John

Are U just going to inspect the internals or the silo structure > looking for cracks etc.??

The air slides are almost maintenance free.

U should only go inside if U have performance issues.

Raw meal silo belnding effect getting worse > need to ID the cause and then work out if the air sldies are not performing.

Getting inside a raw meal silo is not easy - U will need to have a kiln re start procedure in place with no meal for cooling/start up.

Meal will be moist and will not come 100% out...so spend a lot of $/time sucking it out. To do, so, U need to work out if U can safely open the doors > so need top inspection and maybe even top entry via man cage and large crane to boot.

Cement silos are normally Ok except if u can false set or internal condensations > signs are lumps formation and PG gate blockages and customer complaints.

Again - getting in safely will be the challenge plus planning a suitable time to empty them. U will also have lumps to deal with.

Cheers

James ■

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Pressure taps on both sides of a filter are usually there to measure the differential pressure across the filter to determine when the filter is dirty and needs cleaning.

Checking the airslides from OUTSIDE the silo via the air piping is virtually impossible. The airslides are most likely piped through an piping manifold and header assembly and by doing such, the individual airslides loose their identity.

If your aeration blowers are frequently popping their relief valves - that's an indicatin that the airslide plenum chambers may be blocked and therefore are not working.

Inspecting airslides inside the silo is always a problem due to material build-ups which create dangerous situations for silo entry. ■

There is no real way to check them...U have to judge from the silo discharge performance and root cause from there.

What U can do however..is fit a ball valve to the air slide aeration line - just before it goes in thru the wall....this will be closed but will open to the air. When the silo aeration is system is supplying air to this line > air boxes/air slides.....open the valve when the AIR switches OFF and over to the next set. What will happen is that the aerated product will de aerare back thru the air slide ie in reverse and vent thru the ball valve...if there is a leakage...then U will get DUST coming out of the ball valve!!! This is happens on raw meal I can tell U.

If U have to go in..the big task/challenge will be ensuring that it it is safe to open the silo wall doors - on the inside cone.

Then...checks are,

air slide box fixing to the concrete slab > the slab is sometime a secondary cast slab.check the welding of the angles welded to the side of the box....U can get box movement > places stress on the pipes > pipe break > air leak

leak test all pipes and unions

listen to each air slide box..........detect issues by sound of the air

check fabric condition...visually...can tell if there are issues...take care walking on the boxes...

do not do welding over the fabric...

your boxes should have protective steel mesh over the top of the fabric

any replacement fabric should be woven type fabric and hot poker is used to burn bolt holes etc into it...under stretch conditions.

inside the air slide box...there should be a sewn fabric sock placed over the end of the air pipe > this is the filter to stop back flow.....usally not that robust but is usally fitted.

aslo..to prevent fabric wear...there is steel baffle plate fitted over the end of the pipe and fabric...stop direct air jet impact/flow/wear.

U should heck your drawings to make sure that the air slides have these built in.

Thanks

James ■