Dislodging Solidified Cement from a Silo

Please does anybody knows how to dislodge the solidified cement from the silos.

In order of solidification level - Hand removal, hand-held tools, pneumatic jackhammer, bulldozer, explosives.

Can you supply more information please as your available options will depend on a number of factors.

Exactly what is the extent of the solidification (how much cement is actually solid, where in the silo is the solid sections(s), how large are the individual sections, etc)?

How high is the silo and the cement in the silo?

What sized access do you have to get into the silo?

What is the silo made of?

GA. Small amounts can be removed with hot hydrochloric acid. Large amounts may even require dynamite. Exactly how badly clogged up is the silo? If the silo is of completely full of solidified cement, OP may even find it more economical to simply demolish it and install a new silo.

Burn the silo off the outside of it and turn the rest into an artwork?

The silos are generally designed for the weight of dry cement. Putting lot of water making a thin slurry of cement for draining may be solution. The amount water and the design of silo need to be checked

As jack of all trades has pointed out there is not enough information.

However if it is a cylindrical steel silo and the cement fully solid, it may be cheaper to cut the silo off the cement than to remove the cement by the usual means.

You need to pick it up lay it down and use discs - not oxy or plasma (PW ) - to cut it.

Cut mid chute, so it's mirror halves, or so one half is not held by the shute.

Roll it so you can lift off the top half. Roll again to lift off the other.

Take care to not let the cement roll away.

Weld the halves back together, stand it up.

You need two cranes for the lift and tilt. The rest can be done by one.

Don't' forget to check it is water proof and find out why and fix why it wasn't, (or install a zipper?)

I saw them blow up a cement truck on mythbusters once.

Hi Guest,

You are funny but never give us explanation of your silo made of cement. Don't forget, you are the production manager, and the silo supposed to be reinforced with steel bars, here and there. Make my preferred acid solution at the level indicated and wash the wall of you company's silo from top to down at reasonable pressure and you can obtain a nice and cement powder free silo. If you do a good job, your boss will increase appreciably your salary because your internet connections are excellent. This is just for the fun but why your question when you don't follow up? Ah, your job title is changed? It's OK for me but wish you a cold shower before you write the next question, Gil.

That cardox system looks right for the job.

The only caveat I would have is the fact that you have a solidly filled silo and if the cadox is initiated at places on the perimeter to layers towards the center can not expand away and this might lead to a silo rupture.

This would work well if there was a center hole a few feet across to allow for the expansion and movement of the material.

Cadox should be asked about this problem, because they may well have encountered this problem at some cement factory in another place in the world and have developed a body of specific knowledge

Hi Aurizon,

CARDOX has been used for this particular task for decades and there is a set procedure they have in place. The task of removing congealed cement powder is not new or complicated as the work starts from the bottom and works upwards so no undue pressure is placed on the infrastructure(Silo). There is also a silo.pdf document on the website http://www.cardox.co.uk showing how the tasks are performed.

Cardox is over 100 years young in use and has been refined to the superb product it is today.

yes, it makes sense. They drill and place sockets and plant the CO2 bangers starting low down from the lower portion. Then the sockets are there for routine use thereafter.

Great timing. We have a job in the works that requires a large amount of rock to be removed over a 12 acre site that happens to be in a highly used residential and commercial area.

This system may solve many headaches. I will forward this to our developer and see if they are interested in using this system.

Hi scotchdrnkr,

I have personally used this product within 3 metres at 45 degrees down from inhabited houses and with Queensland Mines inspectors in attendance for the Risk Assessments and first use in the heart of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The mines inspectors were super impressed with the results and lack of explosive blast. I have a generic Risk Assessment which I use on all tasks that pertain to CARDOX use. It can be used to quarry / mine in face heights 4 metres or more with the right adaption of use. There is minimal flyrock that travels more than a few metres unlike the use of HE or Powergel 3000 etc.

In the middle of Brisbane, we were Activating within metres of footpath pedestrians bypassers and vehicular traffic. There was also the huge plate glass front windows of a religeous order headquaters just 5 metres away. We had not one incident using common sense precautions.

Hope you take the CARDOX Path as it will be environmentally sound and also very cost effective compared to explosives with its resultant insurances and stringent cost of shielding / matting precautionary requirements etc.

Hi tecmate,

GA to you Sir.

I am not certain but I think you mentioned this 'Cardox' on a thread a few months ago for the same use. IE splitting cement blocks, to remove them from a tight space and then through a narrow opening in a drain?

With this particular case I was going to suggest freezing, and allow the ice to do the work over a week or so. That would not be very practical. But you method would work in exactly the same way, with the pressure of the ice breaking the cement up.

Brilliant idea!

How is is done then? Do you drill holes and pour this stuff in and let it do it work?

