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A silo design checklist

Tim J. Lease WL Port-Land Systems, Inc.

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Designing a silo that will handle your dry bulk materials characteristics, your operational requirements, and your geographical location is a complex task. The checklist in this article outlines some of the key silo design factors you need to consider.

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o design a silo that will reliably store and discharge your material over the long term, you need to gather a range of information about your dry bulk material, application requirements, and installation site. This includes identifying your materials unique properties, how the silo will operate, what roof and wall openings it will require, what internal and external loads will be exerted on the vessel, and how the silos geographical location will affect the structure. Whether your company contracts an independent consulting engineer or a silo supplier to design the silo, the following checklist of critical factors to consider can help you get started. Your materials characteristics In a silo, the cylinder and hopper geometries and other structural elements are designed to handle a particular dry bulk material with specific characteristics. Here are the major material characteristics to identify:

the material and silo wall, hopper wall, and other surfaces Moisture content Temperature Particle size (distribution and maximum and minimum particle sizes) Abrasiveness Corrosiveness Friability Explosibility or deflagration index (KSt value)

silos volume and the structural loads on the vessel. The angle of repose will help the design engineer determine the silos hoop (or circumferential) tension, useful volume, and hopper geometry. The coefficient of friction will be used to calculate the vertical loads on the silo wall and hopper during discharge and to design the hopper. Particle size information can be used to determine whether your material is likely to segregate during silo fill and discharge and thus whether the silos hopper and other elements must be designed to prevent this problem. The other material characteristics listed here will also affect which structural elements, construction materials, and components the engineer selects for your silo. If you dont have previous experience in storing and handling the material your silo will hold, its wise to have it tested by an independent material characterization lab to identify and quantify as many of these characteristics as possible. The silos operational requirements To design a properly performing silo, youneedtounderstandhowthesilowill

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For example, your materials bulk density will be used to calculate the

J Bulk density (in pounds per cubic J

foot or kilograms per cubic meter) Angle of repose

Successfully designing a silo requires an in-depth understanding of your materials characteristics, your operational requirements, and the silos geographical location.

function in your application. Consider these critical operating requirements:

J What storage capacity the silo J J J J J J J J J

requires Whether the silo will provide long-term storage or be filled and discharged frequently Whether the silo must minimize material degradation Whether the silo must minimize material segregation Whether the silo must provide concentric or eccentric discharge How many discharge outlets the silo must have Whether the silo must provide complete cleanout at discharge What fill and discharge flowrate capacities the silo must handle Whether the silo must be equipped with aeration or fluidization devices to aid flow What service life the silo must provide

Internal and external loads on the silo You must anticipate what internal and external loads, including peripheral and imposed loads, will be exerted on the silo by the structures and components included in its design. Typical examples of silo components that exert such loads are:

J Ladders and stairs J Piping along the silo wall or

across the roof

tables elevation, the boring refusal elevation (at which an obstruction, such as a rock layer, prevents the boring drill from progressing farther), the expected total and differential soil settlement based on the silo structures anticipated dead and live loads, recommended ground improvements (such as overexcavating and backfilling) if your site requires such improvements, and the recommended foundation type (such as shallow, piling, or other). Putting it all together As with any design project, your silo designs success depends on accurately defining and understanding your design assumptions. While the checklist here covers the major factors to consider in designing a silo, the list isnt exhaustive. Expect to work closely with the design engineer and share many additional details about your storage and handling needs as the design project progresses. The result will be a silo that meets your needs and performs reliably for many years. PBE

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J Equipment such as baghouses,

conveyors, and jib cranes

J Floors inside the silo to provide

support for or access to conveyors, discharge equipment, or process equipment below the hopper

J Bridge and tower supports for

conveyors leading to the silo roof

J Supports for material-level-probe

and temperature-probe cables The silos geographical location Some or all of the following design parameters will depend on your silos location: Building code requirements Zoning requirements (including zoning limitations that may require a variance) Wind load requirements Snow load requirements Seismic requirements Frost requirements Silo footprint and height restrictions Soil conditions

The silos required openings You also need to determine where the silo will be penetrated by equipment or have other openings so the silo can be designed to accommodate them. Silo wall, roof, or hopper openings are typically required for:

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J Manways, doors, and other ac- J cess openings for workers J Material fill inlets outlets J J J J Material discharge outlets J Truck or railcar drive-through J doors J J Conveyors last parameter conditions J Material-level and temperature Thewill affect your soilfoundation silos
probes

For further reading Find more information on designing silos and other storage vessels in articles listed under Storage and information on defining material characteristics in articles listed under Particle analysis in Powder and Bulk Engineerings comprehensive article index at www.powderbulk .com and in the December 2008 issue.

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fumes, heat, or moisture

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devices

J Aeration or fluidization devices

design. To determine these conditions at your site, your company (or the silo supplier) must contract an independent geotechnical firm to conduct a soil analysis. This analysis includes soil borings and a geotechnical report that will typically cover the following site information: the allowable soilbearing capacity, the groundwater

Tim J. Lease, PE, is president of WL Port-Land Systems, Inc., 305 Mount Lebanon Boulevard, Ste. 400, Pittsburgh, PA 15234; 412-344-1408, fax 412-344-1412 ([email protected], www.wlport-land.com). He has 25 years of experience in bulk solids storage and handling.