Page 16 • July 14, 2021 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT GUIDE
Blythe Construction Reduces Its Carbon Footprint
(L-R): Steve Surrett, Allen Hendricks, Wayne Thompson, Roger Keene, Shane Clark and Ron Clyburn, all of Blythe Construction; Dane Bambach, Jonathan Law and Mitch Christenbury, all of Carolina Cat; Jason Sasser and Brian Horner, both of Etnyre; and Mark Halvorsen of Ring Power.
By Eric Olson CEG CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Charlotte-based Blythe Construction Inc., one of the Southeast’s leading heavy construction companies, recently unveiled a new piece of equipment designed to reduce the firm’s carbon emissions from its paving operations in North and South Carolina. In doing so, Blythe hopes to join a growing list of corporations that are establishing themselves as environmentally responsible. It is also in keeping with a directive from its parent company, Eurovia, a French multi-national, to reduce the corporation’s overall carbon footprint by 40 percent by 2030. As a long-time partner with Etnyre, the Oregon, Ill., maker of liquid asphalt distributors, Blythe and Eurovia asked the manufacturer if it could design an asphalt distributor that could heat liquid blacktop without using diesel or liquid propane gas, the traditional methods for warming asphalt in a tank before spraying onto a road surface. If a machine could be made by Etnyre that had the ecofriendly capabilities needed by Blythe, the construction company would purchase the modified distributors from another of its partners in good standing, Carolina Cat, a Charlottebased construction equipment dealership. Etnyre Creates Electric-Powered Green Distributor Through expert design and engineering, Etnyre has created and unveiled its new Green Distributor product, envisioned as a step forward in producing and refining distributor trucks that lower the carbon emissions normally created by standard burner heating systems.
According to Jonathan Law, Carolina Cat’s Paving Division manager for the equipment dealership’s western half of North Carolina, “When Carolina Cat pursued Etnyre to be their dealer, we did so to align ourselves with the clearcut industry leader and a manufacturing partner for asphalt distributors and other products that, like the Green Distributor, are the result of innovative thinking,” he said. Brian Horner, Etnyre’s sales manager, detailed how his company’s new product differs from standard distributor trucks. “The traditional heating system on distributors has always utilized either liquid propane gas [LPG] or diesel-fired burners, which project fire down a flue to heat the product in the tank, while releasing the emissions exhaust into the atmosphere,” he said. “With Etnyre’s Green Distributor, these traditional burners, along with the heating tubes, have been removed from the tank and replaced with electric resistance heaters. The system is made up of two element-style heaters that fit into small diameter heat tubes welded into the tank. By removing the traditional large diameter heat tubes, it allows the process heat system to be placed so low in the tank that only a minimal amount of product is required for heating.” When the Etnyre unit is in motion or on the job site, an onboard 15 kW hydraulic-driven generator is provided so the unit can heat material, such as asphalt, in the field and while in transit. The heaters and generators are powered by the Tier V diesel engine on the truck chassis — the lowest emissions solution available in trucks today, Horner said. When the distributor is stationary at a shop or asphalt plant, it can be plugged into an electrical outlet to keep the product in the tank hot, thereby reducing heating times for the fol-
lowing day’s work. “Another advantage of using electric heat is that it provides a ‘softer’ heat source versus direct fired heaters, making it better for maintaining the quality of today’s complex asphalt products,” he added. In addition, the Etnyre Green Distributor, like all distributor trucks, must flush its circulation system after use to remove any of the residual product it used before it hardens inside the pump and spray bar. But the manufacturer’s unique “Smart Clean” system, Horner noted, is designed to wash out the circulation system without putting any flushing solution back into the product tank. The solution is instead flushed through the circulation system and returned to the “Smart Clean” tank where it can be reused, recycled or disposed of properly. “This will further reduce carbon emissions by resulting in less petroleum waste product,” he said. Etnyre Unveils Green Distributor in Charlotte On June 21, Blythe Construction’s paving headquarters on Wilkinson Boulevard in Charlotte was the site of an event to showcase Etnyre’s eco-friendly asphalt distributor. The truck-mounted Green Distributor was specifically designed and engineered by Etnyre at the request of John Sharp, equipment director of Eurovia USA. Among the guests for the product’s demonstration were managers at Etnyre, along with executives and technical staff from Hubbard Construction in Florida (also owned by Eurovia) as well as salespeople and technicians with Carolina Cat and Ring Power CAT, the Central & North see BLYTHE page 82
