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BULK MATERIAL

STORAGE SILOS, BINS & HOPPERS

Container Tipper/ Unloading

With considerable experience in the design and manufacture of silos, bins and hoppers, our engineers can assist in the selection of a suitable storage solution for your site.

 

Depending on the material to be stored, flow property testing may be recommended to ensure optimum design.

 

Equally important to the design of the hopper or silo is matching the discharge feeder design to ensure uniform and reliable mass flow.

 

Bulk Handling Technologies can also offer full packages incorporating the silo or hopper complete with the mechanical equipment for feeding and / or discharge of the bulk material to ensure reliable performance.

Steel Bulk Material Storage Silo

THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING MATERIAL PROPERTIES

​Integral to many bulk materials handling and process systems is the need to store bulk solids, either at the point of delivery or as intermittent storage within the process.  Whether the product is to be stored in a silo or hopper, the key challenge is to ensure efficient filling, safe storage and reliable mass flow and discharge at the required rate.

 

Design of bulk material storage silos and hoppers must consider the following variables:

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  • Material Properties

  • Method of delivery of bulk material (e.g. pneumatic, bulk-bag, Front-End-Loader)

  • Discharge rate

  • Preferred Discharge Feeder (e.g. belt, screw, chain, rotary valve etc.)

  • Site location and structural design criteria (e.g. wind and earthquake loads)

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"The key to designing reliable and efficient bulk materials storage solutions is the correct assessment of material properties".

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Aside from typical bulk material properties (bulk density, particle size, temperature and moisture content), flow property testing provides additional data for storage system design, including minimum openings to avoid bridging, minimum wall angles and wall materials to avoid hang-ups and friction coefficients to allow prediction of outlet loads during first fill and flow conditions.

BULK MATERIAL STORAGE DESIGN

Depending on your requirements, Bulk Handling Technologies can design and manufacture storage silos and hoppers to suit any bulk material - from fine, dry powders through to run-of-mine ores or cohesive filter cakes.  Methods of loading can range from splitting 25kg bags or 2t bulk-bags, to CAT 994 loaders or pneumatic conveying from road tanker.

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Storage capacity from 500kg to 500t or more is possible and designs may include special features to ensure reliable performance and long life such as:

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  • Low friction liners (e.g. UHMWPE, polished alloy or stainless steel)

  • Bolted or welded replaceable wear liners (eg Dua Plate, Q&T Plate, ceramics)

  • Internal baffles to improve flow and / or reduce outlet load

  • Dust Extraction or suppression

  • Instrumentation for level control (load cells, high or low level sensors)

  • Access ladders, stairs and platforms

  • Support structure / skids

  • Inspection / cleaning hatches

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Depending on size and transport restrictions, a fully welded or bolted design can be supplied.  

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Full civil design of foundations can also be provided or, if preferred, footing loads can be provided for civil design by others.

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Our capabilities include:

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  • Pneumatically filled dry powder Storage Silos with bin vent filter and overfill protection systems.

  • Bag Breaker Hoppers with integral monorail hoist, dust enclosure and bag splitting spike.

  • Front End Loader Dump Hoppers with grizzly and hungry boards.
  • Mass Flow Hoppers, designed with an integral heavy duty feeder.

  • Custom Bins and Hoppers to suit specialised applications.

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