F CASE STUDY
CASE STUDY
The pioneering Hutchinson Grain Pump® systems
Grain Pumps have proven to be excellent long life systems. The largest members in the Global Industries’ Grain Pump® family are the Grain Pump® Loop and Double Run Systems, which are designed and manufactured by Hutchinson, a Division of Global Industries, Inc., located in Clay Center, KS-USA
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n any strong family structure, each member of the family has a unique and important role to play. These different roles typically complement and assist each other, and when they all work together something very special usually happens. That’s exactly what takes place with the Global Industries Grain Pump® conveyor family from Hutchinson. The Grain Pump® conveyors can be used in many different ways, and operations can vary significantly from installation to installation…just like members of a family. The Hutchinson Grain Pump® systems were the first of their kind in the industry, and have served grain market customers around the world for many years. But Global Industries understands the best way to maintain leadership in any industry is through ongoing relationships and close interaction with customers. As a result, they continue to work as a team with customers to not only improve existing grain handling products… but in the development of new and innovative systems to meet ever-changing market and customer needs. Like all Global Industries’ divisions, Hutchinson’s customer communications is a two-way improvement process. New systems are first demonstrated and explained to customers. In response, customers provide Global Industries with valuable feedback and changes they think could make the systems better, more cost-effective and easy to operate and maintain. Many of those comments are then incorporated into the systems’ final design. Usually, new facilities require Hutchinson to design new members of the Grain Pump® Loop system or the Grain Pump® Double Run family. But before these new systems are ever released, they must first be thoroughly tested and evaluated by Hutchinson engineers at Global Industries’ state-of-the-art Research & Development Center in Grand Island, NE-USA. A good example of this collaborative process is the facility developed in conjunction with AAFSA (Agro Acopio Fertil SA) in Durazno, Uruguay. Originally, AAFSA planned the construction of a 1.1-millionbushel (30,000-tonne) storage facility using conventional handling 84 | April 2016 - Milling and Grain
equipment, including 23 conveyors and eight bucket elevators. This design would have required the construction of concrete unload tunnels below the silos, as well as connecting tunnels and metallic catwalks to support the loading and connecting conveyors. To reduce the overall cost of this project while enhancing productivity, Global Industries and AAFSA worked together to develop an alternative project based on the use of the Hutchinson Grain Pump Loop and Grain Pump Double Run Systems. This project design reduced the handling equipment needed to just four 10-inch Grain Pump Loops and five 10-inch Stationary Grain Pump Double Runs (each with 150-MTh capacity). As a result, AAFSA did not need to construct concrete tunnels or install metallic catwalks as originally planned for this facility, which is primarily used to clean, dry and store maize (corn), wheat, barley, sorghum and soybeans. The total cost of the storage and handling equipment was $1.2 million. The plant, which has been in operation since March 2008, includes 10 MFS Model S60-16 silos with a unit capacity of 3,025 tonnes. The full perforated floor aeration systems include 30-HP NECO centrifugal fans and 2-HP NECO roof exhausters. Each silo includes a Hutchinson Series 1012 Sweep Auger with a 95-MTh capacity. Both cross Grain Pump Loops were designed to allow for expansion with additional rows of silos or flat storage buildings. Later, a second construction phase including another 5 MFS Model S60-17 flat bottom silos, one longitudinal Grain Pump Loop and a second grain dryer. This was accomplished with a minimal investment by AAFSA, and increased the overall storage capacity to nearly 45,000 tonnes. Since the facility launch, AAFSA has been extremely pleased with its operating flexibility, simplicity of use and easy automation. Another example of the effectiveness of close customer interactions was the addition of a Grain Pump Double Run system to load an existing flat storage building at the MYRIN facility in Nueva Palmira, Uruguay. The MYRIN building is 50 meters wide and 100 meters long, and not originally designed to support the load of any conveyor. Global Industries, together with the MYRIN management team, developed a system to load the existing flat storage building using a 12-inch Grain Pump Double Run with a 200-MTh capacity. This system includes all galvanized Eclipse catwalk, specially designed by Sentinel Building Systems, another division of Global