Safe Control for Silo Parks
27 September 2007
Adaptability can be key to a good safety system, allowing tried and tested methods to be used on new and different applications. Netherlocks has been designing, developing and producing interlocks and valve control safety devices for over 20 years, improving on existing ideas and implementing entirely new ones. Recently, they applied their skill and knowledge to developing a fail-safe system for large silo parks.
Silo parks – depots and collection points used by many different companies – face particular problems when it comes to the safe distribution of product. There are of course the very real and serious safety concerns when dealing with the volumes and volatilities of substance involved. The factor of human error is always present, and the potential for disruptions, environmental hazards and accidents to occur is a real one.
The second major issue is derived from the multiple client-base, as each company servicing the silos must only retrieve or deposit their own product. If the wrong product or silo were used, then the costs and disruptions of repairing the situation would be substantial, at the very least.
To this end Netherlocks has integrated their sophisticated PLC controlled key-release system to the silo park's main valve and loading arms, so that the driver for a company will only be able to initiate the right processes for their company's material. This removes the 'human factor', thus preventing even the possibility of costly losses or downtimes.
The interlock system also performs a more traditional safety role in ensuring that the fluid can only flow once the right vehicle is in place and ready to receive it, providing an extra layer of security against dangerous spills. The Netherlocks system is applicable for operations involving solids, liquids and gases.
The Dutch company is committed to providing customised systems to provide mechanical safety solutions to any and all industries. The fundamental simplicity of the key transfer interlocks is what makes the system so flexible, and even the most complex and non-linear operations can be secured by using their MPCU (Mechanical Process Control Unit). Netherlocks also has expertise in the field of valve control, and provide machine guarding and Lock-Out/Tag-Out products.
