Grain Journal
Grain Journal spoke recently with Scott Hudson, BinMaster executive vice president of sales and marketing, about the company’s new products and what’s hot in the industry today.
IPP&T
“Real-time management of expensive resins helps ensure a continuous supply of raw materials for our operation that runs 24/7,” according to Dan Hurtz, plastics manager for Garner Industries. Read how Garner found the perfect solution right under their own roof with BinMaster inventory management systems.
Grain Journal
To stay competitive, Midwest Farmers Cooperative set out to build a shuttle train loading terminal on the outskirts of Syracuse, NE. See how they accomplished this 2.75-million-bushel concrete and steel grain elevator with adjacent fertilizer plant when faced with space challenges.
Grain Journal
At family-owned Doon Elevator Co., a single-location grain and feed company in Doon, IA, rapid growth in livestock numbers meant needing to expand feed production capacity. By provisioning level controls, BinMaster is proud to be part of keeping this vital grain and feed company up to speed.
Nebraska Farmer
Innovative scanning technology uses 3D mapping to allow you to check out the landscape of your grain bin, alerting to potential storage problems and allowing you to plan safe grain removal options.
Powder and Bulk Engineering
A plastics molding company installs a level-measurement system to track its raw material inventory. Garner Industries is also manufacturer of the BinMaster line of level measurement sensors and inventory management systems. Garner’s molding customers can manage their resin inventory remotely from a PC, tablet, or phone for real-time monitoring.
Detect the Tiniest Trickle of Flow to Prevent Cross Contamination or Comply with FSMA
The affordable single-piece Flow Detect 2000 is a flow/no flow detector that houses the sensing element, power and output connections, and user adjustment controls in a single NEMA 4X enclosure. This compact sensor helps prevent cross contamination by ensuring flow has stopped before a new material is introduced into the flow stream. It is ideal for detecting flow conditions of solids and powders in gravity chutes, feeders, pipelines, conveyor belts, or bucket elevators.
Grain storage facilities and millers find non-contact level sensors attractive for a number of reasons. Today’s most popular non-contact technologies in the grain industry are 3D scanners, radar, and lasers. The sensor that might be best for your application is determined by many factors including the material being measured, the amount of dust in the environment, the size of the bin, and the desired inventory accuracy.
Grain Journal
BinMaster's Flow Detect 2000 flow detector, a flow/no flow sensor that houses both its remote sensor and control console in a single NEMA 4X enclosure, was the perfect solution to a feed manufacturer's concern about preventing the introduction of incorrect addtives into its feed formulations. See how this recently updated, single-piece flow detector is serving as a preventive control and ensuring compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
Today’s most popular non-contact technologies are laser, radar, and 3D scanners. The sensor that might be best for your application is determined by a number of factors including the material being measured, the amount of dust in the environment, the size of the silo, and the desired inventory accuracy. Communications options for getting your needed data can also vary as well as the price of the sensor, its mounting, wiring, and installation costs.
Non-contact level sensors provide many benefits to the cement producer. These level measurement devices use 3D scanners, laser or radar technologies to ensure accurate monitoring of product levels. BinMaster compares the different technologies.
Inventory Management Using Multiple Point Measurement
Canadian Process Equipment & Control News
Many devices are available on the market today for detecting the level of materials in bins, tanks and silos. However, for calculating what’s in inventory sometimes level data just isn’t enough. 3DLevelScanners process multiple measuring points combined with a silo’s parameters to provide a highly accurate volume estimate without the pitfalls, or dangers, of other measurement devices.
The New Chisholm Trail: Oklahoma Coop and Two Marketing Groups Build a Rail Terminal
Grain Journal
Learn more about the new Chisholm Trail Terminal outside of Medford, OK. It is operated by Farmers Grain Co. and features 1.5 million bushels of upright storage and has 60,000 bph of receiving and loadout capacity. There are also two big tanks 72 feet in diameter and 140 feet tall equipped with BinMaster rotary level indicators to alert when these tanks are almost full.
GEAPS
BinMaster's marketing department strives to understand their customers better and to improve communication with them. Learn more about Jenny Christensen, the current Vice President of Marketing for BinMaster Level Controls in Lincoln, Nebraska.
BinMaster's sales team is here to help you select the right measuring solutions for your bins, tanks, or silos. Learn more about the people who help customers at BinMaster ... where they're from, where they have worked, and even their hobbies and favorite teams.What they all have in common is expertise in bin level measurement, inventory management, flow and dust detection, and grain temperature and moisture monitoring.
Grain Journal
Cooperative Supply's new annex was built adjacent to its flat storage to accommodate the fall harvest of soybeans. The new concrete storage silo holds 350,000 bushels of soybeans and is outfitted with a BinMaster level indicator. By quadrupling soybean storage capacity, this new facility eliminates much of the bottleneck that occurs during harvest making it possible for the soybeans to be handled at a much higher speed.
