Environmental guidance for your business in Northern Ireland & Scotland
If you transfer powdered materials to storage silos using compressed air as a carrier medium, you must be careful that the silo does not become pressurised. If the silo becomes over-pressurised, it can rupture, or it can blow out the filter unit from that silo.
Any material that spills from a silo could cause pollution, particularly if it enters surface water drains or watercourses. Report pollution incidents as soon as they happen to the UK wide emergency hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
Excessive pressure can be caused by:
To reduce the risk of silo rupture:
During all bulk deliveries, watch silo inlet connections and the silo arrestment plant to check for emissions.
Keep a record of the type of material being delivered, and the start and finish times of all deliveries to help trace the cause of any incidents.
Where your supplier uses a road vehicle to deliver material to silos, where possible this should be a tanker with an onboard (truck mounted) relief valve and filtration.
Fit alarms or volume indicators on bulk storage tanks and silos that contain dry materials to warn of overfilling.
Groundwater in Northern Ireland, DAERA have produced a leaflet to raise awareness about this untapped resource
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