Grain storage reconstruction or new construction?

Officially, Ukrainian grain storages can store about 30 million tons of grain. Less than half of them are built according to modern technologies that allow storing grain for a long time.

Despite the activity of agricultural holdings in the construction of elevators, grain storage and processing capacities are still insufficient. At least the same amount is needed now, and even more is needed given the pace of development of Ukraine's agricultural sector.

Modern grain storages are needed more than ever. The more holding companies are structured, the greater the investment in construction. Modern elevators are a complex of metal tanks for grain storage, equipped with a transportation system, cleaning, drying, ventilation systems, as well as automation systems for grain control and monitoring.

Modernizing the grain storage

What should we do with the grain storages of previous generations? How to maintain their profitability, ensuring efficiency of operations and minimal grain slaughter?

Modernization or reconstruction of a grain storages can significantly expand its capabilities. This is not only a technical issue, but also a social one: dustiness, spillage and blockages of grain, insufficient lighting of premises, unsuccessful layout of production and storage facilities - all this requires reconstruction to the level of modern normative requirements.

The main objective of the reconstruction is to increase productivity, increase the capacity of enterprises on the existing production areas, modernize production, and create healthy and safe working conditions for workers.

Selection of a company for the reconstruction of a grain storage

Many companies offer services for remodeling or building a new grain storage. However, not all of them are equally useful.

Many companies declare beautiful advertising slogans, promising to perform turnkey work in a short time with minimal costs. However, this often remains just slogans. One of the reasons is the economic crisis of 2008-2009, when builders of residential complexes switched to the grain storage industry without proper knowledge and experience. As a consequence, customers often bear major risks and losses from untimely or poor quality work of such companies.

Installation defects of steel silos

Incorrect installation of silos can lead to premature failure of the main structures of the plant, disruption of the technological process and the need for additional costs for restoration or reinforcement of structures. Approximately 30% of silos made of galvanized corrugated profile panels require rework or major rehabilitation work in the first 5 years of operation. These situations cause accidents and failures of steel tanks.

Defects in the installation of gravity flow equipment

Gravity feeders are important elements on the grain storage. If installed incorrectly, they rarely survive the harvesting season. Even with expensive materials, improper installation leads to rapid wear and tear on gravity feeders. It is especially difficult if the gravity-flow equipment fails at height or in a hard-to-reach location.

Defects in the erection of steel structures

Common errors in the erection of steel structures include:

• Violation of the correct installation sequence.
  
• Inaccurate fitting and incorrect connection of elements in assembly joints.
• Displacement of structures from the design axes.
• Damage during assembly due to incorrect slinging.

Why make capital?

The normal operation of a grain elevator largely depends on the quality of installation work. Experience shows that hiring a specialized company for construction of elevator complexes helps to save the customer at least 10% of the budget and accelerates the construction time by 20-30%.

Grain Capital Construction and Installation Department has a number of advantages:

• Personnel: about 250 professionals, of which 100 have more than 10 years of experience.
  
• Work experience: from 5 to 30 years.
• Training in the field of industrial mountaineering.
• Annual trainings and advanced training on the basis of leading universities of Ukraine.
• Experience in working with equipment of world manufacturers.
• Certificates for all installation works.
• Own modern fleet of vehicles.
• Many years of experience in the installation of steel structures.
• Competent planning of installation works and optimal logistics.
• Use of cold vulcanization technology for joining conveyor belts.
• Occupational safety department, which is constantly improving the organization of work.
• Providing employees with protective clothing complying with European standards.
• Training of personnel in labor protection and fire safety.

Grain Capital constantly creates conditions for the development of professional knowledge and skills of its employees, as the market is developing dynamically and requires constant study of new trends and technologies. We do this to ensure that all your financial and time costs are truly justified.

Author of the article: Semenyuk R.V. - Regional Sales Manager of Grain Capital.