New 800,000-Bushel River Terminal for Louis Dreyfus Company
Grain Journal
This new barge loading facility features four 77,000-bushel concrete grain silos and a 500,000-bushel corrugated steel silo using BinMaster point level indicators.Barge-loading terminals are usually built close to a waterway, but Louis Dreyfus Company’s new 800,000-bushel river terminal is located closer to the railway and more than half a mile away from the river. Grain is sent via covered belt conveyor out to moored grain barges on the river. This new approach improves access to rail service and lessens the posibility of the facility being flooded.
Food Processing Plant Design E-handbook
It seems for the past decade everything has been going 3D – 3D movies, 3D printers, and 3D video games. Even a level sensor now can see in 3D. What do all these 3D advances have in common? They enhance the user experience, make life more exciting, and in the case of 3D level sensors – your inventory far more accurate. Now food processors can get silo levels in 3D.
Today’s manufacturing operations are increasingly automated and more sophisticated. As the needs of the industry have changed, manufacturers of bin level indicators have responded with new solutions to address those demands. These solutions start by determining the sensor needs and applying the right sensor for the material and vessel. These solutions continue by deciding how to manage the data gathered. BinMaster can provide that data communication technology as well as anything from simple switches and rotaries, to advanced non-contact sensors.
Peco Foods, a major poultry producer, has just finished building a processing complex in Pocahontas, Arkansas. An elevator and feed mill (located in nearby Corning) has also been constructed to complement the processing plant in northeast Arkansas. The new elevator houses three slipform concrete tanks holding 650,000 bushels each, a wet tank holding 90,000 bushels, and an 80,000-bushel grinding tank over the hammermills. The flat-bottom tanks are outfitted with 16-cable Rolfes@Boone grain temperature monitoring systems, and BinMaster capacitance probes and diaphragm switch level indicators.
Heritage Cooperative's Progressive Approach to Living with Wetlands
Grain Journal
New Heritage Cooperative 1.5-million-bushel rail terminal outside of Marysville, OH went on-line in January 2016. The terminal’s 12,000-plus feet of rail track has been laid out to avoid disturbing wetlands on the 277-acre site. The site includes a loop track, a grain elevator outfitted with BinMaster level controls, as well as a 30,000-ton dry fertilizer and 2-million-gallon liquid fertilizer facility.
Grain Journal
In 2013, United Grain Corporation (UGC) opened three identical 1-million-bushel rail terminals across the Northern Plains on the Burlington Northern Sante Fe (BNSF) main line in Conrad and Culbertson, MT and Bucyrus, ND to improve grain originations in the area and support the company’s Vancouver, WA export terminal. (See the January/February 2014 issue of Grain Journal.)
Milling & Grain
Bin level indicators have been around for decades. From simple switches and rotaries, to advanced non-contact sensors, there’s no shortage of technologies to choose from. But there’s more to bin levels than just the sensor. Today’s grain and milling operations are increasingly automated with more sophisticated and complex systems. Plus, with increased consolidation and a global grain economy the needs of the industry have changed … and manufacturers of bin level indicators have responded with new solutions to address those demands
Many devices are available on the market today for detecting the level of materials in bins, tanks and silos. However, for calculating what’s in inventory sometimes level data just isn’t enough. To estimate the amount of material on hand and the dollar value of that inventory, a single measurement point might not contain enough data to provide the accuracy needed. Due to their tendency to form irregular topography in the silo, this can be especially true in powders because most don’t tend to flow freely. If inventory volume is based upon a single measurement from a single point in the silo, the volume estimate has the potential of being very inaccurate.
International Cement Review
Prioritising staff safety, a US cement works installed a level scanner to monitor bin levels in its clinker storage silo. This eliminated the need to manually measure the height of the material in the silo and thus minimised the risk of staff injury. The chosen 3D level scanner is particularly suited to the dusty and challenging environment.
Illinois Grain Handler Builds a New Mill using BinMaster Sensors
Grain Journal
Dearwester Grain Services Inc. and Nutrition Services Inc. are both run with Matt Dearwester as president and CEO near Carthage, IL. After reaching capacity at his Nutrition Services operation, Dearwester decided to construct a new facility, including a mill operated by Nutrition Services and a 1.26-million-bushel elevator operated by Dearwester Services. Each tank is equipped with BinMaster SmartBob level controls to monitor inventory.
A Farmers cooperative Elevator based out of Hemingford, NE has recently completed two major projects, including a new 620,000-bushel elevator and adding 1 million bushels of storage at their main location. The large concrete silos constructed at Hemingford are 76 feet in diameter and 134 feet tall. BinMaster level controls were installed to monitor the inventory levels of stored materials.
Mid Kansas Cooperative built a new county elevator that features three concrete storage tanks 64 feet in diamter and 128 feet tall. These tanks are equipped with BinMaster level controls to monitor the contents and avoid conditions of overfill.
