Grain Conveying and Silo Cleaning

Grain dust, husk and broken grain collect wherever grain slows down or turns: in elevator boots and buckets, on auger flights and troughs, on silo walls and hopper cones, and inside pneumatic lines at every bend. Left there, the residue spoils, attracts insects and mold, and carries infestation into the next batch.

The dust is also combustible. Grain dust suspended in air can explode, and an elevator or silo is a confined space where that happens. So cleaning must keep the dust on surfaces and move it into containment: sweep or vacuum, never blow it around with compressed air.

That gives grain brushes two requirements beyond reach: they are grounded, anti-static and non-sparking, and their materials are safe for food contact.

Sizes from the grain and silo brushes we make:

Hand brushes for buckets, boots and ledges use anti-static nylon on a grounded handle. For silo hoppers and walls, a stiff head on an extension pole works from the hatch, never from inside a silo containing grain.

On conveyors and sorting machines, a roller or strip brush in an aluminum or stainless holder wipes the belt or flight continuously. Pneumatic lines take a bore brush pushed through the sections that can be opened, concentrating on the bends.

Grain dust areas are often classified for explosion protection. Send the area’s requirement with the enquiry, and the fill, holder and grounding are chosen to it. Food-contact parts can be made in food-grade materials, with testing arranged per order at the customer’s cost.

• Lock out conveyors, elevators and augers before reaching into them.
• Sweep dust towards a rated vacuum or a closed container; never use compressed air.
• Clean elevator boots and the bottom of buckets, where broken grain collects.
• Follow confined-space procedures for silos and bins; never enter a silo that contains grain.
• Clean between crops and before storage, so residue does not carry insects forward.

• The equipment: elevators, augers, conveyors, silos or pneumatic lines.
• Hand brushes, strips or rollers, with drawings for machine brushes.
• The area classification and grounding arrangement.
• Food-contact requirement.
• Quantity per design: 500 pieces for small brushes, 100 for medium and large.

Bridged or caked grain inside a silo is removed with mechanical or remote silo-cleaning equipment by trained crews, never by someone entering the silo. An infestation already in the grain needs fumigation or treatment by a specialist. Heavy dust layers are vacuumed, not swept, so they do not rise into the air.

• Blowing grain dust down with compressed air.
• Ungrounded plastic brushes in a dust-classified area.
• Entering a silo to clear bridged grain.
• Leaving broken grain in elevator boots between crops.