Dome Technology supplies storage to BSA Cementos

The contract for the project was with SALFA Montajes SA, and the final customer was BSA Cementos. The dome is located at a new site, where BSA Cementos will be able to increase its production by 950 000 tpy during the first stage of operation, with as much as 1 900 000 tpy being processed.

Initially, BSA Cementos considered conventional silos with steel roofs, but, after meeting with Dome Technology, it instead chose to use a hemispherical dome. For BSA, the dome enabled quick construction with a small construction crew, and provided a low-maintenance storage facility with innovative practices.

The dome allows the customer to store 50 000 t of clinker, in case of a shipping delay. “The plant is expected to have a continuous supply of clinker from the port for their production; our dome will serve as reserve storage so that if supply is interrupted from the port, they have plenty to continue operating,” said Dome Technology operations manager Eudaldo Chavez Zazueta.

A substantial headhouse placed at the dome’s apex houses large equipment, conveyors and dust-control systems, a load that can be supported since the dome was designed to handle this type of load, no matter what nature throws at it. “Our dome has plenty of strength to handle the loads and stress other structures are not capable of, even on a seismic event,” Chavez said.

To reduce costs and aid in economics, material handling was kept simple: a conveyor running through the apex fills the dome with product, and a front-loader unloads the clinker through a main door. Relying on loaders used for other factory functions means less equipment downtime, and will fulfil the requirements since stock rotation inside the dome will be minimal.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/30082017/dome-technology-supplies-storage-to-bsa-cementos/