Silo

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Steel grain silos in Ralls, Texas, United States.

Grain elevators are composed of groups of grain silos
such as these at Port Giles, South Australia.

Silos in Acatlán, Hidalgo, Mexico.

A silo (from the Greek σιρός – siros, "pit for

holding grain") is a structure for storing bulk
materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store
grain (see grain elevators) or fermented feed
known as silage. Silos are commonly used for
bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon
black, woodchips, food products and sawdust.
Three types of silos are in widespread use
today: tower silos, bunker silos, and bag silos.

Types of silos

Tower silo …
Concrete stave silo under construction in 2015

Storage silos are cylindrical structures,

typically 10 to 90 ft (3 to 27 m) in diameter
and 30 to 275 ft (10 to 90 m) in height with the
slipform and Jumpform concrete silos being
the larger diameter and taller silos. They can
be made of many materials. Wood staves,
concrete staves, cast concrete, and steel panels
have all been used, and have varying cost,
durability, and airtightness tradeoffs. Silos
storing grain, cement and woodchips are
typically unloaded with air slides or augers.
Silos can be unloaded into rail cars, trucks or
conveyors.

Tower silos containing silage are usually

unloaded from the top of the pile, originally by
hand using a silage fork—which has many
more tines than the common pitchfork; 12 vs 4
—and in modern times using mechanical
unloaders. Bottom silo unloaders are utilized
at times, but have problems with difficulty of
repair.
An advantage of tower silos is that the silage
tends to pack well due to its own weight,
except in the top few feet. However, this may
be a disadvantage for items like chopped
wood. The tower silo was invented by Franklin
Hiram King.

In Canada, Australia and the United States,

many country towns or the larger farmers in
grain-growing areas have groups of wooden or
concrete tower silos, known as grain elevators,
to collect grain from the surrounding towns
and store and protect the grain for transport
by train, truck or barge to a processor or to an
export port. In bumper crop times, the excess
grain is stored in piles without silos or bins,
causing considerable losses.

Concrete stave silos …

High contrast image showing Small stave silos can be

the intermeshed concrete expanded upward. More
staves, and how the lower hoops are added to
hoops are aligned over the stave strengthen the lower
edges. staves.

Concrete stave silos are constructed from small

precast concrete blocks with ridged grooves
along each edge that lock them together into a
high strength shell. Concrete is much stronger
in compression than tension, so the silo is
reinforced with steel hoops encircling the
tower and compressing the staves into a tight
ring. The vertical stacks are held together by
intermeshing of the ends of the staves by a
short distance around the perimeter of each
layer, and hoops which are tightened directly
across the stave edges.

The static pressure of the material inside the

silo pressing outward on the staves increases
towards the bottom of the silo, so the hoops
can be spaced wide apart near the top but
become progressively more closely spaced
towards the bottom to prevent seams from
opening and the contents leaking out.

Concrete stave silos are built from common

components designed for high strength and
long life. They have the flexibility to have their
height increased according to the needs of the
farm and purchasing power of the farmer, or
to be completely disassembled and reinstalled
somewhere else if no longer needed.

Low-oxygen tower silos …

Low-oxygen Harvestore tower silos

Low-oxygen silos are designed to keep the

contents in a low-oxygen atmosphere at all
times, to keep the fermented contents in a high
quality state, and to prevent mold and decay,
as may occur in the top layers of a stave silo or
bunker. Low-oxygen silos are only opened
directly to the atmosphere during the initial
forage loading, and even the unloader chute is
sealed against air infiltration.

