by
PK Bhardwaj, Grain Storage, Handling and Processing Expert, Icepco Grainiks,
India
Pre-storage is a set of single or multiple silos which are located in-between grain receiving pits and cleaning section of a grain storage facility. pre-storage silos bring efficiency to the storage system and make the operation trouble free. However, I have seen many people who get totally confused while deciding on pre-storage silos. Maximum people get confused concerning the quantity of pre-storage silos and the capacity of pre-storage silos.
Since there is not much literature readily available concerning pre-storage silos, I thought to write this article to make decision making quick and easy.
Why do you need pre-storage silos?
First and foremost, pre-storage silos are required to create a buffer in-between the receiving pit and cleaning section. This buffer ensures that the conveying system, as well as the cleaning section, can receive continuous and uniform feed. Conveyors, elevators, cleaners and rotary sieves etc perform at their highest efficiency when the feed is continuous and uniform. Besides, uniform, and continuous feed also saves a lot of electrical power.
What type of pre-storage silo is best for me? Hopper bottom or flat bottom?
Preferably, pre-storage silos should be of the hopper bottom type because hopper bottom silos are self-cleaning and do not require any manual intervention while unloading and cleaning like flat bottom silos typically do.
However, in case the receiving material exceeds 2,400 tonnes (i.e. 1200mt x 2) per day, one can also opt for flat bottom silos to save on capital cost. The only difficulty people face in a flat bottom silo is that 85 percent of its grains are unloaded through gravity but, for the remaining 15 percent, you will need to run a sweep auger and, once the silo is fully empty, you will need to clean it from inside before refilling. These activities are unproductive and time consuming.
How many minimum pre-storage silos you need?
Ideally there should be at least two pre-storage silos, so that the loading and unloading of grain does not happen simultaneously from one silo. While you are loading the first silo with grains, the other silo is in unloading mode. This ensures the ideal, first-in first-out sequence and increases the life of pre-storage silos.
However, due to space constraints, if you have no other option but to go with only one silo then you must go for the hopper bottom silo only. Hopper bottom silos should essentially be interlocked with low level and high-level probes so that the silo is never too full or never too empty, as this may damage the silo.
Read more HERE.
Pre-storage is a set of single or multiple silos which are located in-between grain receiving pits and cleaning section of a grain storage facility. pre-storage silos bring efficiency to the storage system and make the operation trouble free. However, I have seen many people who get totally confused while deciding on pre-storage silos. Maximum people get confused concerning the quantity of pre-storage silos and the capacity of pre-storage silos.
Since there is not much literature readily available concerning pre-storage silos, I thought to write this article to make decision making quick and easy.
Why do you need pre-storage silos?
First and foremost, pre-storage silos are required to create a buffer in-between the receiving pit and cleaning section. This buffer ensures that the conveying system, as well as the cleaning section, can receive continuous and uniform feed. Conveyors, elevators, cleaners and rotary sieves etc perform at their highest efficiency when the feed is continuous and uniform. Besides, uniform, and continuous feed also saves a lot of electrical power.
What type of pre-storage silo is best for me? Hopper bottom or flat bottom?
Preferably, pre-storage silos should be of the hopper bottom type because hopper bottom silos are self-cleaning and do not require any manual intervention while unloading and cleaning like flat bottom silos typically do.
However, in case the receiving material exceeds 2,400 tonnes (i.e. 1200mt x 2) per day, one can also opt for flat bottom silos to save on capital cost. The only difficulty people face in a flat bottom silo is that 85 percent of its grains are unloaded through gravity but, for the remaining 15 percent, you will need to run a sweep auger and, once the silo is fully empty, you will need to clean it from inside before refilling. These activities are unproductive and time consuming.
How many minimum pre-storage silos you need?
Ideally there should be at least two pre-storage silos, so that the loading and unloading of grain does not happen simultaneously from one silo. While you are loading the first silo with grains, the other silo is in unloading mode. This ensures the ideal, first-in first-out sequence and increases the life of pre-storage silos.
However, due to space constraints, if you have no other option but to go with only one silo then you must go for the hopper bottom silo only. Hopper bottom silos should essentially be interlocked with low level and high-level probes so that the silo is never too full or never too empty, as this may damage the silo.
Read more HERE.
The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com
No comments:
Post a Comment