Blocked Silo Headache? No More!

When they first hear about our acoustic cleaning technology, many people think that audiosonics is the only solution we can offer to aid material flow ... and they would be wrong!

One of the biggest problems for sites with bulk storage silos is silo bridging where the stored material (cement, gypsum, carbon black, foodstuffs, etc) has built up on the inside of the silo walls. The removal of this buildup has traditionally been done manually but putting humans inside a silo does not come without its dangers. So we developed 2 pieces of cleaning equipment to offer our clients, both of which used compressed air but neither of which use audiosonics:

1. The Prima Whip™ for removal internal wall material buildup - see the special feature on previous blog post Prima Whip for cement silos in Egypt 

2. The Prima Lance™ for discharge blockage removal - see the special feature on our blog post Cement plant cleaning success  

These pieces of equipment work independently, used in their own dedicated scenario BUT where a silo is completely blocked, they can be brought together to work in combination. The Prima Lance™ is used to drill into the blocked silo from underneath which allows for the Prima Whip™ to then be installed on top of the silo remove the remaining material.

So if you ever have the unfortunate experience of a blocked silo, we have the answer. Contact us by email, Skype, telephone or fax and we will be happy to help. We have both a technical brochure and CD rom with information about these exciting and incredibly useful non-acoustic technologies.

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

Silo Cleaning & Stats

Statistics are a very useful analytical tool in business and we study carefully the analytical data in relation to visitors to our three web sites. Taking the main Primasonics International web site, time and time again the greatest numbers of visitors are seeking solutions to their silo storage problems.

The three main areas which concern them are:-

How can we clear our silos totally safely, quickly, efficiently without the need for manual entry?
Our answer is simple .... the Primasonics Prima Whip and Prima Lance facilitate excellent silo cleaning without any human risk.

How can we prevent continuing side wall material build-up and ratholing?
Again our answer is simply to install one of our powerful low frequency Primasonics Acoustic Cleaners on top of the silo and 'hey presto!' side wall build up is eliminated. This is especially true with our mega powerful PAS-60 (60 Hz) - currently the most powerful acoustic cleaner in the world - which has been proven to prevent this problem from occurring in silos with capacities of up to 33,000 tonnes.

Finally, how can we prevent material bridging in the hopper and discharge sections of the silo?
You’ve guessed it ... simply by installing a higher frequency Primasonics Acoustic Cleaner on the hopper section. Depending on the size of hopper and the material we usually recommend either a PAS-350 or PAS-230 model.

I was just looking through our sales statistics and we have now solved silo build up and blockage problems in over fifty countries worldwide and over a wide range of industries such as cement, chemicals, petrochemicals, carbon black, coal, wood flour, food materials and products  and many more.

However, I am sure that still thousands of silo owners with material flow problems who could benefit from our practical and professional help. So just come and talk to me personally about your need for silo cleaning - via Skype (donald-primasonics) or email sound@primasonics.com. I and my acoustic cleaning team supported by our international network of agents will be glad to help.

Cement Industry Needs Acoustic Cleaners

The cement industry is one of the foremost industries to use acoustic cleaning to deal with and, indeed, combat material build up problems.

From dealing with ratholing and bridging problems in silos to the necessary maintenance of id fans, filters and ESPs, acoustic cleaning has become established as one of the key components of efficient cement plant operations. Read more about cement plant cleaning and silo cleaning.

We have over fifteen years of experience dealing with cement plants around the world and regularly receive emails from delighted clients who have experienced significant improvement in their cement plant operations due to our acoustic cleaning technology. A good example is that of a cement plant client who had been suffering unscheduled shutdowns because of material build up on an ID fan. After the installation of one of our acoustic cleaners they couldn't wait to let us know that these unscheduled outages had ceased. Read more on our acoustic cleaning referrals page.

Our success within the cement industry has led to our being asked to share our expertise by attending  cement conferences and trade fairs around the world. As referred to in our last blog post, our Technical Director Mr. Alex Bergus recently conducted a seminar on acoustic cleaning in Indonesia. He then went on to attend the Cemtech Asia 2012 event - photographed below at the Primasonics International stand. 

Cement Plant Cleaning Success

Acoustic cleaning has been favoured by many industries for some years now as the preferred choice of material flow solution.  From power generation to petrochemical, pharmaceutical to pet foods, the spectrum of industrial plants in need of our services is a wide one. The most popular demand has perhaps come from the cement industry and so far 2012 sees that demand on the increase.

In the coming month our Technical Director Mr Alex Bergus will be travelling to various cement plants oversesas to supervise the commissioning of our Prima Whip™ equipment. This specially devised equipment offers a safe and fast solution for cleaning cement silos, bins and hoppers. With the option to fit a choice of whips and cutting edges, even the toughest of material build-up can be removed without damage to the silo, bin or hopper walls. This silo cleaning system eliminates the need for operators to enter the confines of the silo itself - an environment which can be potentially dangerous. 

Mobile and easily positioned, the Prima Whip™ is without question the cement plant operators' best friend!

Alex's itinerary will take him to the Philippines and Egypt and in between he will attend Cemtech Asia (17-20 June) in Jakarta, Indonesia  where he will present a technical paper on the theory and application of acoustic cleaning within cement plants (and power generation plants). 

So if you are involved in cement plant operations and need to find the best solution for cement silo cleaning etc then this year's Cemtech Asia provides a great opportunity. Visit our Primasonics International stand (Number 13) for the chance to meet Alex and have your technical questions answered by an acknowledged acoustic cleaning expert!

Audiosonic Ice Cream Sir?

Here is some audiosonic 'food for thought' .... Ice Cream.

No, I have not decided to give up the 'day job' and become an ice cream van driver! Did you know that if it weren't for audiosonic acoustic cleaners, there might be less ice cream in the supply chain? Imagine that ... you go to the supermarket and the ice cream freezer is empty or you visit the cinema and there is no ice cream to tuck into as you enjoy the movie. Not a pretty thought is it?

So what am I actually talking about here? Well, commercial ice cream producers have to operate ice cream plants where milk powder has to be handled in bulk. Bulk powder storage and processing can lead to serious system blockages, especially silo blockages. The resulting downtime to clear these blockages costs time and money and of course means less ice cream is produced.

As with all demand and supply situations, if ice cream supplies were down but the demand still high - and let's face it, ice cream is never likely to take a downturn in popularity! - then ultimately consumers could be facing having less ice cream available in the shops and/or a price hike to compensate for lower production levels.

Q: So what does any serious commercial ice cream maker when silo blockages occur in their ice cream plant?

A: First of all, ensure that the blockages are properly removed. Then contact Primasonics International to discuss the installation of audiosonic acoustic cleaners to prevent future blockages and costly downtime.

If the ice cream plant has particularly large silos, then we go to another level with our Prima Whip™ as the solution. This premium silo cleaning tool has already proved itself in sugar plants as a preferable, more effective and more hygenic solution. The food production and processing industries have to look to reducing downtime and maintenance costs as a key issue and the value of our audiosonic acoustic cleaners in this task cannot be underestimated.

What better to help produce premium ice cream … the premium Prima Whip™!

** Some interesting reading material ....

Silo Cleaning Systems and audiosonic acoustic cleaners.

Ice Cream Production & Consumption Statistics

Ice Cream Facts including the global value of ice cream estimated @ £7.5 billion!