Substances kept in bulk storage silos generally attract moisture which eventually causes the material to bind and adhere to the walls or form clumps, consequently resulting in blockages of the valve outlets, build-up along the sidewalls and the base of the vessel.
As such plants with silos typically experience reduced product flow rates, lost storage capacity, cross contamination and materials losses. These problems can negatively impact production processes in different ways.
Traditional methods of cleaning silos entail personnel getting inside the vessels (confined spaces) to physically scrap off the compacted material. The result would be longer downtimes, inconsistencies in the effectiveness of the cleaning activities coupled with numerous safety and health concerns.
Dickinson Group of companies offers a highly specialised service for cleaning clogged up and contaminated bulk containers. The service involves the safe, hygenic, fast and efficient removal of compacted materials. Furthermore the services include consulting on how to implement preventive maintenance procedures to improve proper cleaning schedules. The cleaning service employs two systems:
THE SILO WHIP SYSTEM
The whipping head is suspended inside the silo and efficiently removes build up using an air-driven or hydraulic rotary cutter with a 360 degree rotation and an operating depth of up to 50m. Cleared material simply falls to the base of the silo for extraction. The whip is controlled from the top and outside of the silo.
THE CARDOX SYSTEM
Cardox tubes are filled with liquid carbon dioxide. When energized by the application of a small electrical charge, the chemical heater instantly converts the liquid carbon dioxide to a gas expanding the CO2 and building up pressure until the rapture disk at the end of the tube bursts, this releases the CO2 now 600 times it original volume. A special discharge nozzle is employed.
Both of these systems respond to the real life problem of clogged up silos in a safe, hygienic, economical, fast and efficient manner.