Common sense and digitisation

The company in question stores massive amounts of cement, sand, water, admixtures, and fly ash, which are moved by a fleet of hundreds of trucks. Tracking fly ash and concrete in silos, liquids in tanks, and sand and aggregates in piles requires major coordination and high-tech systems which digitally collect material levels and provide live data on cloudbased reports.

“We installed sensors on top of silos to measure bulk material levels for multiple locations,” said Nathan Grube, BinMaster regional VP. “This company handles massive projects. They coordinate material movements with drivers, plant operators, and construction coordinators on-site. When we showed them BinCloud on a phone and on a PC, they were excited.”

Subsequently, the company asked BinMaster to supply radar level sensors along with BinCloud software, to help facilitate the digital management of bulk material inventory.

Digital bulk inventory boosts profit

Soaring inflation, heavy competition, and the strain on the supply chain present challenges to the concrete industry. By digitising bulk material measurements in tank and silo companies can positively impact safety, planning, and profits.

According to a study by McKinsey & Co., the cement industry requires digitisation, sustainability, and resilience. The study stated that cement companies must achieve lower operating costs through higher energy efficiency, yield, and throughput.

Digitisation and sustainability efforts can help achieve this by boosting productivity at a typical cement operation and potentially see a gain of US$4 – 9/t of cement.

Level sensors reduce risk

Traditionally, measuring silos required employees to walk on-site, climb ladders, lift heavy access doors atop tall, windy vessels, and drop a tape measure. Therefore, every measurement opened the risk for three of the top 10 issues listed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 2023. In the US falls represented 7271 incidents, ladders: 2978, and falls from height: 2112.

Regarding the role technology can play in this, the McKinsey & Co. study claimed that it would mean fewer workers would be required to be on-site continuously, and interactive online dashboards could allow managers to remotely collaborate, solve problems, and quickly make informed decisions with the rest of the team.

Bulk material software optimises supply

Understanding material use over time is valuable for supply chain optimisation. Supplying two massive projects a hundred miles apart requires all involved concrete plants to collaborate. Which plant has enough material? Who has the capacity to take delivery of more sand? How often is resupply at each plant? Could purchasing managers leverage better pricing by knowing history and anticipating larger orders?

“We’ve been upgrading our BinCloud software to show a history of measurements and we even provide a trendline to help anticipate when materials will run out,” said Scott Hudson, BinMaster executive VP. “These tools help minimise carrying costs.”

Radar for dust and continuous measurement

While workers avoid exposure to concrete dust, radar technology can overcome the challenge of measuring silo levels through dust emissions. The construction company installed a series of BinMaster radars atop their silos. These were the NCR-86 radar which is a universal radar sensor for continuous level measurement of liquids and bulk solids.

Like most radar sensors it collects data and then moves it into the BinCloud which organises it into real-time monitoring, automated alerts via text, and historical reporting by material and location. Software can manage either a single site or hundreds of vessels and locations.

“Concrete companies need a uniform system. Something that works on a variety of bulk materials across all properties. This industry requires a variety of storage vessels, so we account for that as well,” Grube said. “The NCR-86 radar is very accurate at distances up to 393 ft. Material can get close to the sensor at the top of the silo and still be easily measured.”

Grube also commented that the radar can survive in a wide range of temperatures, tested from -40°C – +450°C, and pressures from -1 – 25 BAR. NCR-86 are 80 GHz frequency sensors and are virtually maintenance-free. They include rugged enclosures with encapsulated electronics to maintain durability in excessive conditions.

Capacitance probes handle point-level switching and alerts

For harsh storage conditions, BinMaster configured the system with capacitance probes to provide level alerts for high, mid, and low indication. Often installed on the side of a vessel, capacitance probes provide point-level detection in bins, silos, tanks, hoppers, chutes, and other storage vessels.

The probes, measuring the dielectric difference between air and material, alert when material stored in a vessel contacts the instrument. The switch is wired to an alarm, light, or control panel to alert of a high or low level, or to start or stop a process (like a conveyor).

Bulk material software receives data from the cloud

Ultimately, sensors feed data to a secure, cloud-based software called BinCloud which helps with batch control and waste reduction. It sends up-to-date tank readings or history to a phone or PC.

BinMaster helps operators to set up bulk material reports, and then operators can add alerts and notifications. Employees can sort measurement data by vessel, location, alert status, or material. Historical data, sorted by date ranges, can be downloaded, and help to identify trends and track material by site.

About the author

David Zelnio, SHRM-CP, is manager marketing communications, for BinMaster Level Controls in Lincoln, Nebraska, US. BinMaster sensors employ radar, capacitance, acoustic, laser and ultrasonic technology to measure bins, silos, and tanks, BinCloud sends measurement data to the cloud accessible by a phone or PC.

Read the article online at: https://www.drybulkmagazine.com/special-reports/29072024/common-sense-and-digitisation/