A rack rail is suspended into a silo from an opening formed in a ceiling portion of the silo and a lifting body is lowered into the silo along the rack rail from the opening. A work scaffold is built on the lifting body using a part carried into the silo from the opening, a worker connected to the work scaffold with a safety belt pokes and breaks down a granular powder in a state where a discharge port of a silo bottom portion is closed, the poked and broken down granular powder drops to a rat hole (or boring hole), the worker connected to the work scaffold with the safety belt adds a rack rail in a state where the rat hole is blocked with the granular powder, the discharge port is opened to discharge the granular powder stored in the passage, and then the work scaffold is lowered to the added rack rail.

A dosing unit, for the controlled delivery of a solid material, including a silo, for containing the material to be delivered, having on the bottom a discharge mouth, said discharge mouth being circular, at least one extraction auger arranged inside said silo and operable in rotation around a vertical axis, at least one scraper member, located inside said silo and associated with said discharge mouth operable in rotation around said vertical axis, first actuation means of the extraction auger and second actuation means of the scraper member, at least one shutter component positioned below the discharge mouth, and moving means operatively connected to the shutter component to move it with respect to the discharge mouth.

A proppant container facilitates the transportation of wet sand for use in a hydraulic fracturing operation. A metering conveyor is positioned between a blender tub and a proppant motive mechanism, such as a conveyor or wash system that receives discharge direct from proppant containers of the type normally used to transport sand in support of a hydraulic fracturing operation. The metering conveyor is fitted with sensors and/or a knife-edge gate that may be used to facilitate flow control operations.

A proppant container facilitates the transportation of wet sand for use in a hydraulic fracturing operation. The proppant container is part of an overall system that is used to move sand for use as proppant, and is fitted with a vibration system that facilitates the discharge of sand from the container.

A food material powder supply device 1 of the disclosure includes a supply tank 50 that temporarily stores food material powder in a tank 50A and supplies the food material powder to a processing container 2A of a food processing machine 2, a vacuum device 70 that reduces the pressure inside the supply tank 50 with vacuum pumps 71A and 71B, and a control device 3 that operates the vacuum device 70 to reduce the internal pressure of the supply tank 50 to be equal to or lower than a predetermined atmospheric pressure at which moisture of the food material powder is evaporated and cools the food material powder in the supply tank 50. A stirring member 54 which is driven to rotate during the cooling of the food material powder is arranged inside the tank 50A.

In a method for operating a system, a first vibration is imparted to a component of the system and the first vibration of the component is detected by a sensor. The sensor generates a sensor signal for transmission to a control device, which analyzes the sensor signal and determines whether a buildup is present on the component based upon the analysis of the sensor signal. A second vibration is imparted to the component to remove the buildup when the buildup has been detected.

In a method for operating a system, a first vibration is imparted to a component of the system and the first vibration of the component is detected by a sensor. The sensor generates a sensor signal for transmission to a control device, which analyzes the sensor signal and determines whether a buildup is present on the component based upon the analysis of the sensor signal. A second vibration is imparted to the component to remove the buildup when the buildup has been detected.

A system for introducing bulk dry material into a fluid system includes a vessel, wherein the vessel is closed; an outlet wherein the outlet is located on a bottom of the vessel; a valve controlling the outlet; corner locking pins located on the outside of the vessel; a scale; and a controller. The system may include a conveyor; a hopper; a motor; and a shearing device.

A lifting mechanism for operably attaching to one of the plurality of support legs on a bin is provided where the lifting mechanism is configured to sequentially lift and drop the support leg by a predetermined amount, whereby an impact shock generated by the drop is transmitted to the bin through the support leg and promote dislodging of any of the particulate material that may be in a non-flowable state to enhance dispensing of the particulate material from the bin. A bin assembly incorporating such lifting mechanism on at least one of its plurality of support legs is also disclosed.

A lifting mechanism for operably attaching to one of the plurality of support legs on a bin is provided where the lifting mechanism is configured to sequentially lift and drop the support leg by a predetermined amount, whereby an impact shock generated by the drop is transmitted to the bin through the support leg and promote dislodging of any of the particulate material that may be in a non-flowable state to enhance dispensing of the particulate material from the bin. A bin assembly incorporating such lifting mechanism on at least one of its plurality of support legs is also disclosed.