Originally Posted by ggrigore

Hello All,

We are looking to find a storage solution for 40,000 mt of bentonite to be used as binding agent for iron ore pellets. The bentonite will probably come from Greece (Europe) by ship and will still have some resilient heat when unloaded from vessel.

The storage solution should meet the following design criteria:

-The project is located in North of Canada, so we have to live with very cold climate (-35° C in winter! )

-The condensation inside the storage facility should be avoided.

-Zero tolerance for dust emission.

My questions are the following:

1)Do we need any special temperature conditioning for the incoming bentonite in order to avoid condensation inside the storage facility?

2)Can we store the bentonite in a concrete silo provided with automatic bottom reclaim system (like Laidig for example)?

3)Can we store the bentonite in a flat storage shed with front end loader (FEL) reclaim system?

4)Someone know about the existence of a ‘’state of the art’’ storage facility for bentonite in a cold climate zone that we can visit?

5)Any other storage solutions will be very apreciated.

Best regards,

Gruia Grigore, ing.

Short of storing it in a heated silo you do not have a lot of options.

I would suggest you contact the Wyoming Bentonite Association and

talk to them directly to examine this issue.

Short of using several used glass lined sealed storage silo

being the AOSmith Harvestore type silo with a bottom unloader

you do not have a lot real world options in my opinion. ■

I don't have much experience with bentonite, but most of western Canada stores coal or limestone/dolomite blends for cement on the ground in storage halls, or outside with a dozer or FEL or bucketwheel for reclaiming. I have seen a few gold mines with storage domes as well.

At -35 C you will get a frozen crust on top of a ground pile very quickly. You will get a frozen layer on the wall of a silo even quicker. The centre of a ground pile will likely remain unfrozen due to ground heat unless you are on permafrost. You need to have a piece of heavy equipment to break up the crust and get it into a feeder/frozen lump crusher before going much farther with material handling.

With mobile equipment feed you have flexibility and options when the weather or temperature goes against you. If you are running mobile equipment in a building at -35 you will have moisture problems from the exhaust, not just from what can sublimate from the material. ■