Many manufacturing, mining, construction and civil engineering companies across Australia need silos or mixing plants to conduct their daily operations, including mixing and dispensing cement, lime, base and paste mixtures for a variety of applications. Silos can come in a range of types, including mobile or fixed and horizontal or vertical.

Which one is best suited for your needs? It depends on factors like the environment the silo is operating in, volume needs, availability of cranes and personal preferences. If you’re looking for concrete batching equipment for sale, ensure you do your research so you know the different types of equipment available and what advantages they offer. Below we look at the difference between horizontal and vertical cement silos.

Vertical Silos

Vertical silos come in circular or orthogonal shapes. The main distinction with these silos is that they take up more sky space and can come with a customisable diverging funnel flow cone at the bottom to handle any type of load. Common materials used in the fabrication of vertical silos include stainless steel, concrete and carbon steel plates depending on the weather in your area.

Common features include:

  • Butterfly valves for material discharging
  • Safety valve for silo pressure control
  • Silo level blade indicator
  • Blowing plant with a nozzle to facilitate the exit of materials
  • Service platform with ladder, back guard and safety guard with immediate rest

These silos are great for directly feeding contents into mixer trucks, batching plants or industrial mixers. Vertical silos can be made with a higher capacity than horizontal silos. Today, most vertical silos can be made to be portable with a capacity of 50-70 tonnes. Fixed silos can hold up to 2000 tons. At Batchcrete, we offer a range of vertical telescopic silos to choose from as well as making them to order 26, 32 or 40 metres high.

Horizontal Silos

If you’re in a position where cranes can’t be used or are unavailable, anchoring is not possible, or you don’t have the sky space for a vertical silo, horizontal silos are a great option for storing and discharging cement, lime, fly-ash and other bulk material. They can also be made portable, allowing you to have a mobile concrete plant that is simple to set up, capable of being done in four hours without cranes or foots.

Mobile horizontal silos are often used for building sites or for roadwork and urban work operations, and they are easy and convenient to transport around. Horizontal silos can discharge materials through the cement auger. The entire system can be controlled with an electronic control panel and display system, making it easy to use. These silos have a standardised width which ensure they are familiar and easy to operate. Increases in storage volume result in height increases.

Tailored Mobile Concrete Plants and Equipment

If you’re looking for a portable cement silo for sale or would like to hire or lease concrete equipment, get in touch with the experienced team at Batchcrete in Perth. From mini concrete pump hire to screed mixer hire and much more, we understand the complex nature of the industry and provide concrete equipment to suit a variety of needs, with the option of tailor-built solutions. Call us today on 08 9463 5355 or contact us online for high quality, cost effective concrete supplies.