Kolkata to Cairo, Munich & More: Acoustic Cleaning Travels

The sights and sounds recalled by myself and our Technical Director Alex Bergus when we have travelled overseas to visit our acoustic cleaning clients are often colourful and fascinating. We have shared many of these already in our acoustic cleaning blog and today we're sharing even more ... and introducing a new boy!

The sights - these can vary hugely, from familiar ones such as looking at blocked silos on a site inspection to coming across unusual cars such as this Ambassador in Kolkata (capital of West Bengal). In production since the late 1950s the 'Amby' is an iconic car in India, based on the 1950s British Morris Oxford and it's not every day that we get to see one!

 

The sounds - these are certainly no less varied. It might be the familiar sound one of our acoustic cleaners being tested after installation on a silo in the hot sun or conversely the unfamiliar grunt of a camel as it passes by on patrol at the Great Pyramids of Giza. Look closely in the photograph below (taken by Alex) and you will see the policeman on his camel. There’s also our post from July (click here) where you can see the camel in question close up!

It is not always hard work out under the hot sun of far flung destinations, however. From time to time we are invited to attend and often speak at international conferences and trade fairs. Here is Alex talking to attendees at a recent Waste to Energy conference in Munich. 

The photograph was taken by our new Marketing and Customer Service Manager Dan Keeling who took the opportunity to meet some of the European Waste to Energy industry's leading players.

Conferences such as these are great opportunities for us to spread the word about our innovative acoustic cleaning technologies and we relish the variety of questions put to us. For example, what are the benefits of acoustic cleaners and how do they compare to traditional steam soot blowers? We can readily answer these questions and it’s always great to be able to do this in person as we get the opportunity to demonstrate not only our expertise in the field but our passion!

However, for those of you that we don’t get to meet, here is a page of the most commonly asked questions we receive, including how the technology works, the importance of the shape, frequency ranges and compressed air requirements.  There are many more questions of course and there has not been one (yet!) that we’ve struggled to answer :)

Explosive Progress Of Acoustic Cleaning

Last year I wrote an article called Silo Cleaning & Stats and explained how our website statistics regularly reflect large numbers of companies searching for silo cleaning solutions. It’s not surprising really because silos are a key component for many types of processing – from raw materials such as aggregates to chemical compounds and of course foodstuffs.

We love to see this kind of statistic because we know that our products can solve a wide range of problems faced by silo operators. Why, might you ask, should we have such confidence? Well, there are several reasons, each different from the other.

First of all, we have not just 1 but 3 products we can offer to solve silo cleaning issues and ALL of them will perform their task quickly, safely and efficiently, avoiding the need for potentially dangerous human entry into the silo. Going into a little more detail ...

Prima Lance operation

a) If your silo is already blocked
We have the Prima Whip and Prima Lance. The former is installed through the top of the silo and comes with a choice of boom size (from 2.4 m up to 8.0 m). The latter is inserted from the silo underside. What makes both these pieces of equipment especially attractive to site operators is that they are readily portable, made from non-sparking aluminium and the power motors used take their power from compressed air so there can be no risk of dust explosion whilst silo cleaning is in progress. Click here to read more about safe silo cleaning.

60Hz acoustic cleaner on 30,000T silo

b) If you want to prevent build up within a silo
This is where our acoustic cleaners are the perfect tool for the job.  This photo shows our PAS-60 (60 Hz) model, currently the most powerful of its type in the world, installed on a 30,000T cement silo in India where extreme climate conditions had caused severe ratholing.

c) If you want level silo content
This is another issue for plant operators to deal with. Having an accurate reading of the amount of material within a silo can be critical to many aspects of the plant’s management – from purchasing and delivery to stock control and planning. Most sites have level sensing equipment installed in their silos and with acoustic cleaners installed, the level measured can be relied upon to be accurate because materials has been prevented from building up on sidewalls.

d) If you want to avoid explosive options
Amongst the alternative options open to silo operators is explosive cleaning. This is an extreme measure adopted when a serious blockage needs to be removed. Unlike our Prima Whip and Prima Lance which are safe and quick to employ, explosive cleaning is more time consuming, creates more downtime and is potentially damaging to the silo structure if its use is not conducted correctly. Explosive cleaning in itself has variations on a theme – some companies offer a method where carbon dioxide is ignited, others use methane and oxygen. All of them, however, operate with the same principle of relying upon the explosion they create to break up the silo blockage.

