Storage

Abstract

In the food and related industries there are some particulate systems, such as grains or pulses, which may be stored outdoors in large piles unprotected from the weather. When being taken for processing, such materials may be removed by dragline or tractor shovel and delivered to a conveyor. Space allowance can be done by estimating the volume of the pile through aerial or ground surveys and multiplying by the bulk density of the material. Since bulk food materials are able to deteriorate with outside ambient conditions such as moisture, there is a need to provide protection for these piled particulate systems. Several alternatives have been used such as domes and cylindrical structures with conical tops, which are normally known as silos. Some of these structured forms of storage have been termed according to a particular application, such as corrugated-wall structures known as grain silos. The dome silo storage system has been successfully used to store salt and different kinds of grains. The reclaiming systems for these types of silos are similar to those used in outdoors storage, e.g., draglines, scraper reclaimers, bucket wheel reclaimers, etc. Outdoor and structured storage systems are useful when huge amounts of materials need to be in inventory, but direct connection to feed processing lines is somewhat difficult.