Jenike & Johanson’s structural group includes engineers with extensive project experience in design and analysis of bulk material storage structures used in power, chemical, mining, food, and agricultural industries. Our group consists of civil and structural engineers who have decades of structural engineering experience factoring in unique bulk material behavior and external loading conditions such as wind or seismic.
Expertise – Structural Engineering
- Structural analysis and design for new/existing concrete, steel, aluminum silos
- Inspection of failures with bulk solids storage structures
- Rehabilitation of existing structures experiencing signs of distress
- Design of purge columns for volatiles stripping (degassing) and drying
- Evaluation, review, analysis of concrete and steel storage structures
- Advanced structural modeling, stress and fatigue analysis of storage structures
- Design of let-down chutes, inserts, distributors, other internal structures in silos
- Design of support for ancillary equipment attached to silos
Experience – Structural Engineering
- Rehabilitation engineering for two of the largest concrete storage silos in South America that were experiencing severe concrete deterioration from coal handling
- Design of numerous ASME code purge columns for polyethylene and polypropylene stripping operations. These vessels include a wide variety of internals, including our patented J-Purge™ system.
- Analysis of failure and design of repairs for internal let-down chutes in large steel silos handling grains and beans
- Design of 30 ft (9 m) diameter silos for underground storage of trona ore
- Inspection and design of repairs for a wide variety of structural failures including buckling, abrasive wear, corrosion, fatigue, collapsing masses of solids, and damage from freezing and other environmental factors
- Retrofit design for 1500 ton capacity silo handling hot lime at 800° F (427º C) to improve flow reliability
Design Tools – Structural Engineering
We perform structural design calculations, stress and fatigue analysis using our extensive proprietary and commercial software capabilities such as COMPRESS, RISA, and ANSYS®. Our engineers have the knowledge and valuable experience to analyze and design storage structures based on critical design loads including all relevant internal (solids and gas pressures) and external conditions.
Contact us to discuss our specialized capabilities which can help to fulfill your structural engineering needs. We routinely apply our unique structural engineering skills to provide valuable input for customized bulk material handling equipment such as our J-Purge™ gas introduction system, slide gates, and transfer chutes.
