Wood-pellet producer Barrette-Chapais first contacted Dome Technology about a ship-unloader project for a new transload facility in Quebec, Canada, but when the amount of available land was reduced, the company’s plans for flat storage had to change.
Dome Technology was then contracted to build two DomeSilos, measuring 120 feet (36.5 meters) in diameter and 131 feet (39.9 meters) tall and each capable of storing 22,500 metric tons. Because of their geometry DomeSilos are able to store more product in a smaller footprint, stacking pellets deeper and storing them all the way to a structure’s apex.
According to Dome Technology sales manager Cameron High, one of the customer’s main requests was the ability for truck drivers to pull in, weigh product, unload it, and return to the lumber mill without interruption and on repeat. “They wanted from start to finish a fully automated system,” he said.
Dome Technology has also acted as construction manager, supervising Canadian crews on all equipment installation—truck scale, load-out system, bucket elevator, and conveyance.
Pellets are produced at a BC lumber mill nearby. Upon arrival at the facility, they are dumped into a hopper and conveyed to a bucket elevator, which delivers them to a diverter valve directing product to either dome.
The conveyance piping on the reclaim side is the most striking element of all, reaching 357 feet to collect product underneath both domes and stretching 796 feet to ships that will deliver it to Europe.