Selecting the right storage is just one part of the puzzle for bulk storage. At the same time, companies have to make decisions on conveyance, throughput, conditioning, monitoring and more. But by working with a turnkey builder like Dome Technology, guesswork is eliminated, and the likelihood of a seamless facility is extremely high.
Years ago Dome Technology realized that to produce an optimal facility, the team needed more sophistication. That move “was customer driven, but it was also us recognizing that every time we went in to do a project, there were 10 to 15 experts in their individual fields, but no one was really an expert over everything,” Dome Technology vice president of engineering Jason South said, adding that if there isn’t someone who understand global functions working on a project, things can get unwieldy.
Dome Technology now oversees complete projects, though customers can also seek support in specific portions and receive help and innovative options. Their scope of expertise includes dome structures, foundation systems, reclaim systems, conveyance and monitoring systems and more. By working with a one-stop shop, each element is planned with the others in mind.
Design build
A straightforward design-build project is one of the benefits of hiring Dome Technology as general contractor and begins from the ground up. The team provides geotechnical analysis to determine foundation options, and thanks to the company’s dome models, deep foundations aren’t the only option. In addition to the storage structure itself, Dome Technology can provide structural-steel fabrication, manufactured in its shop located on the corporate campus.
Dome Technology is also knowledgeable in stored-product considerations, optimal design for product integrity and subcontractor management.
Even when the stored material is the same, every project is unique and receives individual attention. Dome Technology meets with customers to determine the details for a dome’s proposed function. Need to fill and empty a dome once a year? Once a month? The team will conceive the optimal plan for a custom dome and material-handling systems within and around it.
Robust storage
A DomeSilo, one of Dome Technology’s most popular models, allows companies to stack product deeper on a smaller footprint, requiring less property at the site. The increased capacity is made possible by geometry: The double curvature of a dome lends itself to the ability to build up, rather than out, and the curve provides strength at all points of the structure, even at the apex. The entire interior of a dome, then, can be used to contain product.
A dome provides ideal conditions for stored materials requiring a controlled environment. A fabric membrane surrounding the entire dome exterior prevents water and moisture entrance, blocking the introduction of outside water into the stored product. The dome’s insulated nature reduces heating and cooling of the walls and air inside, preventing condensation from forming on the interior. Foam and concrete provide humidity control and moderate externally generated temperature fluctuations.
A dome’s concrete monolithic construction also provides a tolerance for some differential settlement. These qualities combined with geotechnical engineering and site analysis ensure proper foundation selection and performance.
Editor’s note: The preceding is an article published in the Sept. 2019 issue of Dry Cargo International.
By Rebecca Long Pyper for Dome Technology