Besides ordinary storage of bulk solids, silos can also act as processing vessels in which materials are dried, purged of VOCs, heated, cooled, cured, conditioned, or tempered. To facilitate processing, the vessels are equipped with heat exchangers or are modified to permit gas and/or steam injection. Examples of processing vessels for bulk solids include:
- Purge columns for polyolefins
- Conditioning of food products (e.g., sugar, wheat)
- Hopper dryers for reducing moisture of biomass or plastics
- Contact bed reactors (e.g., catalyst regeneration, reducing operations for DRI)
Jenike & Johanson uses a scientific method to design processing vessels based on measured kinetic, thermal, and material flow properties. Using our proprietary two-phase flow models, we model solids velocities and gas flows, which allows us to design systems providing efficient processing while preventing flow problems such as plugging, erratic flow, and segregation.
Review our solution approach and experience highlights below to better understand how we can help you successfully implement a processing vessel that meets your unique needs.
Our Solution
Jenike & Johanson provides effective functional engineering for processing vessels considering:
- General configuration that meets your needs (e.g., throughput, spatial constraints)
- Critical bulk material flow properties that help specify vessel design parameters
- Internal surfaces required to provide mass flow discharge
- Specialized internals required for anti-channeling gas injection (J-Purge™), control of residence time, or reduction of segregation during filling
