Digital Simulations for Silo Cleaning
When bulk solids flow stalls: why digital simulations hold the key to safe silo unblocking Bridging, ratholing, and material scaling: When material flow comes to a standstill in the bulk solids industry, expensive production downtimes and massive safety risks are inevitable. With its new, interactive Silo Blockage Simulator, NT Service GmbH is setting new standards in customer education, demonstrating how modern flow and blockage problems can be visually decoded – before the first technician even arrives on site.
In theory, silo physics are simple: bulk material is loaded at the top and flows out evenly at the bottom due to gravity (mass flow). In reality, however, everyday operations in the food, feed, construction, and chemical industries often look quite different. Fluctuations in moisture, electrostatic charges, or poor flow properties can transform stored material into an unpredictable medium.
When the discharge stops, plant managers and maintenance teams face a massive logistical and financial challenge. The problem: from the outside, it is usually…
