DESCRIPTION

Technical Description

Silos are used for the large-scale storage of a wide variety of bulk solids. The stored bulk solids are then seamlessly supplied to production processes. To achieve this goal, the silo has to be designed as a mass flow silo.

The CE 210 trainer provides a practical demonstration of the types of discharge from different silos: mass flow, funnel flow and arching. The type of discharge that occurs is dependent on the flow properties of the bulk solids, the silo geometry and the wall material. 

The trainer includes two identically shaped silos with transparent front walls and different wall materials. The silos have a wedge-shaped discharge hopper whose inclination and width are adjustable. The trainer has been developed in conjunction with Professor Dr. Schulze (University of Applied Sciences Braunschweig, Wolfenbüttel).

The outflow behaviour is characterised by the measured time, the weight of the bulk solids, the silo geometry and the observed discharge type. The acquired data can also be used to review silo design in practice, for example together with the CE 200 Flow Properties of Bulk Solids experimental unit.

Flour (German type 405) is recommended as additional bulk solid for the experiments with arching.

The well-structured instructional material sets out the fundamentals and provides a step-by-step guide through the experiments. 

Learning Objectives / Experiments

- how wall material and angle of the hopper walls affect the outflow time
- demonstrate typical discharge types in silos:
  * mass flow
  * funnel flow
  * arching
- how flow properties affect outflow time and flow profiles
- comparison of different bulk solids
- review of the silo design used in CE 200