Milling and Grain
Cable-based sensors help optimize storage space which is all important in the grain industry. Sensors for monitoring the level of grain in bins can provide an efficient way of measuring grain and often reduces the labor involved.
Cobb-Vantress, Inc. constructed a new feed mill to service two Cobb-Vantress parent chick hatery complexes in Kentucky and Tennessee. The facility, just outside of Albany, KY, utilizes BinMaster level control systems to ensure efficient operation and inventory management.
Aurora Cooperative and CHS begin operations in their new 5-million-bushel rail terminal east of Superior, NE. The elevator facility is designed to meet the current and future demands of farmers in south central Nebraska and north central Kansas. BinMaster SmartBob level indicators are used to manage inventory.
Company Profile: Garner Industries, Inc./BinMaster
Grain Journal
Garner Industries, Inc./ BinMaster provide personalized customer service and custom-made products to match the needs of customers. Robert Nieminen discusses the company's growth over 60 years with president and CEO Scott McLain.
Cargill Pork has opened a new feed mill outside Hedrick, IA and has expanded its pork processing plant in Ottumwa, IA. Younglove Construction LLC of Sioux City, IA was hired to construct the facility. Both feed ingredient and whole grain storage are included inside finished mill's slip. BinMaster's level indicators were installed to help monitor inventory.
MKC increases storage in central Kansas by building a new rail loader. Vigen Construction Inc. built a 1.1-million-bushel concrete grain elevator equipped with KanalSystem floors with center sumps for air-assisted unloading. Each tank also has three grain temperature cables and BinMaster level indicators.
Grain Journal
Cornerstone Ag LLC of Colby, Kansas has moved its fall crop handling so that it is closer to the rail terminals and has added about 1.2 million bushels of upright storage - complete with BinMaster level sensors - at the venture’s main elevator to handle fall crop. The new storage includes a new 700,000 bushel jumpform concrete tank and two smaller jumpform tanks. Tlhey were built by HABCO Inc. and McPherson Concrete Storage Systems, Inc.
Grain Flo Inc.built a pair of 700,000-bushel tanks outfitted with BinMaster level controls for the Farmers Cooperative Association in Varna, Illinois providing the coop more storage to better time the market.
"Plumb Bob" Grain Bin Level Sends Info To Smartphone
Farm Show
SmartBob sensors work by dropping a cable with a weighted probe to the grain surface in the bin. When the probe comes into contact with the grain, it automatically retracts and sends a measurement that can be accessed from your personal computer or Smartphone.
Chemical Processing Powder eHandbook
Inventory management is all about inventory and controlling its related costs. Your job is to determine how much material you have on hand and when you need more so that you don’t run out. Fortunately, BinMaster provides many devices to help make your inventory more accurate and your job easier.
Grain and milling operations have many challenges at hand when it comes to measuring the level in bins. It’s likely that a single operation is home to bins of various construction (concrete or steel), an assortment of sizes, and a variety of materials to measure – some granular, some powder, some free-flowing and some prone to dust and buildup.
When Lincoln Supply LLC built a 400,000-tpy feed mill in 2008 just off the Interstate 35 exit at Ellsworth, IA, the idea was to serve the rapidly growing turkey industry in central Iowa. The growth never stopped. With everincreasing demand for pelleted feeds from both poultry and swine producers within a 100-mile radius, Lincoln Supply, a joint venture between local agricultural investors and Ag Partners LLC, decided it needed to double production by building a second slipform concrete mill tower next door to the first.
Jerry Schrage took over the operation of Central Valley Ag’s branch elevator at Petersburg, NE (402-386-5483), in 2007 after working as a mechanic at a John Deere dealership in nearby Albion, NE. For the last five years of that time, he’s been lobbying the cooperative board for an expansion at its 800,000-bushel Petersburg location.
As the 2014 harvest got underway in northwest Indiana, Co-Alliance, LLP was anticipating a normal, if busy, season at its 3.1-million-bushel branch elevator in Union Mills, IN (219-767-2251). That wasn’t the case a little over a year ago, after an explosion ripped through the headhouse atop the 1968 slipform concrete workhouse at Union Mills. No cause was ever determined for the blast that occurred June 24, 2013. The explosion destroyed two inside legs and a manlift.
Powder Bulk Engineering
Using a continuous level sensor to monitor the material level in your storage vessel can help you keep material flowing smoothly and prevent costly process interruptions. Read more if you want know how to choose a continuous level sensor without having to wade through volumes of technical data.
Grain Journal
In 2012, Ray Carroll purchased an 100-acre site north of Corder, MO to build a concrete and steel storage facility with a 8,700-foot loop track. Today the new shuttle rail-loading facility can store up to 4.44 million bushels of grain with receiving capacity of 60,000 bph and shipping capacity of 80,000 bph. Since the facility is located on Kansas City Southern's main line, grain can easily be shipped to Oklahoma and Arkansas, as well as Mexico.
