The challenge
An animal feed mill runs its raw materials and finished feed through a stack of tall storage silos, and over time residual meal, dust and old product build up on the internal walls and in the conical hoppers.
That build-up has to be cleared periodically so the silos can be inspected and returned to clean service. The work sits inside confined spaces and at height, in a heavily dust-laden environment, which makes how the job is planned and controlled matter as much as the cleaning itself.
What we arranged
AES surveyed the site and set the works up as a managed project, then delivered it through vetted, licensed operatives working to a risk assessment and method statement. AES appointed and oversaw the specialist providers rather than carrying anything ourselves.
- Survey and planning. We established what each silo had held, how it was accessed through the plant's floor hatches, and where entry would be required, and built the confined-space and working-at-height controls around that.
- Emptying. The residual feed and dust were cleared from the hoppers and silo floors and drawn out through the access hatches.
- Cleaning. The internal surfaces were cleaned down to the standard the return to service required.
- Disposal. We classified the recovered material and arranged its compliant disposal through registered carriers to a permitted facility.
The result
The silos were emptied, cleaned and handed back ready to return to service. The recovered feed residue and dust were removed from site and disposed of through a permitted route.
The full duty-of-care file went back to the site, as it does on every project: a transfer note for every movement, the classification behind each code, and confirmation of the facility that received the material.
On site
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A silo access hatch opened up for the clean, the internal bracing visible over the empty void beneath. -
Suction equipment run in beneath the plant to draw residual feed and dust out through the silo floor hatches. -
The internal access route to the silo level, planned as part of the working-at-height controls. -
The silo top floor, its inspection hatches giving access to each silo for emptying and cleaning. -
Conveying plant above the silo bank, part of the feed handling system served by the silos. -
The scale of the plant above the silos, coated in the fine feed dust the clean was carried out to clear.
