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Surely you’ll see the tall, cylinder shapes that rise above the horizon when traveling through the countryside. These tall, cylinder shapes are called silos and are of great use for the farmers that work on their land. Those buildings aren’t built for monumental value and don’t have that shape for no reason. So the question is why are grain silos round and tall?
Silos are built as round and tall cylinders for practical reasons, ranging from cost to efficient land use. Some of the main characteristics of their shape are space management, storage, loading and unloading purposes, and much more.
Silos are built for grain storage. These tall and round buildings help the farmers save valuable farm and land space, and offer a lot of benefits when it comes to grain storage and management in general. There are a lot of things that need to be considered when making a silo. A silo needs to be built for the farmer’s purpose and help the farmers have better management on the farm.
What Is The Shape Of A Silo?
A silo is a tall tower built on farms that help farmers with storage management. These tall towers usually have a cylindrical or round shape and it holds anything the farmer needs to store in bulk such as feed for the animals. Farmers can also store other, non-silos hold materials such as cement or coal.
A silo is usually built like a round and cylindrical tall tower because of the benefits of that shape. Thanks to its construction, a round silo can hold a lot of storage which is a great thing for any farmer that needs to store grain or other materials in it.
However, not all silos have around and cylindrical shape. If the materials to build silos are strong enough to withstand the pressure of the grains and other materials in it, there can be silos built in polygonal or even rectangular shapes as well. These shapes are quite common in shorter silos. For example, rectangular silos can take advantage of shared walls between multiple chambers which is great for reducing cost in construction.
Why Are Grain Silos Round?
There is a reason why silos are typically round same as other storage vessels and it is because of the cylinder stress, also known as hoop stress. The cylinder stress is the most efficient way to withstand the force from the uniform pressure being applied to the inside of the container.
It is good to mention that most grains and other materials stored in silos can behave with similar properties to a fluid. This means that these grains can apply pressure to the containing walls that increase with depth. Another advantage of the round shape of silos is that there are no sharp corners that could trap material which makes it easier for the farmers to perform a thorough cleaning.
Why Are Grain Silos Tall?
Why are grain silos tall when there could be ones that are a lot shorter. Some may also say that it would be better to put the silos horizontally because of the wind, lightning, and earthquake damage but there is a reason why grain silos are tall.
The tall and skinny silos are so useful because it’s straightforward to get the grain in them, and it is easier to keep it spread evenly inside as well. Also, one more benefit of the tall and skinny shape of a silo is that farmers can easily get the grain out onto a truck just by using gravity which makes work a lot easier.
As I mentioned earlier, there is also the benefit of making a cylinder-shaped silo because it distributes pressure. Also, the amount of grain the cylinder-shaped silos hold is very significant which is why this is the most common silo shape.
Why Is Grain Stored In Silos?
Silos are great when the season comes to an end because then farmers have a way for storage management. Storage is a delicate stage in grain production that requires special management since grains are usually stored for a longer period. Grains have a very important part in human nutrition which is why there is no room for mistakes.
Farmers use silos in order to maximize grain storage life and preserve their yield. Those round and tall towers are high-capacity commercial or industrial structures that are used for permanent grain storage. Silos also provide other post-harvest management functions such as grain collectors and distributional centers.
Another important thing to mention about silos is that most silos provide initial grain processing functions which include drying, cleaning, aerating, fumigation, and turning the grains to preserve their condition.
Some farmers question themselves about buying silos for their farms because silos require certain farm investment and silos are not affordable for many farmers. But the truth is that silos are excellent storage structures for farmers who need large quantities of grain for a longer period which is why any farmer should have one. It will pay off in the end for sure.