It used to be that the coal tonnage sitting at a facility’s silos was, at best, known only by human estimation or, at worst, a near mystery. Short of constructing transparent storage vessels, the only way to truly know where a site’s inventory stood was to send someone to check it — often. Over time, technology emerged that allowed a slightly better way to pinpoint things, but not by much; there are several point-level devices available today that send an alert to the control room, but only when levels reached pre-set levels. While an affordable and safer option, it is a bit of a reactive solution; if an overfill is nearing or has occurred, the headache of rectifying the situation can be reminiscent of a terrible nightmare.
Tank Level Measurement Options for Powders & Solids
Processing Industry Informer
So, your job is to figure out just how much material you have on hand, when you need more, and don’t you dare run out. Simple in theory, not quite so easy when you are running multiple production lines or asked for month-end inventory in about an hour. BinMaster provides devices that can help make your inventory more accurate and your job easier.
Eastern Washington, with its steeply rolling hills, is known primarily as wheat country. However, near the center of the state, the land flattens out, plenty of irrigation water is available from the Columbia River, and the soil becomes suitable for corn production. Connell Grain Growers, a division of CHS, wanted to capture some of that production. “This is a corn deficit region,” says General Manager Scott Althoff, who joined Connell 2-1/2 years ago after running the Maple River Grain complex in Casselton, ND. “A lot of it is shipped in from out of state. Most of the corn grown here goes to local dairies and feedlots.”
Grain Journal
In 2013 the Cooperative Agricultural Producers Inc., (Rosalia, WA) and Pacific Northwest Farmers Cooperative, (Genesee, ID) formed the McCoy Grain Terminal LLC at McCoy, WA. The purpose of this 1.3-million bushel rail terminal was to ship wheat to the Snake River and then to Pacific Northwest export terminals. The newly constructed terminal has started loading wheat into railcars for export, and the facility is expected to add an additional 2.6 million bushels worth of covered ground storage.
Processing
For any means to the monitoring of bin, tank or silo inventories, a first question invariably asked is, “How accurate is it?” Unfortunately, it’s a loaded question. It can’t be answered easily. But here’s a discussion about why it’s a tough question, and what can be expected from a level-monitoring system. First to consider is the type of device used. Bobs, guided-wave radar, open-air radar and ultrasonic level sensors are the common currency. What's common is a measurement taken from a single point in the vessel. Installed properly any can be expected to perform to stated measurement accuracy.
Located on the west bank of the Mississippi River at mile marker 229, the Louis Dreyfus Commodities export terminal located at Port Allen, LA (855-524-7246 ), is as far up the river as you can take a Panamax vessel. Allowing a 45-foot draft, it is an ideal spot for the company to load corn, soybeans, hard red and soft red winter wheat, and distillers dried grains brought in by truck, rail, and barge.
BinMaster es una empresa certificada por ISO 9001:2008 que diseña y fabrica indicadores de nivel continuos confiables de estado sólido y sistemas de gestión de inventarios usados al almacenar o procesar polvos, gránulos, y materiales sólidos sueltos tales como el polvo de alúmina, arena, áridos, piedra, roca y minerales.
Grain Journal
Express Grain Terminals LLC first built a rail loading grain terminal near Sidon, Mississippi in 2007 to store fall crops in the Mississippi Delta area. To accomodate the expanding demand for grain storage, Express Grain has added more than 1.5 million bushels worth of upright corrugated steel storage, plus a new 10,000-bph grain dryer to the Sidon, MIssissippi location. In addition, the company has added a pair of 54,000-bph steel hopper tanks to serve as short-term storage for wet corn and sorghum. When it comes to tracking grain bin levels, BinMaster levels sensors automate the task.
Many devices are available on the market today for detecting the level of materials in bins, tanks and silos. However, for calculating what’s in inventory sometimes level data just isn’t enough. To estimate the amount of material on hand and the dollar value of that inventory, a single measurement point might not contain enough data to provide the accuracy needed. Due to their tendency to form irregular topography in the silo, this can be especially true in powders because most don’t tend to flow freely. If inventory volume is based upon a single measurement from a single point in the silo, the volume estimate has the potential of being very inaccurate.
Non-Contact Technology for Accurately Measuring Volume in Bins, Tanks and Silos
Food Processing Ehandbook
If your operation requires storing materials in bins, tanks or silos containing ingredients, finished goods, or waste materials, chances are monitoring the inventory in those bins is important to continuous manufacturing operations and timely replenishment activities.
Frenchman Valley Farmers Cooperative Shifts Markets
Grain Journal
When the Frenchman Valley Farmers Cooperative looked to expand beyond local truck markets, a new rail shuttle-loading terminal with an 8,800-foot loop track, along with the use of BinMaster level sensors, gave the 22-location cooperative that ability. The terminal at Culbertson, NE, with 2.32 million bushels of storage, was constructed to give the coop access to a Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) main line, says Mark Friehe, location manager for both the new elevator and a coop elevator at McCook, NE.
