Silo
A silo is a structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store grain (see grain elevators) or fermented feed known as silage. Silos are more commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, woodchips, food products and sawdust. Three types of silos are in widespread use today: tower silos, bunker silos, and bag silos.
Cement storage silos
There are different types of cement silos such as the low-level mobile silo and the static upright cement silo, which are used to hold and discharge cement and other powder materials such as PFA (Pulverised Fuel Ash). The low-level silos are fully mobile with capacities from 10 to 75 tons. They are simple to transport and are easy to set up on site. These mobile silos generally come equipped with an electronic weighing system with digital display and printer. This allows any quantity of cement or powder discharged from the silo to be controlled and also provides an accurate indication of what remains inside the silo. The static upright silos have capacities from 20 to 80 tons. These are considered a low-maintenance option for the storage of cement or other powders. Cement silos can be used in conjunction with bin-fed batching plants.
Tower silo
Storage silos are cylindrical structures, typically 10 to 90 ft (4 to 30 m) in diameter and 30 to 275 ft (10 to 84 m) in height with the slipform and Jumpform concrete silos being the larger diameter and taller silos. They can be made of many materials. Wood staves, concrete staves, cast concrete, and steel panels have all been used, and have varying cost, durability, and airtightness tradeoffs. Silos storing grain, cement and woodchips are typically unloaded with air slides or augers. Silos can be unloaded into rail cars, trucks or conveyors.
Tower silos containing silage are usually unloaded from the top of the pile, originally by hand using a silage fork, which has many more tines than the common pitchfork, 12 vs 4, in modern times using mechanical unloaders. Bottom silo unloaders are utilized at times but have problems with difficulty of repair.
An advantage of tower silos is that the silage tends to pack well due to its own weight, except in the top few feet. However, this may be a disadvantage for items like chopped wood. The tower silo was invented by Franklin Hiram King.
In Canada, Australia and the United States, many country towns or the larger farmers in grain-growing areas have groups of wooden or concrete tower silos, known as grain elevators, to collect grain from the surrounding towns and store and protect the grain for transport by train, truck or barge to a processor or to an export port. In bumper crop times, the excess grain is stored in piles without silos or bins, causing considerable losses.
Concrete stave silos
The static pressure of the material inside the silo pressing outward on the staves increases towards the bottom of the silo, so the hoops can be spaced wide apart near the top but become progressively more closely spaced towards the bottom to prevent seams from opening and the contents leaking out.Concrete stave silos are constructed from small precast concrete blocks with ridged grooves along each edge that lock them together into a high strength shell. Much of concrete’s strength comes from its high incompressibility, so the silo is held together by steel hoops encircling the tower and compressing the staves into a tight ring. The vertical stacks are held together by intermeshing of the ends of the staves by a short distance around the perimeter of each layer, and hoops which are tightened directly across the stave edges.
Concrete stave silos are built from common components designed with high strength and long life. They have the flexibility to have their height increased according to the needs of the farm and purchasing power of the farmer, or to be completely disassembled and reinstalled somewhere else if no longer needed.
Low-oxygen tower silos
Low-oxygen silos are designed to keep the contents in a low-oxygen atmosphere at all times, to keep the fermented contents in a high quality state, and to prevent mold and decay, as may occur in the top layers of a stave silo or bunker. Low-oxygen silos are only opened directly to the atmosphere during the initial forage loading, and even the unloader chute is sealed against air infiltration.
It would be expensive to design a such a large structure that is immune to atmospheric pressure changes over time. Instead, the silo structure is open to the atmosphere but outside air is separated from internal air by large impermeable bags sealed to the silo breather openings. In the warmth of the day when the silo is heated by the sun, the gas trapped inside the silo expands and the bags “breathe out” and collapse. At night the silo cools, the air inside contracts and the bags “breathe in” and expand again.
While the iconic blue Harvestore low-oxygen silos were once very common, the speed of its unloader mechanism was not able to match the output rates of modern bunker silos, and this type of silo went into decline. Unloader repair expenses also severely hurt the Harvestore reputation, because the unloader feed mechanism is located in the bottom of the silo under tons of silage. In the event of cutter chain breakage, it can cost up to US$10,000 to perform repairs. The silo may need to be partially or completely emptied by alternate means, to unbury the broken unloader retrieve broken components lost in the silage at the bottom of the structure.
In 2005 the Harvestore company recognized these issues and worked to develop new unloaders with double the flow rate of previous models to stay competitive with bunkers, and with far greater unloader chain strength. They are now also using load sensing soft-start variable frequency drive motor controllers to reduce the likelihood of mechanism breakage, and to control the feeder sweep arm movement.
While the sight of multiple tall silos may look impressive, many have been abandoned for silage use, or converted to hold grain. Ground-level bunker silos carry none of the hazards outlined above, and need only a standard tractor/loader to feed out with, and no specialized machinery.
Bunker silos
Bunker silos are trenches, usually with concrete walls, that are filled and packed with tractors and loaders. The filled trench is covered with a plastic tarp to make it airtight. These silos are usually unloaded with a tractor and loader. They are inexpensive and especially well suited to very large operations.
Bag silos
Bag silos are heavy plastic tubes, usually around 8 to 12 ft in diameter, and of variable length as required for the amount of material to be stored. They are packed using a machine made for the purpose, and sealed on both ends. They are unloaded using a tractor and loader or skid-steer loader. The bag is discarded in sections as it is torn off. Bag silos require little capital investment. They can be used as a temporary measure when growth or harvest conditions require more space, though some farms use them every year.
1: All kind of spec. silo
2: All kind of steel structure platform
3: Silo spec: 10-100 m3
4: Silo material: S.S or A3 steel + Anticorrosion material ( according to requirement)
5: The Other mon-standard metal part
We want to become the preferred partner of tiles manufacturer leaders whenever they need the most reliable, fast and globally spread service for the maintenance of their machinery. Silo
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