Hi babybear,

This product works using liquid CO2 in reuseable tubes with a heater internally and rupture disc to discharge gas at up to 48,000 psi. It is activated using similar methods to a 'Shot Firer' with explosives. The exceptions are there is no explosive fire or where product is thrown many 1,000 metres, just a heaving action that dissipates as soon as the gas has escaped through the fissures of the broken materials. There are many video clips on the website.

The product is also used as a fire extinguisher in Neuclear Reactor power generation works as an insitu manifold that works by mass deluge CO2 method. It is very versatile in more than its first primary design in the 1927's as a breaking system.

Website:- http://www.cardox.co.uk

Hello tecmate,

There are several large limestone quarries near Georgetown, Texas owned by Capitol Aggregates. The area surrounding the quarries is under considerable housing development and, at some point, CA may be required to curtail blasting in favor of another approach.

Just a thought.

-e

Inform them of the CARDOX system and I know for a fact that the MD will show them or at least send a qualified representitive engineer to explain the product and its benefits regarding OH&Safety, Noise and benefits personally.

Hello tecmate,

I've not done business with CA personally; my post was intended as a sales lead for you.

-e

You may want to contact the manufacturers of kiln guns (Olin and Remington). These are essentially large shotguns that fire special projectiles into rotary kilns to break up clunkers. Using this technique the kiln doesnt need to be shut down to remove solidified clunkers,

Oh boy, another target to blow up with a few well placed blocks of C-4!!!

Can I? Can I? Pleeeasseeeee!!!????? LOL

In 1980 we had plugged reactor in the chloro-methane plant. The plant supplier/designer suggested for 'controlled explosion'. But we did not try since they did not give grantee for the reactor lining. We fabricated a massive drilling arrangement with local facilities and machined out in 30 days.

We recommend the Mole-Master silo cleaning service.

Link: http://www.molemaster.com/

Probably the silo you are refering must be of around 3 mtrs dia and around 12 mtrs in height. should have an opening of around 250 or 300 mm at the bottom for discharge.

1. check the level of cement in the silo.

2. Remove the screw conveyor fixing bolts and check whether the cement is flowing. Check from the top if the cement is loose or hardened there also. the chances are the cement is hardedened only in a layer of around half to one mtr from the outer edges. start breaking the cement from the bottom opening till the max point of reach of the breaker. hopefully the hardened portion will not be more than that.

If not done then you may need to cut a hole in the silo from the side (if manhole is not available). and try out

hope this works

Dear Guest,

We cannot solve any problem without complete information about the problem. Answer to the following questions. You know that the all cement is solid? Did you have a carrot from top to bottom? What material was used to make the silo? If the silo can support acid (pH<5), you can add Phosphoric but Sulfamic Acid is the best, no gas production like Muriatic Acid. Acid will dissolve the hardened cement. It takes time but it works. Mechanical effort is dusty but can achieve the same result and don't need resistance to acid. For the next time, don't forget that cement is sansitive to humidity and water. Good cleaning, Gil.

Adding acid to cement requires care in the consideration of exothermic reactions and the physical effects of them. There is no point in adding acid if there is to be so much gas and heat production that the silo splits and the whole lot spills all over the floor in a huge exothermic mess. Consult a process chemist for a detailed analysis before proceeding on this one. Or run like hell. Whatever.

Hello PWSlack,

First, are you a politician and second, did you already use the acids mentionned? Third, let Guest to do what he supposed to do. He is the plant manager and he knows what deep is the solidification of the cement. We, you and me, we know nothing. Your cautious approach doesn't produce any correction to Guest. Let him to answer to all questions and we will, you, Guest, and eventually me, we will figure out what is the real solution to the issue. Nobody has any problem! Let me know what we do on the Internet. We all have some problem and we want to learn or do something better. Don't become Yellow, stay is you are but watch the world, Gil.

Hi PWSlack,

There are acids and acids. Sulfamic acid at around 6% in warm water is not creates any exothermic reaction, it attacks the dead and lousy cement, plus other water solubles. I don't suggest to drink this acid at this concentration but we use in many household products. This recommendation is just to clean the cement surface for following with coating application to hold something later on or using adhesives or just be clean. If someone has objection to use my suggested acid, use fluorhydric acid to clean everything inside and out, including you. Exothermic? come on! Maybe endothermic! Try it to see. Suggestions are free and from Gil.

First check bin vents and dust collectors make very sure they are in good working order . VERY important !!!! then open up air regulators wide open to fluidize the power for at least a couple of hours then open gate and viberate ! Good luck!

Low frequency acousic equipment is available for rent from

www.primasonics.com

Another alternative is a company that provides full-service silo cleaning --

Martin Engineering Company

One Martin Place Neponset, IL 61345-9766

Email: info@martin-eng.com

Phone: 309-594-2384

Toll Free Phone: 800-544-2947