Storage Bin Design Thoughts

[AndrewChurchill]

I'm pondering the design of my storage bin for bulk pellets.

The floor of the bin is going to be pressure treated 2x6s. The reason for 2x6 vs. 2x4 is I'm thinking of putting 3' PVC pipes in the floor and using a vacuum to move the pellets from the bin to the hopper.

I'm wondering if I should hook all the pipes together or individually? Would a 5hp shop vac be able to move the pellets in the following path? 4' horizontal turn 90 degrees and go 7' vertical then travel another 15' horizontal before dropping into the hopper?

 

[smokinj]

I'm pondering the design of my storage bin for bulk pellets.

The floor of the bin is going to be pressure treated 2x6s. The reason for 2x6 vs. 2x4 is I'm thinking of putting 3' PVC pipes in the floor and using a vacuum to move the pellets from the bin to the hopper.

I'm wondering if I should hook all the pipes together or individually? Would a 5hp shop vac be able to move the pellets in the following path? 4' horizontal turn 90 degrees and go 7' vertical then travel another 15' horizontal before dropping into the hopper?

what diameter you thinking

 

[AndrewChurchill]

In my original post I said 3', but I meant 3".

 

[smokinj]

In my original post I said 3', but I meant 3".

could work I would lay it out on the floor kind of the way you said and test it! (if you could go any smaller than 3 in. would help) sounds like a cool prodject! but should work if you can contol the feed

 

[flyingcow]

In my original post I said 3', but I meant 3".

could work I would lay it out on the floor kind of the way you said and test it! (if you could go any smaller than 3 in. would help) sounds like a cool prodject! but should work if you can contol the feed

I've got a 6 1/2 gorse shop vac, and i think it would do it. I vac out the sand in my pool filter, I was told by the pool guy it wouldn't work. Incredible power. But would it work with weight of the pellets pushing the pile down? Sounds like a fun to figure out.

 

[Fred61]

If it worked at all, which I don't think it will, there would have to be a lot of air rushing through the pipe and that's not likely if the pipe is full of pellets. You might move a dozen pellets at a time. Blowing them through would work better. Have you considered buying a used auger system from a farm equipment store. Sorry about being so negative.

 

[AndrewChurchill]

Other people have been successful using shop vacs to transport pellets and corn but I don't know if they are drawing from the top of the pile or the bottom.

I too am wondering if the weight of the pellets pushing down would be a problem. My thinking is that even though I may have 10 ton of pellets in the bin that weight is spread over the entire floor and the actual weight pressing down on the PVC pipe would be comparable to a 3" - 4" cylinder of pellets that is 6' tall.

 

[smokinj]

Other people have been successful using shop vacs to transport pellets and corn but I don't know if they are drawing from the top of the pile or the bottom.

I too am wondering if the weight of the pellets pushing down would be a problem. My thinking is that even though I may have 10 ton of pellets in the bin that weight is spread over the entire floor and the actual weight pressing down on the PVC pipe would be comparable to a 3" - 4" cylinder of pellets that is 6' tall.

i think the problem would be feeding it to quick and cloging the system but other than that it sould work with a little "tweaking"

 

[Steaming Pile]

I'm pondering the design of my storage bin for bulk pellets.

The floor of the bin is going to be pressure treated 2x6s. The reason for 2x6 vs. 2x4 is I'm thinking of putting 3' PVC pipes in the floor and using a vacuum to move the pellets from the bin to the hopper.

I'm wondering if I should hook all the pipes together or individually? Would a 5hp shop vac be able to move the pellets in the following path? 4' horizontal turn 90 degrees and go 7' vertical then travel another 15' horizontal before dropping into the hopper?

Not sure how you plan to set this up but I have some experience with moving material with vaccuum. i would mount the shop vac on top of what ever you're using for a hopper and use a probe to pull the pellets out of the top of the bin. You also must have some air holes in the top of the probe to let a little air in or it will just clog. Pulling from the bottom of the bin will work but you have to make a place for the pellets to spill out then be sucked up. If you try to pull from the bottom of the bin it will surely clog.

