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Silos can be costly to maintain if you don't do the essential repairs to prevent further deterioration of the silo. In any repair, Marietta Silos tries to identify the root cause of the damage to the silo and incorporate those findings into our restoration and design procedure.
Silo Roof Beam Repair
The silo beam pocket rests on a bearing plate to support the roof. Beam pockets are a critical point in the silo as these roof beams hold up the roof slab and all the necessary equipment to operate the bulk storage system. Often the concrete under the plate spalls leaving the beam pocket at risk for failure. The structural integrity of the beam pocket is reestablished by having structural steel placed to ensure the integrity of the repaired beam pocket. A high-strength, non-stick grout is used to patch the spalled area.
Silo Wall Delamination
Delamination of concrete is caused by the lack of bonding to the interior structural steel reinforcement of the silo, which weakens the silo's structural capacity. To repair silo wall delamination in extreme cases, additional reinforcement may be added to the silo wall or a new concrete steel reinforced liner can be installed, returning the silo to normal operating conditions.
Be proactive with silo repair – schedule your silo inspection.
When material buildup is cleaned from silos or storage domes, it has to go somewhere. Our vacuum truck services make it easy to relocate loose material dislodged during the cleaning process without slowing down the total project time. When USA Silo Services conducts a professional silo cleaning job, we evaluate recovered material to see if it can be salvaged for sale. Through our material disposal and vacuum truck service, valuable material is moved to a safe place while any debris that cannot be sold is taken to the dump.
USA Silo Services uses the industry's most powerful silo cleaning technology. Our cleaning methods include the proprietary cleaning method, the Boss™, which is two-thirds more powerful than conventional silo cleaning techniques. In addition, the Boss silo machine is designed to accommodate variable unique clean-out head attachments selected by our field crews to match the type of material being removed. As a result, the Boss accelerates the cleaning process by removing more material faster and more efficiently than any other clean-out method, even on the toughest jobs.
USA Silo Service is your go-to silo cleaning company for expert silo cleaning. Our team of experts is equipped with the industry's best silo cleaning techniques and proprietary equipment, so the job is done quickly and correctly. No matter your silo type or stored material, we leave your silo and your facility cleaner than when we found it.
Concrete silos have four different flow patterns depending on the construction, cone angles, and stored material. These flow patterns dictate how stored material moves through your silo.
Mass Flow
- First out flow sequence
- Segregated particles remix as discharged
- Ideal for coal, other combustible or perishable materials
Funnel Flow
- Middle first flow sequence
- Should be emptied regularly
- Ideal for coarse, non-degrading solids with minimal segregation and free flow
Expanded Flow
- Middle first flow sequence
- Should be emptied regularly
- Ideal for large diameter silos with short-term storage
Fluidized Flow
- Fluid-like flow sequence
- Fine powders are aerated as discharged
- Not suitable for combustible materials
Once a silo begins to lose flow, this accelerates the buildup over time and can lead to additional blockages. While these are the standard flow patterns for concrete silos, the unique shape of concrete domes creates a non-standard flow pater that can increase the likelihood of material buildup. The shape also makes removing said buildup from dome walls and fluidizing equipment more difficult. In both concrete domes and concrete silos, however, once material flow begins to slow, material buildup accelerates and can lead to additional blockages.
Proper material flow in silos is important for more than just production schedules. Issues with material flow can cause increased stress on silo walls that may go beyond what the silo was designed to withstand, causing cracking, spalling, wall separation, or structural failure.
Proper cleaning and care will increase your silo's useable lifespan and minimize big-ticket repair and cleaning costs. It can also allow you to recover stagnant material that has built up inside the silo.
Find out more about the different types of concrete silo flow patterns or schedule your next silo inspection.