The former Millard Grain was wanting to get out of the grain business and focus instead on fertilizer and agronomy. So the privately held company sold its 1.2-million-bushel steel grain elevator in Avalon, WI (608-754-4673) to Gavilon Grain LLC in October 2011. Once it was in possession of the in-town property, Gavilon set out to make its new acquisition a more efficient operation, with the use of BinMaster Level Controls.
United Grain Corp. Uses One Elevator in Three Locations
Grain Journal
United Grain Corp. opened three new 1-million-bushel rail terminals across the Northern Plains in 2013, two in Montana and one in North Dakota. That would be unusual in itself for any U.S. grain company. What makes it especially unusual in this case is that the three grain elevators – in Conrad, MT (406-278-9183); Culbertson, MT (406-787-5867); and Bucyrus, ND (701-567-6751) – are identical. With the use of BinMaster Level Controls, the corporation is boosting grain originations in the countryside.
Wheaton-Dumont Adds a Rail Terminal with Loop Track on Second Railroad
Wheaton-Dumont Cooperative Elevator has been able to load shuttle trains on the Canadian Pacific since the 1990s at its rail terminal in Tenney, MN. But until this year, it hasn’t been able to take advantage of shuttle programs on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF).
Blanchard Valley Farmers Coop Expands Storage Handling at Two Locations
Grain Journal
To meet higher demands, Blanchard Valley Farmers Coop added corrugated steel tanks using BinMaster level indicators at two of its locations – Fostoria, OH, and West Findlay. In Fostoria, Blanchard Valley added 730,000 bushels of storage capacity, while its facility in West Findlay added 550,000 bushels.
When Five Star cooperative decided to upgrade its Burchinal, IA branch location, it essentially built a new grain elevator adjacent to its 770,000-bushel facility. The project, which began in April 2012 and was completed in time for the fall harvest, included two new 550,000-bushel steel corrugated tanks, a 110,000-bushel wet tank, a 4,700-bph grain dryer, and a 900-bushel receiving pit.
Powders have a tendency to create myriad material handling headaches, but with the advent of 3D non-contact technology, many of the hassles of level and volume measurement can be cured. A relative newcomer to world of level measurement, the 3D sensor provides highly accurate level and volume measurement in challenging materials contained in bins, tanks, silos, domes and warehouses.
Crossroads Coop Association Adds 1 Million Bushels of Concrete Storage
Grain Journal
Crossroads Cooperative added three new concrete jumpform tanks at its location in Gurley, Nebraska. The project also included the addition of a cyclone dust collection system, two loadout and screenings hopper tanks, and BinMaster grain level indcators.
Meadowland Farmers Coop Double Storage and Adds Dryer
Grain Journal
After a storm featuring straight-line winds devastate the Meadowland Farmers Cooperative in Delhi, two new 515,000-bushel corrugated steel storage tanks were built doubling the storage capacity at the branch's elevator. The new tanks are outfitted with level indicators from BinMaster.
When Five Star cooperative decided to upgrade its Burchinal, IA branch location, it essentially built a new grain elevator adjacent to its 770,000-bushel facility. The project, which began in April 2012 and was completed in time for the fall harvest, included two new 550,000-bushel steel corrugated tanks with BinMaster level controls, a 110,000-bushel wet tank, a 4,700-bph grain dryer, and a 900-bushel receiving pit.
Sunrise Cooperative of Ohio Expands Storage Capacity
Grain Journal
Operating three large rail terminal elevators, covering a wide swath of north central Ohio, and handling 50 million bushels of grain annually, Sunrise Cooperative often finds itself needing to make facility improvements. While severe drought devastated crops elsewhere in the Midwest in 2012, rains were a little more timely in northern Ohio. Sunrise Cooperative found itself needing to handle and dry a surprisingly large amount of grain and added a 1.1-million-bushel behlen corrugated steel tank outfitted with BinMaster level controls.
United Grain Port Terminal Adds 4 Million Bushels of Corn & Soybean Storage
Grain Journal
Since its construction in 1969, United Grain Corporation's export terminal at Vancouver, WA had been a wheat facility. This changed in 2013 with the completion of an $80 million expansion adding four million bushels of storage capacity for handling corn and soybeans. The first annex is a 346 foot tall, 2.25 million-bushel slipform concrete annex and a second annex features 1.75 million in storage. BinMaster MAXIMA+ rotaries and capacitance probes are used for point level detection in the silos.
Glacial Plains Coop in Murdock, MN Adds Concrete Silos for Soybean Storage
Grain Journal
Good success with two other jumpform concrete silos made the decision easy to add another 450,000 bushel silo added at its headquarter's location. The 1,500 farmer-member community continues to increase crop production, with most hauling their soybeans to town right out of the field. BinMaster rotaries are used in the new silo.
