The Silo Solution

摘要

The application of bolt-on strain gage sensors for weight measurement in skirted silos. Several methods and technologies have been developed for measuring the contents of large silos or bins to store bulk materials such as minerals, coal, plastics and chemicals. One approach is to determine the material level through the use of mechanical devices or through ultrasonic sounding. These methods can become impractical, however. In many cases contact with the material is not desired or the material and/or structure is not compatible with ultrasonic systems. Also, the construction of many of the existing, installed silos makes it impractical and costly to apply a direct product (load cell system). Therefore a bolton strain gage solution is an attractive alternative. Starting in 1993, Kistler-Morse engineering undertook a major research program. The first step was to analyze and understand this difficult weighing application. The method of obtaining this understanding was to install skirted silos with bolt-on strain gage systems in various configurations and then datalogging the results of typical changes in material loading and environmental conditions.