It would be expensive to design such a large

structure that is immune to atmospheric
pressure changes over time. Instead, the silo
structure is open to the atmosphere but
outside air is separated from internal air by
large impermeable bags sealed to the silo
breather openings. In the warmth of the day
when the silo is heated by the sun, the gas
trapped inside the silo expands and the bags
"breathe out" and collapse. At night the silo
cools, the air inside contracts and the bags
"breathe in" and expand again.
While the iconic blue Harvestore low-oxygen
silos were once very common, the speed of its
unloader mechanism was not able to match
the output rates of modern bunker silos, and
this type of silo went into decline. Unloader
repair expenses also severely hurt the
Harvestore reputation, because the unloader
feed mechanism is located in the bottom of the
silo under tons of silage. In the event of cutter
chain breakage, it can cost up to US$10,000 to
perform repairs. The silo may need to be
partially or completely emptied by alternate
means, to unbury the broken unloader and
retrieve broken components lost in the silage at
the bottom of the structure.
In 2005 the Harvestore company recognized
these issues and worked to develop new
unloaders with double the flow rate of
previous models to stay competitive with
bunkers, and with far greater unloader chain
strength. They are now also using load sensing
soft-start variable frequency drive motor
controllers to reduce the likelihood of
mechanism breakage, and to control the feeder
sweep arm movement.

Bunker silo being filled and compacted.

Bunker silos …

Bunker silos are trenches, usually with

concrete walls, that are filled and packed with
tractors and loaders. The filled trench is
covered with a plastic tarp to make it airtight.
These silos are usually unloaded with a tractor
and loader. They are inexpensive and
especially well suited to very large operations.

Bag silos …

8' di t b 150 f t il b h j t ft filli

8' diameter by 150 foot silo bag shown just after filling
and sealing.

Bag silos are heavy plastic tubes, usually

around 8 to 12 ft (2.4 to 3.6 m) in diameter,
and of variable length as required for the
amount of material to be stored. They are
packed using a machine made for the purpose,
and sealed on both ends. They are unloaded
using a tractor and loader or skid-steer loader.
The bag is discarded in sections as it is torn
off. Bag silos require little capital investment.
They can be used as a temporary measure
when growth or harvest conditions require
more space, though some farms use them
every year.
Bins …

This silo bin contains 27 variations of stone, sand and

gravel, Copenhagen, Denmark

A bin [1] is typically much shorter than a silo,

and is typically used for holding dry matter
such as cement or grain. Grain is often dried
in a grain dryer [2] before being stored in the
bin. Bins may be round or square, but round
bins tend to empty more easily due to a lack of
corners for the stored material to become
wedged and encrusted.

The stored material may be powdered, as seed

kernels, or as cob corn. Due to the dry nature
of the stored material, it tends to be lighter
than silage and can be more easily handled by
under-floor grain unloaders. To facilitate
drying after harvesting, some grain bins
contain a hollow perforated or screened
central shaft to permit easier air infiltration
into the stored grain.

Cement storage silos …

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Coal silo under construction using aluminum concrete
formwork

There are different types of cement silos such

as the low-level mobile silo and the static
upright cement silo, which are used to hold
and discharge cement and other powder
materials such as PFA (Pulverised Fuel Ash).
The low-level silos are fully mobile with
capacities from 100 to 750 tons. They are
simple to transport and are easy to set up on
site. These mobile silos generally come
equipped with an electronic weighing system
with digital display and printer. This allows
any quantity of cement or powder discharged
from the silo to be controlled and also provides
an accurate indication of what remains inside
the silo. The static upright silos have capacities
from 200 to 800 tons. These are considered a
low-maintenance option for the storage of
cement or other powders. Cement silos can be
used in conjunction with bin-fed batching
plants.

Sand and salt silos …

Sand and salt for winter road maintenance are
stored in conical dome-shaped (clear truss
roof) silos. These are more common in North
America, namely in Canada and the United
States. The shaped is based on natural shape
formed when piling solids.[3] The dome is
made of prefabricated wood panels with
singles installed on a circular reinforced
concrete base. Open canopy entrance allows
for front end loaders to fill and retrieve easily.
These are usually found along major highway
or key primary roads.

