- News
- 50 years of FMA Ullrich Hot-Mix Storage Sytems.
17th June 2011 - FMA Ullrich has been building hot-mix storage-systems for Bituminous Road Construction for over 50 years. During this period, they have produced over 1800 Ullrich Silos for the European, Middle Eastern, Asian and African markets.
BG Europa (UK) Ltd have been the sole UK agents for FMA Ullrich since 2001 during which time they have supplied and installed silos as turnkey projects for national and independent producers. Many customers repeating orders for sites throughout the UK so capitalising on the increased production efficiency and improvements to customer service that hot storage can bring.
The range of stationary hot-mix storage systems allow customers to store asphalt either to expediently fulfill orders, temporarily store material when weather conditions prevent paving or to provide collect trade with rapid turn around. For major road projects considerable savings are made when the required number of vehicles is reduced by minimising truck waiting time.
Modern FMA skip systems are engineered to provide safe and reliable operation in line with advances in technology, in addition to traditional safety systems such as slack rope alarm; new systems feature innovations such as skip door position detection. Automatic skip-systems feature frequency controlled gear motors giving precise control of skip speed and positioning. This total control of the skip allows to it be smoothly accelerated along the track and then slowed as it approaches the required station, thus greatly reducing stresses on the winch and rope system. To promote operating efficiency the control system can monitor the mixing plant batching rate and reduce transit rate to that which ensures the skip returns to the mixer in time for the next batch, whilst reducing energy consumption.
The installation of a new skip winch system on existing storage facilities either with or without additional storage capacity can bring significant improvement in batch plant production capacity. Often batch plant output is dictated by the time taken for the skip to return to the mixer. Frequency control allows the skip to be accelerated to greater speeds and cycle times to be cut. Improvements in the order of 10% to plant production make expedient financial payback possible.
Hot mix storage silos are available in either square or round construction in a range of designs:
- Ullrich T systems are traditional inline silos designed to reduce transport and installation costs. Square bin sections are in container design and are insulated and clad at the factory for rapid site installation. T sections can also be conveniently added to existing storage systems to enhance hot storage capacity.
- The S systems include the S II square silos offering customers the opportunity to install hot storage in locations unsuitable for the traditional inline storage design. In many instances the additional flexibility of four bins can be installed in areas where only two bins were considered possible. The S II Square silo occupies an area of only 5m x 5.2m and offers total capacities of 160, 200, 260 and 320 tonnes, although other sizes can be specified. The four S bins are almost equal in size allowing maximum production flexibility, for example an S200 II features two bins at 47 ton and two bins at 53 ton capacities. Additionally the four bins discharge to a single truckway which can either be in line with, or perpendicular to the skip track. This together with the option to slightly skew the silo structure in relation to the track, allows the silo to be sited in compliance with the most challenging vehicle movement patterns.
- The H systems are a horizontal design offering maximum flexibility for large storage installations as all of the bins are of the same capacity. The bins are installed within a support structure in pairs for rapid site erection and loadcell loading flexibility. The XY horizontal skip on the silo top is supplied by the inclined skip in turn fed from the asphalt plant. The design of the horizontal skip allows it to move across the silos in the X and Y axis to accurately discharge to any bin before returning to station in time for the return of the inclined skip.
Automatic load out systems can either feature loadcell, transducer or weighbridge weighing providing accurately controlled and rapid vehicle loading. Multi position silo discharge doors allow small collect vehicles to be loaded whilst also ensuring materials with poor flow characteristics such as hot rolled asphalt can be reliably discharged. Loading accuracy for loadcell mounted silos are typically within 100kg of target weight and twenty ton vehicle loads can be discharged within 30 seconds.
A site survey by BG Europa will determine which of the FMA Ullrich range of storage silos will most meet the requirements of the customer. Following detailed drawing the outline of the silo can be marked out on site to allow the customer to manoeuvre vehicles and fine tune the layout. Once the silo is fabricated by FMA Ullrich it is installed by BGE with minimal disruption to plant operation.
Final commissioning is completed by BGE in conjunction with an FMA electrical engineer who tests the modem link and calibrates the loading system. Once operational the hot storage system is covered by a two year warranty and spare parts are stocked both in the UK and Germany for same day despatch.
