Powder Show Conference attendees were treated to an impressive panel of some of the world’s foremost experts for a keynote discussion on Wednesday, May 4, “Cause & Effect: Hopper and Silo Failures and How They Could Have Been Prevented.”

Moderated by Eric Maynard, director & senior consultant, Jenike & Johanson, who has been with the company for 20 years and whose responsibilities include director of education, the panel consisted of:

Gary Chubb, SE & PE, president, Chubb Engineering, who has 40 years of design, review, and inspection of tanks and silos for all applications; Richard Farnish, CEng, MIMechE, senior consulting engineer, The Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology, University of Greenwich, UK, who has been at the Centre for 20 years; John Carson, PhD, president, Jenike & Johanson, who has 45 years of design, review, and inspection of silos, bins, and hoppers for all applications; Tim Hopper, PE, senior engineering, advanced design, Tank Connection, who has 30 years of dome and tank design for dry bulk solids and liquids; and Karl Jacob, Fellow and founder of Solids Processing Lab, Engineering & Process Science, The Dow Chemical Co., who has nearly 34 years of experience at Dow designing, troubleshooting, and developing solids processing processes and products.

As Maynard was quick to point out, the panel offered attendees 190 years of experience and wisdom.

Maynard began by sharing a number of dramatic videos of epic silo collapses to set the mood for what was an interesting and informative presentation.

Topics the panel discussed included: causes of silo failures; material-induced loads; external loads; operational issues; fabrication; installation; maintenance, operation; thermal ratcheting; and owner responsibilities.

Some of the more important points made included:

* That a “storage bin/silo” is NOT just a "wide spot in the line” - it can be a major safety hazard if not properly designed, fabricated, installed, and maintained.

* Assuming the pressures in a silo are hydrostatic is not a conservative or valid approach for design. Click here for a related blog on liquid vs. powder storage vessel differences

* That without knowing the true representative properties of the powder or bulk material you will be putting into the silo, bin, or tank, you cannot expect the result to be successful - this goes counter to engineering.

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