The Andersons is one of the biggest and best known regional grain handlers serving the eastern Corn Belt. In 2012, the company completed construction of a new $25 million, 4-million-bushel rail terminal in the Sand Hills of Central Nebraska outfitted with BMRX rotary level controls from BinMaster.
Bob for Accurate Measurements: Cable-based sensors help simplify inventory management
Chemical Processing Powder eHandbook
Whether referred to as weight and cable, plumb bob, cable-based, or yo-yo-type sensor, the principle of its operation is simple. The device works as an automated tape measure that repeatedly takes measurements from the top of the silo at a consistent location. This eliminates the need to climb silos to take manual measurements.
Farmway Coop in Beloit, Kansas Expands to Handle Higher Volumes
Grain Journal
Farmway Coop Inc has expanded their operation to handle higher volumes with 1.3 million bushels of new upright concrete storage. The location is on track to load 50 to 60 trains a year, up from about 32 a year previously. The new construction includes installation of BinMaster 3DLevelScanners for inventory management. One new feature of the expanded facility is new automation to improve safety and reduce equipment maintenance.
3D Technology for Measuring, Mapping Ideal for Demanding Applications
Canadian Process Equipment and Control News
BinMaster's 3DLevelScanner has improved inventory accuracy in bins, tanks and silos in the most challenging materials. The sensor's low frequency signals are able to penetrate dust in environments where radar and ultrasonic can perform inconsistently. Four case studies describe how it is proven to perform in frac sand, large grain bins, alumina powder and soymeal.
Peco Foods Builds a New Feed Mill Central to State's Poultry Growers
Grain Journal
Tuscaloosa, AL-based Peco Foods Inc. had been producing feed for its poultry producers in Mississippi from an all-steel feed mill in Sebastopol, MS. After 40 years in service, that facility was nearing the end of its useful life and lacked the capacity to meet the needs of the company’s producers. The new, modern 8,800-tpw, slipform concrete mill built 20 miles south of Sebastopol as a replacement is centrally located to producers and its bins are equipped with BinMaster level sensors.
WFS Constructs New Facility in Delavan, MN to Replace Aging Locations
Grain Journal
Tuscaloosa, AL-based Peco Foods Inc. had been producing feed for its poultry producers in Mississippi from an all-steel feed mill in Sebastopol, MS. After 40 years in service, that facility was nearing the end of its useful life and lacked the capacity to meet the needs of the company’s producers. The new, modern 8,800-tpw, slipform concrete mill built 20 miles south of Sebastopol as a replacement is centrally located to producers and its bins are equipped with BinMaster level sensors.
Bin Level Indicators & Inventory Management for Woody Biomass
North American Clean Energy
Woody biomass facilities can be presented with a wide variety of material forms from fine sawdust and shavings, to chips, pellets and coarse hog fuel. Measuring and continuously monitoring the content of the material contained in bins, tanks and silos can be challenging – and no one wants to be running up and down ladders – risking safety and wasting time. Fortunately, it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to make manual measurements and guesswork a distant memory by installing level sensors that are proven to work in these challenging materials.
To select the device that is best for a particular bin, it is helpful to consider the material being measured, whether the material surface tends to be even or irregular, the regulatory environment (such as with food), the size of the tank, and whether you need to know when inventory has reached a certain level in the bin - which calls for a point level device - or you need continuous level measurement.
When it comes to measuring powders, the devil is in the dust. High levels of dust tend to diminish the performance of most non- contact bin measurement devices, rendering them inaccurate or ineffective — at least until the dust settles. When facing production and shipping deadlines, there’s no time to stop filling and emptying silos and wait until after the dust settles to measure material levels. Acoustic technology, as used in the 3DLevelScanner, can measure accurately despite extremely dusty conditions because it operates at a very low frequency of 3 KHz to 10 KHz that allows the signal to penetrate dust and reach the material surface.
Every time a bin measurement is off by just a percentage point, the error can be worth thousands of inventory dollars. As both raw material costs and the corresponding inventory carrying costs escalate, a sound inventory management system (IMS) becomes increasingly vital to a company’s fiscal bottom line. Modern inventory “tools” are like today’s word processing software replacing the Underwood typewriter. Systems like the 3DLevelScanner and SmartBob not only replace the old-fashioned method of tape measure, they also minimize a serious hazard – preventing operators from accidentally – sometimes tragically – falling from silo ladders.
Tank Level Measurement Considerations for Powders & Solids
Canadian Process Equipment and Control News
Inventory control. Inventory turns. Inventory accuracy. Inventory management. It’s all about inventory and controlling its related costs. Thankfully, there are devices that can help make your inventory more accurate and your job easier. This article provides an overview of the different point and continuous level measurement devices available with tips on how to select the right device.
