaluate mobility requirements

Choose trailer type for frequent relocation, fixed type for fixed sites, and low-profile modular type for projects in mountainous areas.

Match fuel supply

Choose according to the availability of fuel in the construction area to avoid affecting the construction due to fuel limitations.

Examine the after-sale support

Give priority to suppliers that provide technical training, 24-hour maintenance service and local spare parts inventory.

Check the safety configuration

Make sure the equipment is equipped with emergency stop button, temperature sensor, fire prevention system and guardrail to ensure construction safety.

Verify performance data

Ask the supplier to provide test machine videos, fuel consumption records, third-party inspection reports to verify capacity and efficiency.

Avoid selection minefields

Be wary of products with abnormally low prices, vague warranty terms, lack of certification or customer cases, which often hide maintenance costs and compliance risks.

Mini asphalt mixing plant’s core competitiveness lies in the scene adaptability, the following scenes in its advantages are particularly prominent:

Rural and suburban road construction

No need for long-distance transportation of asphalt, on-site production to reduce the cost of matching the narrow width of rural highways, low output construction needs.

Urban road maintenance

Compact design can work in narrow streets and alleys, quickly repair potholes, renovate the road surface, reduce traffic congestion time.

Parking lot and sports ground paving

The asphalt concrete produced is of high strength and durability, suitable for high-frequency use scenarios, and the formula can be flexibly adjusted to suit different load-bearing needs.

Road resurfacing projects

Mobile asphalt mixing plant can be flexibly relocated following the construction progress, avoiding the inefficiency caused by large-scale equipment deployment.

Private site construction

Such as community roads, farm roads, industrial park access and other small-scale projects, without the need to rent large-scale equipment, control investment costs.

Emergency repair

Ultra-compact models can quickly respond to road damage, pipeline repair after the road surface restoration needs, to achieve “repair that pass”.

The smallest commercial grade small asphalt mixing plant is a mini continuous model with a capacity of 5-10 tons/hour, designed for pothole repair, small repairs, and other low volume needs, and trailer mounted for quick deployment to narrow work areas.

In most areas, permits are required, the core of which include: an environmental permit (to deal with emissions), an operator’s permit (to qualify the operation of industrial equipment), and a zoning permit (to ensure that the construction area complies with the plan). In some areas, operators are required to hold safety certificates, so you need to consult the local environmental protection department and construction authorities.

Fuel consumption varies according to the model, capacity and maintenance conditions, conventional diesel models consume 4-8 gallons of diesel fuel per ton of asphalt produced, the new high-efficiency models through the optimization of combustion systems and thermal insulation design, can reduce fuel consumption by about 20%.

If the budget is limited, used equipment can save 30%-60% of the upfront cost, but need to meet two conditions:  complete maintenance records, tested by professionals (focusing on checking the wear of the drum, burner status, control system);  in line with the current environmental protection and safety standards, no major parts aging problems. Avoid purchasing equipment with serious drum wear, outdated control systems or substandard emissions, or you may face high upgrade costs.