Silobau Thorwesten delivers pulverized ­lignite silo to Rheinkalk

In order to secure the fuel supply for the rotary kilns used for the production of quicklime in the Flandersbach plant, Rheinkalk GmbH has commissioned Silobau Thorwesten with the construction of a new silo installation in March 2015 (Fig. 1). The large-capacity silo has been put into operation according to schedule, after a planning and construction period of roughly one year.

In Europe’s largest lime plant, the four rotary kilns used for limestone refining have so far been heated with quicklime from two large-capacity silos. In order to secure the consistent fuel supply for the future, the company decided to install another storage and dosing system. Thus in March 2016 a third silo has been put into operation, equipped with the latest technology in regard to level measuring, filling, discharge, and explosion protection. The operating company Rheinkalk chose Silobau Thorwesten as their supplier, a company specialized in the field of silo building for potentially explosive materials. For instance the over 42 m tall silo has an explosion pressure shock resistant design and is equipped with ATEX-conform explosion vents and de-dusting filters from their associate company Thorwesten Vent, in order to guarantee maximum security while handling combustible pulverized coal.

The scope of supply for this 1100 m³ large-capacity silo also includes a discharging station for silo trucks which can convey the material pneumatically by rotary piston fan via the silo roof in very short time. A highly efficient dust collector guarantees a clean filling process. Furthermore the new silo has a modern, continuous weighing system with weighing cells and separately controllable fluidization devices on two silo outlets. These installations allow a failure-free feeding of combustible material into the dosing system. For the circulation operation there is also a duct protected by a shut-off valve.

Besides planning and delivery of the main and sub-systems of the new silo Silobau Thorwesten also took care of the design and erection of the entire steel constructions, as well as the integration of the components into the existing process chain. This way the company confirms its competence as a reliable system supplier in the field of ATEX-conform large-capacity silo installations.

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