In 1984 in a paper entitled "Good vibrations -The hidden Potential for Successful Hopper Discharge", Wright (1) concluded that "we still don't know how to apply vibration correctly to improve the flow of bulk materials in bins, hoppers, bunkers and silos". The continuous success of Silexport International, in a wide variety of applications, is due, in essence, to the invention and development of a novel method of correctly applying vibration so as to ensure dilation rather than consolidation of the stored bulk material during discharge. This is achieved via vibrating modules which are composed of steel plates, held in place by resilient supports. Attached to the upper face of the plates are electric vibrators. Key elements in the success of this exciting new vibrational methodology, which are based on a finite element analysis approach, are the sizing of the vibrators, their placement and order of use during controlled discharge. Whilst applications of the vibrating floor principle inside large silos and ships have been presented at previous conferences on bulk handling technology (2,3), this paper focuses on case studies relating to the retrieval of difficult-to-handle products from limited storage bins and hoppers. The case studies outlined include "total flow" from shallow sloped (i) 60m{sup}3 flat bottomed rectangular animal feed silos storing soja, sunflower and peanut meals, bran, alfalfa, sugar beet pulp etc, (ii) 9t capacity pyramidal cement hopper (slope 20° to 30°), (iii) 15m{sup}3 capacity flour hopper (slope 15°), and (iv) 15m{sup}3 capacity wood residue container (slope 7°)
展开▼