Western Iowa Cooperative Installs Three New Tanks at Two Locations
Grain Journal
If you ask the managers at Western Iowa Cooperative the reason for adding storage capacity at two of the cooperative’s nine locations, Mapleton and Correctionville, you’ll get a fairly common answer. The volume of grain continues to grow year after year, and the cooperative needed someplace to put it. To maximize capacity, they are measuring the bns with SmartBob sensors!
Pump Up the Volume with Advanced Bin Level Measurement
Chemical Processing Powder eHandbook
When it comes to measuring powders and solids in bins, tanks and silos, plant personnel are often faced with complex issues such as: inventory must be more accurate, material volume as well as level is needed, the material surface being measured is uneven, powders and solids in the vessel are prone to buildup, there are high levels of dust present, and the devices must be highly reliable with minimal maintenance. Read about how 3D technology works to address these challenges.
The vibrating level sensor or vibrating rod is a piezoelectric driven vibration type level switch that is used for point level detection in bins, silos, hoppers and other vessels filled with powders or dry bulk solid materials. One of the technical advantages of a vibrating rod compared to other point level devices is its high sensitivity. A vibrating level sensor can detect extremely light, fluffy materials as light as 1.25 lb./ft.3, such as aerated powders or flakes as well as heavier, coarse materials of larger particle size.
When Key Cooperative was formed in 2009, their goal was to boost service to an expanded membership. A 50-acre site on the outskirts of Newton, Iowa right next to a railyard became the site of a 590,000-bushel all-steel rail-loading terminal with 2,000 feet of track. Building the facility was Premier Millwright Inc. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who outfitted the impressive new facility with BinMaster level controls.
Big Elevator Gets Bigger at Blanchard Valley Farmers Cooperative
Grain Journal
Featuring nine million bushels of storage capacity, Blanchard Valley Farmers Cooperative’s terminal elevator at Fostoria, Ohio, is one of the very largest grain facilities in the State of Ohio. And it’s getting bigger ... and faster. Over a two-year period in 2010-11, the facility added two receiving pits, a 30,000-bph leg, enclosed belt conveyors, a 730,245-bushel steel tank, and a new scalehouse ... plus a few BinMaster level controls!
When Tubbs Rice and Grain of Mer Rouge, Louisiana replaced a 500,000-bushel tank (lost in a fire in 2009) with a 750,000-bushel steel tank and new pit and leg, that was just the start of the improvements at the rice dryer facility. Additional improvements in 2011 include the addition of 300,000 bushels worth of additional steel storage - outfitted with BinMaster level indicators, a second 10,000-bph dryer, a second receiving pit, four new legs with conveying equipment, and a new aspirator for rice cleaning.
In 2011, TopFlight built a large steel rail loading annex in tiny Milmine, Illinois consisting of about 850,000 bushels of upright storage (equipped with BinMaster level controls), two receiving pits, four legs, a 40,000-bph bulk weigh loadout system, two gravity screeners, and a 5,000-bph grain dryer. The Milmine elevator is located along a main rail line, with enough space for extra siding track to handle trains up to 75 cars, for shipping grain to the big processors in Decatur or to the southeastern feed markets.
Towering 144 feet over the flat Hancock County, Iowa prairie southeast of Corwith, this new feed mill serving the huge new Hawkeye Pride Egg Farms layer operation is easily the tallest manmade structure for miles around. The new feed mill, which has been in operation for about a year, is dedicated solely to supplying feed to approximately three million hens housed in five single-story poultry houses adjacent to the mill. Thanks for being a BinMaster customer!
Tank Measurement Considerations for Powders & Solids
Processing's Powder Handling Solutions
It’s all about inventory and controlling its related costs. Your job is to figure out just how much material you have on hand and when you need more. Simple in theory, not quite so easy when you are running multiple production lines or asked for month-end inventory in about an hour. However, there are devices that can help make your inventory more accurate and your job easier. To select the device that is best for a particular tank, it is helpful to consider the material being measured, whether the material surface tends to be even or irregular; the regulatory environment; the size of the tank; and whether you need to know when inventory has reached a certain level in the tank, which calls for a point level device, or you need continuous level measurement.
On the Level - Point and Continuous Level Measurement for Bins, Tanks and Silos
Biomass Products & Technology Magazine
Point level indicators detect when solid material reaches a certain “point” in the bin and send an alert via a light, horn or alarm panel. They notify personnel when a bin is full or empty, as a high or low level alert. With storage capacity at a premium in many plants, point level indicators help optimize storage capacity and improve inventory management. Point level indicators prevent overfilling or running out of material – which also prevents messy spills, material waste and costly downtime. They also positively impact the staff at a facility – improving safety by eliminating the need to climb bins to check levels, and thereby also saving time. As point level indicators operate on simple principles, they are extremely reliable, long lasting and highly cost effective.