Fabric silos …
Fabric silos are constructed of a fabric bag
suspended within a rigid, structural frame.
Polyester based fabrics are often used for
fabrication of the bag material, with specific
attention given to fabric pore size. Upper areas
of silo fabric are often manufactured with
slightly larger pore size, with the design intent
of acting as a vent filter during silo filling.
Some designs include metal thread within the
fabric, providing a static conductive path from
the surface of the fabric to ground. The frame
of a fabric silo is typically constructed of steel.
Fabric silos are an attractive option because of
their relative low cost compared to
conventional silos. However, when fabric silos
are used to store granular or particulate
combustible materials, conventional practices
prescribed by established industry consensus
standards[4] addressing combustible dust
hazards can not be applied without a
considerable engineering analysis of the
system.

History

Ancient Greek vases shaped as grain silos, 700/650 BC,

Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, Athens.
Silo 3.5 miles southeast of Blooming Grove, Texas, built
ca. 1900 by F. B. Cumpston. Used mainly for corn.

Archaeological ruins and ancient texts show

that silos were used in ancient Greece as far
back as the late 8th century BC, as well as the
5th Millennium B.C site of Tel Tsaf in the
southern Levant. The term silo is derived from
the Greek σιρός (siros), "pit for holding
grain".[5][6][7]

The silo pit, as it has been termed, has been a

favorite way of storing grain from time
immemorial in Asia. In Turkey and Persia,
insurance agents bought stores wheat or barley
whilst comparatively cheap, and store it in
hidden pits against seasons of dearth. In Malta
a relatively large stock of wheat was preserved
in some hundreds of pits (silos) cut in the rock.
A single silo stored from 60 to 80 tons of
wheat, which, with proper precautions, kept in
good condition for four years or more.[8]

The first modern silo, a wooden and upright

one filled with grain, was invented and built in
1873 by Fred Hatch of McHenry County,
Illinois, USA.[9][10]

Forage silo usage

Forage harvesting …

320x240 200kbit/s video of a PTO-driven towed New

Holland forage harvester, John Deere 4020 tractor, and
Gehl forage wagon. See also: High detail 600kbit/s
640x480

Forage silo filling is performed using a forage

harvester which may either be self-propelled
with an engine and driver's cab, or towed
behind a tractor that supplies power through a
PTO.

The harvester contains a drum-shaped series

of cutting knives which shear the fibrous plant
material into small pieces no more than an
inch long, to facilitate mechanized blowing
and transport via augers. The finely chopped
plant material is then blown by the harvester
into a forage wagon which contains an
automatic unloading system.

Tower filling …
Short video of the steps involved for filling a farm tower
silo, with English captions. 4 min 15 sec 320x240 30fps
200 kbit Low quality, see also:
320x240 400 kbit Low quality
640x480 600 kbit Medium quality
640x480 1200 kbit High quality

Tower forage filling is typically performed with

a silo blower which is a very large fan with
paddle-shaped blades. Material is fed into a
vibrating hopper and is pushed into the blower
using a spinning spiral auger.
There is commonly a water connection on the
blower to add moisture to the plant matter
being blown into the silo. The blower may be
driven by an electric motor but it is more
common to use a spare tractor instead.

A large slow-moving conveyor chain

underneath the silage in the forage wagon
moves the pile towards the front, where rows
of rotating teeth break up the pile and drop it
onto a high-speed transverse conveyor that
pours the silage out the side of the wagon into
the blower hopper.

Bag filling …
Silo bags are filled using a traveling sled driven
from the PTO of a tractor left in neutral and
which is gradually pushed forward as the bag
is filled. The steering of the tractor controls the
direction of bag placement as it fills, but bags
are normally laid in a straight line.

The bag is loaded using the same forage

harvesting methods as the tower, but the
forage wagon must be moved progressively
forward with the bag loader. The loader uses
an array of rotating cam-shaped spiraled teeth
associated with a large comb-shaped tines to
push forage into the bag. The forage is pushed
in through a large opening, and as the teeth
rotate back out, they pass between the comb
tines. The cam-shaped auger teeth essentially
wipe the forage off using the steel tines,
keeping the forage in the bag.

