Solines supplies pipes for the expansion of a malt factory

Solines has supplied a batch of pipes Ø 406.4 x 5.0 mm, which will be used in a newly constructed section of a large malt factory. Malt is a grain that is germinated and then dried. The grain most commonly used for making malt is barley. Malt is an important raw material for beer. The production process for malt is called malting and takes place in a malting plant. We supplied the pipes to be installed in the silos with the aim of creating a uniform filling and emptying of the silo without damaging the product (the malt).

For this project, we custom-cut approximately 1400 meters of pipe Ø 406.4 x 5.0 mm and blasted it with SA 2.5. In total, this involved 256 x 5.00 m and 32 x 3.60 m of pipe. The pipes were then fitted by a construction company with run-out and run-in channels, including brake baffles, and mounting brackets were also attached. Then the pipes are placed on top of each other in sections of 5 meters and welded in place, until the height of the silo is reached.

The silos in which these pipes are installed have a capacity of approx. 1000 m3, and are around 50 m high. Each silo was fitted with one long pipe from top to bottom, intended for both filling and emptying. By using such a system, there is less ‘breakage’ that then has to be sieved out. In this way, up to about 0.5% breakage can be prevented. That might not seem like much, but it can result in an annual savings of hundreds of thousands of euros. Below you can see a global overview of the process.