Improve Bin Volume Accuracy with Multiple Point Measurement and 3D Mapping
BioMass Products & Technology Magazine
“We need better inventory accuracy.” If you work at an ethanol facility, chances are you have heard those words or said them yourself. Ethanol plants are challenged with large silos that are constantly emptying and filling. These active silos also are very dusty, so taking measurements and continuously tracking inventory is a challenge. Having reliable, highly accurate inventory data is essential to help ethanol plants optimize operational efficiency, schedule deliveries and accurately report their inventory value.
New Tank, New Scale - Leroy Coop Completes Upgrades at Two Locations
Grain Journal
LeRoy Coop Association is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2010 with upgrades at two of its three locations. One of those upgrades includes level indicators from BinMaster. At the cooperative’s headquarters elevator in LeRoy, Kansas, the coop added a 340,000-bushel jumpform concrete tank, bringing the total number of tanks in a concrete annex across State Highway 58 from the office to four.
The Rise of 3-D Level Measurement: 3-D Multiple-Point Measurement Improves Inventory Accuracy
Processing Magazine
When you need better inventory accuracy in your bins, tanks and silos — more is better. That is, measuring more than one level point in the bin is better. Measuring multiple points in a bin and calculating inventory based upon a sampling of measurements versus a single measurement will provide improved volume accuracy. Revolutionary advancements using acoustical-based technology features multiple-point measurement and employs 3-D mapping software that graphically depicts the topography of the bin to deliver volume accuracy that surpasses the performance of single-point measurement devices.
DeBruce Grain Purchases and Upgrades Elevator in Northern Indiana
Grain Journal
DeBruce is putting the finishing touches on an extensive two-phase upgrade of a rail terminal in New Carlisle, Indiana, near South Bend. The upgrade included the installation of bin level indicators from BinMaster. The elevator is the company’s first rail terminal east of the Mississippi and its first venture into the Eastern Corn Belt. This project began late in 2008, after DeBruce Grain purchased the New Carlisle elevator from the local firm Lakes Farm Service.
BinMaster SmartBob2 Weight and Cable Inventory Management System for Silos
Concrete Technology Today
The SmartBob2 sensor is installed one-sixth in from the outer diameter of the silo, which is the best location for the highest accuracy of material. The weight (“Bob”) at the end of the cable suspends downward and penetrates the dust and measures the settled solid or powder material based upon how much cable is released at the precise time the weight (“Bob”) stops. The measurement, which can be displayed as height or product or distance to product (headroom), can be read from the eBob software installed on a PC, a SmartBob C-100 Console, or a Remote Start Unit (RSU).
Rebuilding with Concrete, McKune Elevator Recovers from Severe Windstorm
Grain Journal
McKune Farmers Union Elevator built two new jumpform concrete silos to replace two steel storage silos that were destroyed in a windstorm in May 2009. The new 187,000 bushel silos are outfitted with BinMaster level controls.
Ag Partners Replaces Terminal with Nearly Identical Copy After Explosion
Grain Journal
Ag Partners LLC in Alton, IA was faced with rebuilding their entire terminal after an explosion largely destroyed the elevator in July 2008. The explosion essentially wiped out the 1.1-million bushel elevator which is a joint venture between locally-owned Albert City Elevators/MFC, a 13-location cooperative, and Cargill Inc. BinMaster level controls help the newly rebuilt operation manage inventory and optimize storage capacity.
Farmers Elevator Faces Increasing Yields, Faster Harvest Operations
Grain Journal
With 2009 predicted to be the biggest fall crop ever, Farmers Elevator Company of Platte, South Dakota faced adding storage and handling capacity to serve the needs of local farmers. The new "annex across the street" includes a new 315,000 bushel bin outfitted with BinMaster level controls.
With just-in-time manufacturing and companies looking to minimize inventory levels, effectively managing material supplies is more important than ever before. Monitoring bin levels helps companies optimize material storage and save money. Furthermore, climbing to the top of bins presents a potential employee safety issue, to say nothing about the time and people it takes to scale a yard full of tall bins. Point level controls can provide simple alerts to prevent bin overfills. Continuous bin level management systems can help optimize inventory levels, virtually eliminate the need for employees to climb bins, and save valuable time by allowing bin measurements to be read from a personal computer or other centralized location.
Effectively managing and rotating inventories, ensuring employee safety and getting more work done with fewer people is the reality facing many biomass operations today. Continuous bin level management systems from BinMaster can help optimize inventory levels, virtually eliminate the need for employees to climb bins, and save valuable time by allowing bin measurements to be read from a personal computer or other centralized location. This article discusses the benefits of 3DLevelScanner and SmartBob inventory management technologies.
The Columbia Grain International Elevator in Carter, MT recently added a loop track and additional grain handling equipment to significantly increase capacity and allow the facility to load 110-car shuttle trains on the BNSF Railway. This article featured in Grain Journal provides an overview of the equipment added, including BinMaster level control indicators.