Before filling begins, the entire bag is placed

onto the loader as a bunched-up tube folded
back on itself in many layers to form a thick
pile of plastic. Because the plastic is minimally
elastic, the loader mechanism filling chute is
slightly smaller than the final size of the bag, to
accommodate this stack of plastic around the
mouth of the loader. The plastic slowly unfurls
itself around the edges of the loader as the
tube is filled.
The contents of the silo bag are under pressure
as it is filled, with the pressure controlled by a
large brake shoe pressure regulator, holding
back two large winch drums on either side of
the loader. Cables from the drum extend to
the rear of the bag where a large mesh basket
holds the rear end of the bag shut.

To prevent molding and to assure an airtight

seal during fermentation, the ends of the silo
bag tube are gathered, folded, and tied shut to
prevent oxygen from entering the bag.
Removal of the bag loader can be hazardous
to bystanders since the pressure must be
released and the rear end allowed to collapse
onto the ground.
Tower unloading …
View of silo unloader doors, Interior view of silo
silage drop tube, and paddle unloader conveyor
conveyor leading into barn. paddles and drive chain.

View of doors under shroud. View of the silo unloader

Due to the limited space, the drop chute inserted into
door hinge frame is also the the very top of the silage
ladder. On the right is the drop tube 60ft up. The
unloader power cable and tube is illuminated by light
yellow silage drop tube with entering through fiberglass
removable access doors for
insertion of the silage drop panels every 20ft along the
spout. outer steel shroud.

50 amp, 250 volt unloader

Electric winch for raising and
power socket, with shroud
lowering silo unloader.
to keep out debris.

A silo unloader specifically refers to a special

cylindrical rotating forage pickup device used
inside a single tower silo.
The main operating component of the silo
unloader is suspended in the silo from a steel
cable on a pulley that is mounted in the top-
center of the roof of the silo. The vertical
positioning of the unloader is controlled by an
electric winch on the exterior of the silo.

For the summer filling of a tower silo, the

unloader is winched as high as possible to the
top of the silo and put into a parking position.
The silo is filled with a silo blower, which is
literally a very large fan that blows a large
volume of pressurized air up a 10-inch tube on
the side of the silo. A small amount of water is
introduced into the air stream during filling to
help lubricate the filling tube. A small
adjustable nozzle at the top, controlled by a
handle at the base of the silo directs the silage
to fall into the silo on the near, middle, or far
side, to facilitate evenly layered loading. Once
completely filled, the top of the exposed silage
pile is covered with a large heavy sheet of silo
plastic which seals out oxygen and permits the
entire pile to begin to ferment in the autumn.

In the winter when animals must be kept

indoors, the silo plastic is removed, the
unloader is lowered down onto the top of the
silage pile, and a hinged door is opened on the
side of the silo to permit the silage to be blown
out. There is an array of these access doors
arranged vertically up the side of the silo, with
an unloading tube next to the doors that has a
series of removable covers down the side of the
tube. The unloader tube and access doors are
normally covered with a large U-shaped shield
mounted on the silo, to protect the farmer
from wind, snow, and rain while working on
the silo.

The silo unloader mechanism consists of a pair

of counter-rotating toothed augers which rip
up the surface of the silage and pull it towards
the center of the unloader. The toothed augers
rotate in a circle around the center hub, evenly
chewing the silage off the surface of the pile. In
the center, a large blower assembly picks up
the silage and blows it out the silo door, where
the silage falls by gravity down the unloader
tube to the bottom of the silo, typically into an
automated conveyor system.

The unloader is typically lowered only a half-

inch or so at a time by the operator, and the
unloader picks up only a small amount of
material until the winch cable has become
taut and the unloader is not picking up any
more material. The operator then lowers the
unloader another half-inch or so and the
process repeats. If lowered too far, the
unloader can pull up much more material
than it can handle, which can overflow and
plug up the blower, outlet spout, and the
unloader tube, resulting in a time-wasting
process of having to climb up the silo to clear
the blockages.

