Silos are widely employed to play various key roles in different industrial sectors including agriculture, mining, mineral processing and manufacturing.
Some of their roles include intermediate storage, bottleneck management, material blending and final product storage. Typical examples of silo contents include grain, flour, cement, clinker, slag, coal, raw meal, soda ash, clay etc.
Silos are normally fed from the top and unloaded from the bottom; theoretically, free movement of the stored materials is assumed to be on a first-in, first-out basis; which would render the management of the contents very easy. However in reality, partly due material moisture content, most silos are prone to develop dead material over time, progressively forming buildups at the sides of the vessels. The buildups upset the ideal ‘first-in, first-out scenario’ thereby risking contamination between older and newer material. The actual capacity of the silo is also compromised and actual inventory levels are left difficult to ascertain. Furthermore lumps of compacted material may eventually break off from the side walls and cause obstructions within the silo unloading system, thereby negatively affecting all associated processes.
The goal of an effective silo cleaning procedure is to ensure that silos are always kept at optimum storage capacity; thereby maintaining smooth, continued operations along the production lines, while contributing to maximizing overall plant effectiveness and profitability.
The most appropriate cleaning method is chosen considering the amount and nature of the buildups. The most appropriate cleaning schedules are established using past records and by benchmarking with other silos in similar conditions. Human entry into the silos during cleaning operations must be avoided at all costs as it would expose the personnel to a lot of hazards including suffocation and material falls.
Our silo cleaning division offers the following methods of safe and efficient silo cleaning:
Silo whip system
Cardox blasts system