They say that clarity is power and that in turn creates confidence. Hopefully the clarity of what I've shared with you today offers confidence in the power of acoustic cleaners and the other technologies we provide to tackle silo cleaning problems.

Taking In The Sights ... and the Silos

Our acoustic cleaning technology is used in many countries far and wide.  I have mentioned before in this blog that the variety of applications for which acoustic cleaners are used and the range of industries that need our products as part of their MPM work means that we are constantly in demand to supply our equipment.

One of the greatest demands comes from the cement industry. It is not surprising therefore that when our Technical Director Alex Bergus travels to conduct a site inspection or installation, a cement plant will often figure on his itinerary.

These photographs were taken by Alex on two entirely different trips, to countries with very different cultures. Yet they share a common theme – colourful local sights .... and silos!

India - away from site, a colourful street in Mumbai

India - on site with PAS-75S acoustic cleaner on a cement silo

Egypt - away from site, camel mounted police at the Great Pyramids

Egypt - on site in the hot sun looking up at a silo

Whilst the landscapes, cities, people, languages and culture that appear on Alex's itinerary may vary, there is one thing for certain .... wherever he goes, if they have cement plants with the all too often associated problems of silo bridging and ratholing, they will have an equal need for the help that our acoustic cleaning technology can offer. Long may it be that we can help this type of plant, wherever it may be ... cement production plays a crucial role in countries being able to develop and improve their infrastructure and thus, hopefully, improve the lives of their people.

Prima Whip For Cement Silos In Egypt

Silo cleaning  is one of the biggest sources of enquiries that we receive, with requests for assistance on sites all around the world. I have touched on the subject before in previous blog posts such as Silo Cleaning Stats and Preheater Id Fan Problems.

One of the foremost industries for which we supply our innovative technology is the cement industry - cement silos are well known to give a multitude of problems (silo bridging is probably the one that springs to mind with most people). So efficient cleaning and maintenance is crucial. Here at Primasonics International™ we have now solved silo bridging and material buildup and blockage problems in more than 50 countries, serving not only the cement industry but also many others such as petrochemical, carbon black, food materials and coal.

What's more, we can offer not just one but two highly effective solutions to deal with silo problems - for discharge blockage removal we have the Prima Lance™ and for non-intrusive silo cleaning we have the Prima Whip™.

We recently supplied a Prima Whip™.to help with silo cleaning operations in a large cement plant in Egypt where silos were suffering from material buildup on the walls. Here is a photograph of our Technical Director Alex Bergus (orange hard hat) giving specialist Prima Whip™ training to engineers on site.

After the training session and still on top of the silo with the arid landscape of Egypt in the background, Alex is photographed with Apprentice Engineer James Swindlehurst.

Read more about safe silo cleaning here    

Prima Whip Training For Silo Cleaning

Our last blog post looked at the statistical importance of silo cleaning. Supplying our acoustic cleaners as a solution to silo ratholing and silo bridging, takes me and my technical staff to many countries around the world. This is particulary the case when customers buy our Prima Whip as we offer special training on site in the use of this equipment. In such a way, our customers are left confident in the knowledge that they can improve their silo discharge performance and overall plant efficiency.

Here is our Technical Director Alex Bergus giving classroom training to cement plant staff who plan to use the Prima Whip in their cement silos.

The next photograph below was taken on the top of a cement silo with the Prima Whip assembled and ready to be lowered into the silo. Again, Alex (centered) isseen playing a key role in training.

 
For more detailed information you can download our Prima Whip pdf brochure - please click here