Once silage has entered the conveyor system,

it can be handled by either manual or
automatic distribution systems. The simplest
manual distribution system uses a sliding metal
platform under the pickup channel. When slid
open, the forage drops through the open hole
and down a chute into a wagon, wheelbarrow,
or open pile. When closed, the forage
continues past the opening and onward to
other parts of the conveyor. Computer
automation and a conveyor running the length
of a feeding stall can permit the silage to be
automatically dropped from above to each
animal, with the amount dispensed customized
for each location.

Safety

Defunct silo in Merrinee, Victoria, Australia.

A grain silo in Nebraska, June 2015

Silos are hazardous, and people are killed or
injured every year in the process of filling and
maintaining them.[11] The machinery used is
dangerous and with tower silos workers can fall
from the silo's ladder or work platform.
Several fires have occurred over the years.

Dangers of loading process …

Filling a silo requires parking two tractors very

close to each other, both running at full power
and with live PTO shafts, one powering the
silo blower and the other powering a forage
wagon unloading fresh-cut forage into the
blower. The farmer must continually move
around in this highly hazardous environment
of spinning shafts and high-speed conveyors to
check material flows and adjust speeds, and to
start and stop all the equipment between
loads.

Preparation for filling a silo requires winching

the unloader to the top, and any remaining
forage at the base that the unloader could not
pick up must be removed from the floor of the
silo. This job requires that the farmer work
directly underneath a machine weighing
several tons suspended fifty feet or more
overhead from a small steel cable. Should the
unloader fall, the farmer will likely be killed
instantly.
Dangers of unloading process …

Unloading also poses its own special hazards,

due to the requirement that the farmer
regularly climb the silo to close an upper door
and open a lower door, moving the unloader
chute from door to door in the process. The
fermentation of the silage produces methane
gas which over time will outgas and displace
the oxygen in the top of the silo. A farmer
directly entering a silo without any other
precautions can be asphyxiated by the
methane, knocked unconscious, and silently
suffocate to death before anyone else knows
what has happened. It is either necessary to
leave the silo blower attached to the silo at all
times to use it when necessary to ventilate the
silo with fresh air, or to have a dedicated
electric fan system to blow fresh air into the
silo, before anyone attempts to enter it.

In the event that the unloader mechanism

becomes plugged, the farmer must climb the
silo and directly stand on the unloader,
reaching into the blower spout to dig out the
soft silage. After clearing a plug, the forage
needs to be forked out into an even layer
around the unloader so that the unloader does
not immediately dig into the pile and plug
itself again. All during this process the farmer
is standing on or near a machine that could
easily kill them in seconds if it were to
accidentally start up. This could happen if
someone in the barn were to unknowingly
switch on the unloading mechanism while
someone is in the silo working on the unloader.

Often, when unloading grain from an auger or

other opening at the bottom of the silo,
another worker will be atop the grain "walking
it down", to ensure an even flow of grain out of
the silo. Sometimes unstable pockets in the
grain will collapse beneath the worker doing
the walking; this is called grain entrapment as
the worker can be completely sunk into the
grain within seconds. Entrapment can also
occur in moving grain, or when workers clear
large clumps of grain that have become stuck
on the side of the silo. This often results in
death by suffocation.

Dry-material / bin hazards …

There have also been many cases of silos and

the associated ducts and buildings exploding.
If the air inside becomes laden with finely
granulated particles, such as grain dust, a
spark can trigger an explosion powerful
enough to blow a concrete silo and adjacent
buildings apart, usually setting the adjacent
grain and building on fire. Sparks are often
caused by (metal) rubbing against metal ducts;
or due to static electricity produced by dust
moving along the ducts when extra dry.
The two main problems which will necessitate
silo cleaning in dry-matter silos and bins are
bridging and rat-holing. Bridging occurs when
the material interlaces over the unloading
mechanism at the base of the silo and blocks
the flow of stored material by gravity into the
unloading system. Rat-holing occurs when the
material starts to adhere to the side of the silo.
This will reduce the operating capacity of a
silo as well as leading to cross-contamination
of newer material with older material. There
are a number of ways to clean a silo and many
of these carry their own risks. However, since
the early 1990s acoustic cleaners have become
available. These are non-invasive, have
minimum risk, and can offer a very cost-
effective way to keep a small particle silo clean.