 

[hoth2oguy]

most pellets in Europe are delivered in bulk using pneumatic systems, so I am sure this can be made to work. As others have mentioned, I think the key will be to bleed off some of the vacuum 'behind' the pellets so that you are pulling a mix of air and pellets through the tubing. The key will be to get the right air/fuel ratio.

 

[hoth2oguy]

most pellets in Europe are delivered in bulk using pneumatic systems, so I am sure this can be made to work. As others have mentioned, I think the key will be to bleed off some of the vacuum 'behind' the pellets so that you are pulling a mix of air and pellets through the tubing. The key will be to get the right air/fuel ratio and you may be able to sort that out ahead of time by playing with a garbage can full of pellets and some PVC hooked up to your shop vac. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[hoth2oguy]

most pellets in Europe are delivered in bulk using pneumatic systems, so I am sure this can be made to work. As others have mentioned, I think the key will be to bleed off some of the vacuum 'behind' the pellets so that you are pulling a mix of air and pellets through the tubing. The key will be to get the right air/fuel ratio and you may be able to sort that out ahead of time by playing with a garbage can full of pellets and some PVC hooked up to your shop vac. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[hoth2oguy]

yikes, how did I do that! sorry for the repeated postings.

 

[daleeper]

I think you need to look over in the iburncorn.com and iburnpellets forum. I believe that is where I saw some folks putting there own systems together, I just went over there to check, but the server seems to be down at the moment.

One question I have is why multiple pvc pipe? Most bulk handling systems I know of will have a cone or funnel shaped bottom, one outlet, and one pipe for delivery. There are the advantages of gravity flowing to the bottom, where in flat storage, you will have to physically clean
the bottom out. You haven't mentioned how big this storage is or where it will be placed, and how the pellets will be delivered. Have you considered bins that are already designed to handle bulk grain or pellets?

I realize a flat bottom storage area will hold more, but I think you will have trouble controlling air with multiple pvc feed tubes, and controlling air is probably the most important design issue in working with pneumatic systems. You can pull from the bottom of the bin rather than the top, but you will need to control air and pellet flow at the bottom of the bin opening. Also, I think you will need to be careful with the 90 degree turn in your flow path, you will need to make a round bend rather than an abrupt turn in the path.

Good luck, and keep us informed about your project.

 

[AndrewChurchill]

The bin is going to be 16x8x7'. The reason for the multiple pipes is to try to empty the bin evenly, but it looks like the vacuum will be too weak so I'm going to pursue the individual pipes instead. I'm planning on using 90 degree sweeps.

 

[BrownianHeatingTech]

As Chris noted, you need to allow air in, for pellets to flow. Creating suction alone won't do anything.

A sloped floor to bring the pellets to one or two pick-up points might be best.

Joe

 

[AndrewChurchill]

Would some holes in the PVC pipe just below the pellets work?

 

[BrownianHeatingTech]

Would some holes in the PVC pipe just below the pellets work?

Sure. How many, and what size?

I don't know the answer to that question, so I'd plan on a small pipe teed into the larger pipe, with an adjustable valve.

Joe

 

[AndrewChurchill]

That's a good idea. Thanks!

 

[Wet1]

You might want to also consider using longer radius elbows as well. Sometimes these aren't available, but you can still use 45° or 22.5° elbows together to achieve the same result.

 

[AndrewChurchill]

I've only got 5 1/2 inches to work with so I don't think I can use anything less than a 90.

 

[Hansson]

Maybe you can find som info here
http://translate.google.se/translat...www.pellets.info&sl=sv&tl=en&history;_state0=

 

[Wet1]

I've only got 5 1/2 inches to work with so I don't think I can use anything less than a 90.

Try to increase the radius of the bends where possible.

 

[BrownianHeatingTech]

I've only got 5 1/2 inches to work with so I don't think I can use anything less than a 90.

The initial fitting is the least critical, as the pressure from the pellets in the bin will push pellets into the fitting. As I alluded-to, I would suggest a tee fitting.

After that is where it becomes critical to have sweeping bends. I would recommend the long-radius fittings used in electrical conduit.

Joe