Concrete Batch Temperature & Ice Calculator
Enter the batch weights, material temperatures, aggregate moisture, and target temperature. The calculator estimates the no-ice temperature, the ice that can replace mixing water, and the water temperature needed without ice.
Ice required29.22
- Predicted temperature without ice
- 84.89
- Ice as a share of batch water
- 11.69%
- Liquid batch water remaining
- 220.78
- Predicted temperature after ice
- 80
- Required mixing-water temperature
- 48.32
- Cooling per 10 lb of ice
- 1.67
- Target feasibility
- Target is attainable by replacing part of the entered batch water with ice.
Temperatures are in °F and weights are pounds per cubic yard.
Assumes all ice melts during mixing and replaces an equal weight of liquid batch water.
How to use this calculator
- Enter cementitious materials, oven-dry aggregate weights, and the measured temperature of each material.
- Enter aggregate moisture on the same oven-dry basis as the aggregate weights.
- Enter the liquid batch water, its temperature, the target concrete temperature, and the ice temperature.
- Read the ice replacement, remaining liquid water, and feasibility message before changing a plant batch.
How the batch temperature is calculated
This calculator uses the heat-balance form commonly used for hot-weather concrete checks. Cement, SCM, sand, and stone are treated as dry solids with a specific heat of 0.22 relative to water. Liquid batch water and aggregate moisture are treated as water. The result is an equilibrium estimate at the end of mixing, before any heat gained or lost in bins, belts, mixer drums, trucks, or placement.
The aggregate moisture masses are:
Mf = Wf x pf / 100 and Mg = Wg x pg / 100
The total heat capacity is:
C = 0.22(Wc + Ws + Wf + Wg) + Ww + Mf + Mg
The no-ice concrete temperature is:
T0 = [0.22(WcTc + WsTs + WfTf + WgTg) + WwTw + MfTf + MgTg] / C
When ice replaces the same weight of liquid batch water, each pound removes sensible heat from the replaced water, melts at 32°F, and warms from its storage temperature to 32°F:
L = 144 + (Tw - 32) + 0.5(32 - Ti)
The unrestricted ice demand is Ir = C(T0 - Tt) / L. The reported ice is limited to the available batch water, so the calculator never replaces more water than you entered. The predicted temperature after ice is Tice = T0 - IL / C.
What moves the result most
Aggregate usually dominates because it is the largest mass in a cubic yard of concrete. A few degrees of sand or stone temperature can outweigh a much larger change in mixing-water temperature. Cement temperature matters too, especially when cement has been stored hot, but its weight is usually smaller than the combined aggregate weight.
Moisture is included as water already carried by the aggregates. It adds heat capacity at the aggregate temperature, which is why the moisture basis must match the oven-dry aggregate weights.
What the calculator leaves out
The calculation assumes all ice melts during mixing and counts as part of the specified mixing water. It does not model absorption corrections, free surface moisture adjustments, mixer efficiency, transport time, solar gain, evaporation, chilled aggregates, liquid nitrogen, or frozen aggregate. Visible snow, ice, or frozen lumps in aggregate stockpiles need a qualified batch adjustment rather than a simple equilibrium estimate.
The required mixing-water temperature is the no-ice water temperature that would hit the target in the same heat balance. Values below 32°F mean liquid water alone cannot do it. Very hot values should be checked against the plant's practical water-heating limits and the project specification.
Worked example
With the default batch, cement is 600 lb/yd³ at 140°F, sand is 1,200 lb/yd³ at 80°F with 4% moisture, stone is 1,800 lb/yd³ at 80°F with 1% moisture, and liquid batch water is 250 lb/yd³ at 70°F. The heat capacity is 1,108 Btu/°F per cubic yard, and the no-ice temperature is about 84.9°F.
For an 80°F target with 25°F ice, each pound of ice supplies about 185.5 Btu of cooling. The required replacement is about 29.2 lb/yd³, leaving about 220.8 lb/yd³ of liquid batch water. Solving the same balance backward with no ice gives a required liquid-water temperature of about 48.3°F.
Common questions
How much ice should replace mixing water in hot-weather concrete?
Use the calculated ice weight as a replacement for the same weight of liquid batch water, not as extra water. The result assumes the ice melts during mixing and remains part of the specified mixing water.
Why do aggregate weights and temperatures dominate the result?
Aggregates are usually the largest mass in the batch. Even though dry aggregate has less heat capacity per pound than water, the sand and stone weights are large enough that their temperatures strongly influence fresh-concrete temperature.
How is aggregate moisture included?
The entered moisture percentage is multiplied by the oven-dry aggregate weight. That water is included at the aggregate temperature, so the moisture basis must match the weight basis used for the aggregates.
Why can an ice target be impossible?
Ice can only replace the liquid batch water you entered. If the unrestricted ice demand is greater than that water weight, replacing all of it still will not cool the batch to the target.
Should fly ash and slag be entered separately from cement?
Enter their combined weight in the SCM field and use a representative SCM temperature. If different cementitious materials have very different temperatures, use a weight-average temperature or run a separate engineering check.