Silo Control Panels

Case Study

Basic Data

1.Project title

Manufacture of Silo Control Panel for  Environmental Services, Winsford.

2.Services Provided

The design, procurement, manufacture, testing and installation of silo control and telemetry panels

3.Type of work 

Electrical and control engineering, panel manufacture and site services. Commissioning of installed equipment.

4.Type of client  (i.e. government department, housing association, developer)

Waste processing

5.Project Location

Winsford, Cheshire

6.Project value

£45,000

7.Project start/end date

October 2008 – March 2009

8.         Project Details

The project involved the design, manufacture, installation on site and commissioning of new control panels to control the filling of storage silo’s and the conveyor control to empty the silo’s to bagging equipment. The new system was to be installed alongside an existing control system and had to interface with this system.

The telemetry equipment installed involved the wireless communications with other on site control panels and the transmission of data to the site office.

Essential Case Study Components

Key Project Principles/Objectives

• The working environment was a handling facility for hazardous waste. We had to ensure that none of our activities resulted in the proecss being introduced into the surrounding area  
  • Our client had agreed contracts with their customers based on the throughput being available at this facility, this throughput needed the new operating system to be fully operational at a specific date.
  • The installation of the system was to be carried out while the existing system was still in use. This involved coordinating our activities around existing on site activities and deliveries. This demanded a flexible approach to work patterns and a detailed, agreed method of carrying out site activities   
  • To ensure a smoother and shorter commissioning period on site we carried out extensive tests in our workshop before site installation of the control panel.

Key Challenges

Planning:  Working closely with the client we were able to identify the periods in their delivery schedule which were quieter than others. This enabled us to programme our site activities to provide maximum access for ourselves but also to minimise any disruption to the clients activity. We also incorporated items in our panel design to minimise site installation time, particularly when interfacing with other equipment.   

Budget: By making the reduction of site activities a focus of our panel design we were able to meet the budgets in place.    

Time: To minimise any downtime on site we carried out extensive tests on all control panels and equipment in our workshop prior to installation.

Successful Outcomes/ Project Highlights:

• All elements delivered to budget
• Panel design minimised down time on site 
• Plant throughput was maintained
• No environmental issues  during project
• Site commissioned without plant shutdown

Key  targets and project measures - comparative to industry standard (e.g. KPIs):

• In addition, the project was completed

• On budget
• With zero accidents on site
• With zero defects at handover

• On time

Project Highlights.

Installation was carried out with minimum disruption to the clients normal operation.

Successful commissioning