How to Store Bulk Flour in Silos
Most of the things you eat are made from flour, but understanding how flour is processed can be more complicated than you realize. Flour is produced in such large quantities it is stored in silos until it is ready to be moved for sale. Flour can last for a fairly long time without going bad. Usually insects or environmental effects, such as moisture and temperature, can cause flour to go bad. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Silo
- Water pressure cleaning system
- Conveyor
- Air pressure system for silos
Instructions
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1
Clean out the flour silo completely from the residue of the previous flour storage. Flour will build up on the sides of the silos and must be cleaned out.
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2
Fill the silo with flour that has been redressed, which means sifted through one last time to remove lumps and insect eggs. The silo is filled with the flour by using a pneumatic conveyor or stainless steel pipes that lead to the silo.
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3
Leave the flour in the silo until is needed for shipment. The only openings to the silo should be the top manhole, where the flour entered the silo, and the bottom where the flour will exit the silo to be loaded onto the truck.
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4
Keep the flour cool and ventilated in the silo. In the summer, flour can get extremely hot and can be hard to work with if it goes directly to a bakery. Also keep the flour dry to prevent condensation from ruining the stored flour.
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5
Fill orders with the flour that is stored in the silo. Intermittently, you will fill trucks by releasing the flour through an exit hole in the bottom of the silo. Gravity and air pressure will help the flour load into the truck. It will take many orders to empty the silo of all the stored flour.
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Tips & Warnings
Wear goggles and masks when loading flour into a silo.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
