How does a silo get filled?
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.
How did they fill old silos?
The still partly green stalks, ears and all, were cut in the field and hauled to the silo, where they were fed into an ensilage cutter and blower powered by a belt from a tractor. This machine cut the crop into small pieces and blew the pieces up a pipe and into the top of the silo.
Can you go inside a silo?
When filling or emptying silos, never allow people in or around them. Warning decals recognizable to children should be on silo filling equipment. Lockout the power supply on all unloading mechanisms. Serious injuries have occurred when someone was inside a silo and the unloader started.
How do you die in a silo?
Individuals can suffocate to death in a grain bin or silo when engulfed in grain while working or playing. The most common grain injuries and death occur by entrapment of sorghum, cottonseed, livestock feed and yellow corn. Usually, the worker becomes entrapped when loosening frozen or spoiled grain.
Why are silos tall and skinny?
The tall and skinny silos are so useful because it’s straightforward to get the grain in them, and it is easier to keep it spread evenly inside as well. Also, the amount of grain the cylinder-shaped silos hold is very significant which is why this is the most common silo shape.
Do grain silos explode?
Because grain dust particles are extremely small, there doesn’t have to be a lot of it for an explosion to happen. of surface area and that surface area being exposed to oxygen makes it extremely flammable.” Watch Jason Lindsey with Hooked on Science give a demonstration of why a grain bin explodes by clicking here.
Why are silos so dangerous?
Silo gas is formed through the natural fermentation process of chopped forages shortly after it is placed in the silo. However, this odorless and colorless gas is very dangerous because the gas displaces the silo’s oxygen, and in high concentrations, gives a person little warning that they are about to be overcome.
What happens if you fall in a silo?
Exposure to fumigants can cause permanent central nervous system damage, heart and vascular disease, and lung edema as well as cancer. These gases can also result in a worker passing out and falling into the grain and becoming engulfed, often resulting in death by suffocation.
Has anyone died in a silo?
Elsewhere, a German farmworker died after being buried up to his chest in corn, a crop grown there in large amounts only since the 1960s, while cleaning a silo in 2008. In 1997, a 14-year-old British student doing a work placement on a farm died after falling into wheat as it was being drained from a silo.
Why are farm silos so tall?
Why are grain silos tall when there could be ones that are a lot shorter. The tall and skinny silos are so useful because it’s straightforward to get the grain in them, and it is easier to keep it spread evenly inside as well.
What can you do with an old silo?
If you think it’s worth keeping, silos have been converted into really unique homes or multi-floor poultry houses (perhaps with a pigeon loft on the top floor?). You could demolish all but the lower 10-16 feet, roof it over, and convert it into a small barn.
Is flour highly flammable?
Under certain conditions, foods like flour are highly flammable and can result in fiery kitchen situations. Combustible foods are part of the reason why cooking is the leading cause of home fires in the United States, with one in eight households suffering from a fire each year.
How do silos catch on fire?
Silo fires occasionally can start from the outside, Hill said. These external blazes most frequently start in the chute from either a shorting-out electrical wire or from an adjacent barn fire. Dried material in the chute then can catch on fire and burn through one or more wooden silo doors.
What is the greatest danger in silos?
nitrogen dioxide gas
Silo gas is heavier than air and will displace oxygen. The greatest danger from nitrogen dioxide gas from silage is during the first 12 to 60 hours after filling. Do not enter the Silo for 4 to 6 weeks after filling stops. Ventilate the silo room adequately for at least two weeks after filling.
What happens if you fall into a silo?