Notable silos

The Swissmill Tower in Zürich (Switzerland) is the world

highest silo.

Henninger Turm, Frankfurt, Germany,

before demolition in 2013, had an
observation deck and 2 revolving
restaurants, height: 120 metres
Swissmill Tower, Zürich,
Switzerland,height: 118 metres, the world
highest silo in activity.
Schapfen-Mill-Tower, Ulm, Germany,
height: 115 metres
Silo Tower Basel, Basel, Switzerland, has an
observation deck, height: 52 metres
Quaker Square, Akron, Ohio, United
States, is a former set of tower silos that is
now a hotel, restaurants and shops
Dagon, Haifa, Israel - transformed into a
museum of agriculture, a prominent local
feature.
Three types of wheat silos, Delungra, New South Wales.

Silo art

Brim Silo Art project (2015) in Brim, Victoria, by

Australian artist Guido van Helten

Silo Art is a recent and distinctly Australian

art movement which began in Northam,
Western Australia in 2015. Silos are usually
decorated with huge mural-type paintings
with many themes. The Australian Silo Art
Trail shows 35 examples of silo art as of 2020,
with numbers growing.[12] In South Australia,
old water towers have also been decorated in
many regional centres.[13]

In Melbourne, a huge painting of New

Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
embracing a Muslim woman, an iconic image
beamed around the world after the 2019
Christchurch mosque attacks, was painted on
the 75-foot (23 m) Tinning Street silo in the
suburb of Brunswick, after A$11,000 was
raised in a day via crowdfunding.[14]
The town of Monto in the North Burnett
Region of Queensland has been put on the
tourism map as the most northerly silo art
installation in Australia. Its "Three Moons"
silos depict several stories of the past, including
the era of gold mining, cattle mustering and
The Dreamtime. It also has a mural on an old
water tower.[15]

See also
Granary
Grain elevator
Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage
Area
References
1. http://www.grainsystems.com/farm/stora
ge/farmgrainbins.php
2. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-
grain-dryer.htm
3. http://dome-corp-na.com/buildings/bulk-
storage-domes-and-barrel-buildings/
4. NFPA 654
5. Dwayne R. Buxton, Silage science and
technology, American Society of
Agronomy, Inc., 2003, p.1
6. William Shurtleff, Akiko Aoyagi, History
of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Canada
(1831–2010) , Soyinfo Center, 2010, p.36
 7. σιρός , Henry George Liddell, Robert
Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on
Perseus
8.  One or more of the preceding
sentences incorporates text from a
publication now in the public
domain: Zimmer, George Frederick
(1911). "Granaries". In Chisholm, Hugh
(ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 (11th
ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 336.
9. Eric Sloane's An age of barns . MBI
Publishing Company.
10. Lost Farms of McHenry County .
Arcadia Publishing.
11. Graham, Judith (2011-03-08). "Drowned
in corn: Grain bin deaths hit record" .
Chicago Tribune.
12. "Australia's Ultimate Road Trip" .
Australian Silo Art Trail. 29 January
2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
13. Schneider, Grace (3 May 2018). "The
Ultimate Guide To South Australia's
Regional Silo Art (& More!)" . Glam
Adelaide. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
14. Noonan, Andie (23 April 2019).
" 'Beacon of tolerance': Jacinda Ardern
mural set for silo in Melbourne suburb" .
ABC News. Australian Broadcasting
Corporation. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
 15. Marie, Johanna (14 July 2020).
"Queensland town of Monto using silo
art to draw tourists and tell stories about
its heritage" . ABC News (ABC Wide
Bay). Australian Broadcasting
Corporation. Retrieved 16 July 2020.

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International Silo Association

What To Do In Case Of Grain Bin
Entrapment , from the U.S. National
Agricultural Safety Database
Beedle, Peggy Lee. "Silos: an agricultural
success story" , University of Wisconsin-
Extension: 2001, G3660-4.
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