Bulk Material Handling

If you’re here, then that means you’re either curious about the bulk material handling process, or you’re in need of our services.


Bulk material is everywhere and can be found in the form of powder, grains of sand, and even huge rocks - which is why the equipment needed to handle these materials can vary greatly, making the production process difficult.


There are several steps of the bulk material handling process, but today we’ll be informing you on three stages - transporting, storing, and discharging. We’ll also be informing you on exactly what bulk materials are, and what characteristics you should be looking out for to determine what equipment you’ll need.


We’ve been providing bulk material solutions since 1976, and we’re happy to share our knowledge with you and help you with all of your bulk storage and handling needs - so keep reading for more information about the bulk material handling process, and what we can do to help you.

What Is Bulk Material?

Bulk material is an umbrella term for all things in bulk. Raw materials such as rocks, powder, dirt, and granules class as bulk materials if there’s a large amount of them.

Many industries use bulk materials. In the pharmaceutical industry, you’ll find huge amounts of tablets or powder, and in agriculture, you’ll find giant bales of hay, piles of soil and harvested grains.

Some more examples of bulk materials can include:

  • Coal
  • Woodchips
  • Cement
  • Ash
  • Salt
  • Sugar
  • Flour
  • Rocks
  • Sand
  • Clay
  • Chemicals

All of these resources are bulk materials, which will all need to be stored and transported correctly. This is where we come in - our services include not only transporting these bulk materials but storing them in the right environment. 

What Do I Need To Look Out For?

The way you handle bulk materials all depends on what the material is and how it flows. You’re not going to handle a pile of power the same as you handle cement or rocks, are you?

The characteristics of the same material can vary depending on the supplier - for example, pills from one company can be a lot more compact than from another company, which changes the process slightly.

This is why it’s so important to understand certain flow characteristics of the material - specifically:

Temperature

Some materials are particularly sensitive to change in temperature - and if stored at the wrong temperature, it can become a lot more difficult to handle (e.g bridging over large openings).

If your product is stored in a cold environment and then placed in a warm silo or with a warmer product, then moisture can spread around the silo walls which can have an effect on the flowability - so this is something that should be avoided. Consistency is key when it comes to the temperature of bulk materials.

Moisture Content

The amount of moisture in your bulk material can have a huge effect on flowability. If a solid has an increased moisture content, it may start to behave more like a slurry than a solid - which changes the flowability altogether. The moisture content can increase if your material is exposed to humid air, so be sure to monitor how the material is stored. 

Particle Size

Powder, sand, and finer materials can be more difficult to handle as it’s less predictable. For example, a tonne of sand will be more difficult to control and transport than a tonne of solid metal.

It’s a lot harder to determine the flowability of your material by the size distribution of the particles.

How Is Bulk Material Transported?

Thousands and thousands of bulk materials are transported per day. Whether you’re transporting your bulk materials to one location, or across several locations, you need to have a strong system in place.

If the systems used were to suddenly fail, you’d have no salt on your dinner, no pills when you’re feeling unwell, no bread in your breadbin - the list goes on. 


Your bulk handling equipment will depend on your bulk material - either way, it’s usually mechanical or pneumatic.

To make the transport process easier, conveyor or feeder mechanisms are used. This could be:

  • Conveyor belt
  • Cable or chain drag conveyor
  • Pneumatic conveyor
  • Bucket elevator
  • Screw conveyor
  • Aero mechanical conveyor
  • Vibratory tray feeder

How Do You Store Bulk Material?

Before you even think about storing your bulk material, you need to work out how you’re going to fill your bags, boxes, silos, or totes, as you’re not going to manage to move a tonne of grain by hand.

Bulk material filling equipment will save you lots of time and energy and will enable you to fill multiple containers in a short space of time. It also minimises contact with people, which can add germs and dust to the bulk. 


Some methods of bulk filling can include:

  • Bulk bag fillers
  • Hoppers
  • Control systems
  • Bag dump systems
  • Bulk bag conditioners
  • Silos
  • Screeners

Bulk material can be filled in bulk bags, silos, boxes, bins - it depends on the characteristics of your bulk material. Before storing your material, you need to determine whether it’s sensitive to temperature change, whether it needs to be stored in an airtight space, and whether it will be affected by moisture. 

Bulk Material Discharging

As well as filling your bulk into storage, you’ll need some mechanical process to remove your bulk materials too. Your mechanical bulk material handling equipment should be checked on a regular basis, as if one thing goes wrong, then the whole process can come to an abrupt halt.

 

The process of removing bulk materials from storage can be called either bulk bag discharging, or bulk bag unloading. This should be a smooth process, but this can depend on the characteristics of your bulk material, and your site conditions.


Before contacting a supplier, there are some things you should consider. First of all, in this industry, experience is everything. At Croston Engineering, we’ve been going since 1976, and we’re familiar and comfortable with all of the safety requirements needed to do the job effectively.