by Cimbria
After more than 70 years in the business, it is remarkable that there are almost no two Cimbria plants that are 100 percent alike – but what they do have in common is that they meet the individual requirements that the customers may have. This does not mean that each machine is specially developed every time, however. An obvious comparison could be that of Lego toys, which are recognised all over the world. A large number of different standard components can be combined and put together in countless ways to form a functional whole. And it is the same with a Cimbria plant.
Based on the industry's biggest and broadest product range, the optimum, customised solution is developed in close collaboration between Cimbria and their customers. Indeed, if there is one particular area in which Cimbria really stand firm, then it is full flexibility. As a member of the AGCO group, Cimbria is part of the world's leading agroindustrial company, boasting brands such as Fendt, Massey Ferguson, Valmet and GSI.
GSI operates in several areas with equipment and complete plants for poultry, pig-breeding and grain storage, as well as being the world's biggest producer of round steel silos. These are now incorporated as an integral part of Cimbria's product range, with the complete product range reflecting its role as global leader.
Developed and optimised over decades by the industry's most experienced experts, the complete range covers everything all the way from individual machines to finished plants, including automation, project management, installation, supervision and training, not forgetting subsequent service and continuous optimisation of the plant.
Cimbria and GSI make up the world's largest supplier of equipment, complete solutions and technologies to the industrial grain and seed business. Production of equipment takes place at more than 20 locations all over the world. This entails a sales and service presence that has global reach and enables comprehensive professional insight into the local requirements that are applicable in each individual market.
of the latest in the line of production locations is found in Biatorbagy, an industrial estate outside Budapest, in Hungary. In 2014, the first part of the factory was opened, before being extended in 2017 so that it now covers more than 25,000 m2. It is at this facility that silos for the markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa are now produced.
Along with a conscious choice of leading sub-suppliers of, for example, steel and bolts, a new and high-tech production facility ensures the highest quality and uniformity in the physical product. However, when it comes to a product such as silos, correct design and configuration are just as important. Local conditions have to be taken into account, whether this involves the impact of wind, snow, earthquakes or similar. Such calculations are extremely complex – and at GSI are performed in a uniquely developed software application called HiStruct.
HiStruct performs complete optimisation, calculation and design of each individual silo and steel structure and automatically prepares configuration and production drawings, calculation reports, material lists, FEM analyses, as well as generating the 3D models that are used in complete layout drawings.
With the use of the latest technologies and production equipment at all locations, Cimbria and GSI will continue to be well equipped in the future to deliver high-quality products to their global customers.
Teamwork from day one
Already now, a number of silo installations for European customers has been realised, and GSI and Cimbria can happily report that the merger was absolutely the best thing that could have happened to both parties, which are now serving the worldwide grain market hand-in-hand with the best products and solutions available.
Most recently, the joint forces of the two companies resulted in the supply of a silo plant for Saatbau Erntegut, a branch of Saatbau Linz, which is one of the major operators in the Austrian grain business, with growing focus on organically farmed crops. The rising demand for organic food encouraged Saatbau Erntegut to invest in a new, powerful reception and storage facility in the eastern part of Austria – more specifically in the Pannonian Basin, one of the major growing areas for cereals, sunflower and maize.
The intake section of the plant consists of two parallel reception lines, each with an L-shaped intake pit for side-tipping and back-tipping trucks, as well as a pre-cleaning unit for each line. One Cimbria Delta high capacity cleaner and one conical air sifter have been installed in the pre-cleaning tower. Subsequently, the product is conveyed to GSI silos by Cimbria Chain Conveyors and Bucket Elevators at an hourly capacity of 120 t/h per line.
Within the silo section, which has a total holding capacity of 15,000 tonnes, there are four major silo blocks with the following configuration:
●Five round hopper silos with a holding capacity of 375 tonnes each, mainly used as wet cells prior to drying
● 20 round hopper silos of 615 tonnes each, used as main storage bins
●One round hopper silo for 520 tonnes, used as a day bin prior to load-out
●Six square silos of 65 tonnes each, mainly used as load-out bins for the bulk loading unit
The drying section consists of a Cimbria Continuous Flow Dryer for indirect heating with gas, drying 45 t/h wheat from 19 percent to 15 percent, and 15 t/h wet maize from 25 percent to 14 percent.
Shortly after commissioning, the customer confirmed that the plant has already been accepted – and indeed preferred – by surrounding farmers, due to the fact that it has an extremely high reception capacity, thus avoiding waiting times for the farmers during the stressful harvesting period.
With a location just 20 minutes from Vienna's international airport, Cimbria and GSI hope to have a lot of guests from all around the world come to visit this plant in the future.
