PIC's of pellet storage bins or containers (homemade).....

[AndrewChurchill]

3 lally columns in 6 feet? Are you supporting a hot tub upstairs?

The kitchen is above that section.

 

[AndrewChurchill]

So you dump EVERY bag into your outside hopper for filling ??
Or am I missing something.

If I can get my bin to hold 5 tons I will luck out and be able to have Energex come with there truck and fill it, than I can use my vacuum setup to fill bin beside the stove.
heres a video of the energex setup http://www.energex.com/BulkFuel.php

They want $180 a ton and $75 delivery.

Yes, it's $40 per ton cheaper to get bagged pellets in my area versus bulk delivery. With my original set up I could only do one ton of pellets an hour working alone and two tons per hour if I had someone handing me the open bags. However, by adding the frame which holds 4 bags I can do almost three tons an hour by myself.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Holds about 7 days worth of pellets for our industrial pellet boiler.

Well grounded to stop electrostatic discharges from making that silo take off like a rocket I'll bet.

 

[DZL_Damon]

Well grounded to stop electrostatic discharges from making that silo take off like a rocket I'll bet.

I'm guessing you noted the cables on the top? In case of explosion the top is a weak link and will lift. The cables keep it from turning into a UFO and flying across town.

 

[bdud]

Moving pellets pneumatically is perfered actually. Here's our unloading system and silo at work.

520 ton silo, holds about 430 tons before the truck gets backed up


Unloading hoses for the trucks. Orange is 11psi air supply from our blower, the blue sheilded stainless steel hose is for blowing the pellets into the silo.

Is the orange hose providing a suction to the silo?

 

[DZL_Damon]

Is the orange hose providing a suction to the silo?

No, we blow about 10-11 psi of air to the truck in the orange hose. They charge the truck up with the pressure and then the rest blows through a line on the bottom of the truck and to the silos through the blue hose. The trucker then opens a valve on the bottom of the truck to allow pellets to drop in the travelling air stream to the silo. The air and pellets go up 40+ ft to the silo and dumps the pellets. The air vents out that tall square, white which automatically cleans itself with pulses of air backwards through 1 section of filter bags at a time. Dust falls out to the bottom and we empty it into a barrel when we're done with the load.

 

[bdud]

No, we blow about 10-11 psi of air to the truck in the orange hose. They charge the truck up with the pressure and then the rest blows through a line on the bottom of the truck and to the silos through the blue hose. The trucker then opens a valve on the bottom of the truck to allow pellets to drop in the travelling air stream to the silo. The air and pellets go up 40+ ft to the silo and dumps the pellets. The air vents out that tall square, white which automatically cleans itself with pulses of air backwards through 1 section of filter bags at a time. Dust falls out to the bottom and we empty it into a barrel when we're done with the load.

Interesting. So the truck itself does not use any compressed air to unload the pellets, it uses the 10-11psi from your compressor?
Is there a vacuum supplied to the filter assembly to help collect the dust or is it just fed by the compressed air from blowing the pellets in?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I'm guessing you noted the cables on the top? In case of explosion the top is a weak link and will lift. The cables keep it from turning into a UFO and flying across town.

Not exactly.

I'm asking the question to make sure that anyone contemplating building a storage unit at home understands the possible unintended consequences, such as improper grounding leading to possible static discharges causing a so called dust explosion.

Flour, grain, and pellet silos have that in common and need to be properly designed and built.