The silo is part of a £3 million project to expand the manufacturing capabilities of the facility, according to the Wrexham-based manufacturer of quality bread and savoury pastry products.
Village Bakery is currently looking to fully automate its bakery process, and the bespoke 35 tonne aluminium silo designed by Braby is part of that process.
Previously, flour for savoury products was stored on pallets and loaded manually into the mixing bowl. Now, flour is transferred to process using a vacuum conveying system, selected by Village Bakery because keeps the flour cool - ideal when making pastry as ingredients are not activated in the mixer bowl.
Braby was required to install the silo 35 metres away from the main Village Bakery building to allow tanker access, and also had to fit extended fill lines. Linked to Village Bakery's drive for further automation, and to maintain production levels, Braby also installed a high level and over pressure alarm system which automatically cuts off the fill line should a tanker over fill or over pressurise the silo.
As well as design considerations, Braby was also required to ensure that the silo met with all the latest legislation requirements such as ATEX (which governs equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres and which became mandatory on 1 July 2003).
All bakers must fully comply with the directive by 1 July 2006 (although any new equipment must comply since July 2003), so this piece of legislation must be considered when installing any new equipment.
According to Braby, today's design criteria for silos include maximum shock pressure, operating pressure, vent area and calculated design stress. All vessels, silos and bins must also have ATEX approved explosion relief panels, explosion suppression or quenching systems and be earthed to protect them from the build up of static electricity.