How Do Grain Silos Work?
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Basics
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In the past, grain silos were built out of wood, but that made them more prone fires. Nowadays, the silos are built out of concrete or steel. This makes them less likely to catch fire and makes them moisture-resistant and more airtight. The grain silo can be tall and slender or short and fat. They are used to store loose grain, where past storage often used bags. This makes shipping in bulk easier. The silos are sometimes built in groupings where grain can be moved into many different storage tanks depending on the type of grain or other factors. When they are grouped together, they are sometimes referred to as grain elevators.
Setup
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Grain silos have a conveyor, bucket elevator, chute system or combination of these that deposits the grain into the silo. The grain is normally loaded at the top of the silo. There will be another system set up at the bottom of the silo to remove the grain when it is time to distribute it by different transportation methods around the country. Grain can be loaded into train cars, trucks or containers and transported in bulk to processing centers. This moves the grain more quickly from place to place.
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In and Out
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The grain is deposited into the silos normally by a combination of gravity and motorized transportation. In smaller silo setups, a bucket-type system brings the grain up to a gravity chute. The buckets dump the grain into the chute, which is higher than the silo. The grain then slides down into the facility. If there is more than one silo, there might be a conveyor system that transports the grain to different silos before dropping it into the chutes. Gravity and the weight of the grain provides the pressure that packs the grain into the silo. This gives the silo a way to store more grain than the previous method of bags. When it is time to move the grain out of the silo, an opening at the bottom of the silo is opened. Pressure from the weight of the grain helps to push it out of the silo. This is combined with a bucket or conveyor system that moves the grain back to a higher point. It is then dumped into a chute that drops it by way of gravity to the distribution containers.
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