A silo / hopper is a storage and buffering unit that holds plastic raw materials such as powder, granules and flakes before they are fed into mixing, conveying or recycling equipment. It sits between upstream supply and downstream dosing, smooths the flow, and discharges steadily thanks to an anti-bridging cone design. Typical effective volumes range from about 0.5 to 100 m3, confirmed at enquiry, with carbon steel or stainless construction depending on the material and duty.
This is the storage and supply point of a plastic processing line. It takes in resin, powder or regrind from a loader, holds it for a while, then lets it out at a controlled rate to the next machine. The job is simple to describe and harder to do well, because powder and granules do not always flow out of a cone on their own. A Chenxing silo / hopper is built with the cone angle, discharge valve and anti-bridging hardware matched to the material it handles.
Main points at a glance:
Temporary storage and buffering between supply and dosing
Works with powder, granules and flakes
Anti-bridging cone design for stable discharge
Direct connection to conveying and compounding equipment
The unit is part of the auxiliary equipment group, and it works with the vacuum loader that fills it from above. Where the plant runs continuously, a continuous suction loader keeps the top level topped up while the bottom feeds the line.
Material comes in at the top through an inlet opening, then settles into the cylindrical body and the cone below. The cone angle is set steeper than the angle of repose of the material, so the contents slide toward the outlet instead of sitting still. A level probe at the top and another at the low position send signals back to the loader, which is how the unit keeps itself full without overflow. At the bottom, a discharge valve or a vibratory activator releases material to the next step. This pattern repeats: fill, hold, buffer, discharge, refill.
The values below are typical industry reference figures for this type of storage equipment, not committed Chenxing model data. Final numbers are confirmed at enquiry.
| Item | Typical Industry Reference |
|---|---|
| Effective volume | about 0.5 to 100 m3; vertical raw material silos commonly 5 to 50 m3, buffer hoppers 0.5 to 5 m3 |
| Body material | carbon steel with painting or powder coating, SS304 or SS316 for food and chemical duty |
| Cone angle | commonly 45 to 60 degrees, adjusted to the material angle of repose |
| Discharge method | manual or pneumatic slide gate, butterfly valve, vibratory activation, screw discharge |
| Level detection | rotating paddle, radar or load cell weighing |
| Dust control | top filter cartridge or breather valve, cleaning access included |
| Power supply | 380V 50Hz 3 phase for vibrators and valves, other options on request |
All figures above are typical industry reference values and are subject to confirmation at enquiry.
Sizing starts with the material and its bulk density, because the same volume holds different weights of PVC powder and of PE granules. Next comes the buffer time the plant needs: a silo that feeds a mixer for one shift needs more capacity than a small hopper that just smooths out a few minutes of variation. The upstream fill rate and the downstream draw rate decide the level band, and the cone angle plus the discharge hardware decide whether the material actually comes out. A steep cone with a bin activator handles sticky fine powder, while free-flowing granules can use a plain cone with a slide gate. Ladder and platform clearance, silo legs bolt-down and filter element cleaning access are all reviewed with the site layout.
The silo / hopper appears wherever plastic material has to wait before the next step. The table lists the common application areas.
| Application | What The Unit Does |
|---|---|
| Plastic mixing systems | Stores resin and additives before the mixer, discharges by recipe into the batch |
| Conveying systems | Acts as the receiving hopper at the end of a suction or chain conveyor run |
| Recycling lines | Buffers regrind and flake between washing, drying and pelletizing |
| Extrusion line buffering | Holds compound or dry blend near the extruder so the line never starves |
| Pelletizing plant buffer | Evens out the flow between the reactor or cooler and the pelletizer |
For mixing duty, the hopper feeds the mixing unit and the automatic compounding unit, with the discharge timed to the recipe. On a compounding line the full setup is covered by the compounding system solution page. In conveying systems it sits under a suction machine for crushed flakes or at the end of a chain run, and it also appears as the receiving point for a plastic recycling line solution. Recycling plants use it between the plastic agglomerator and the pelletizing line, or ahead of a two stage recycling machine. Washing lines feed dried flake into it before extrusion, whether the plant runs a PE PP film recycling washing line or a PET bottle crushing washing line; the full wash side is shown on the washing and recycling production line and washing line machines pages. Extrusion plants put a buffer hopper in front of a pipe extrusion line solution, a PVC pipe extrusion line solution or an HDPE pipe extrusion line solution, and profile plants use the same layout on a profile extrusion line solution.
Chenxing can adjust the storage unit to the plant instead of forcing the plant to fit a stock size:
Effective volume and body structure: vertical raw material silo, day buffer hopper, weighing hopper or transition hopper
Body material: carbon steel, SS304 or SS316
Cone angle and outlet size, set against the material angle of repose
Anti-bridging hardware: vibrator on the cone wall, air hammer, or cone-shaped bin activator with flex ring
Level sensor type: rotating paddle, radar or load cell
Discharge valve form: manual or pneumatic slide gate, butterfly valve, screw discharge
Top dust filter or breather, with filter element cleaning access
Interlock interface with the conveying and compounding controls
Fixed items keep the design honest: the unit is a storage and continuous supply station, and the cone bottom stays as the anti-bridging discharge structure. Related conveying machines move material along a route, while the silo / hopper holds it in one place, so the two are specified separately. For larger plants the EPC project page shows how the whole material handling chain is drawn up together.
Chenxing Machinery has built plastic machinery since 2002 and runs an ISO9001 management system. The silo / hopper is checked at the factory before shipment:
Shell weld and airtightness check on the cylinder and cone
Cone angle and outlet transition inspection
Discharge valve and level probe linkage test
Anti-bridging activator action test
Painting or powder coating finish check
Each unit ships with an inspection report and a certificate of conformity. A one year warranty covers manufacturing defects. Installation, commissioning and operator training are available, and the Chenxing service team supports global installation sites. The about the factory page covers the workshop background, and catalog downloads carry the general product documentation.
MOQ: 1 set
Lead time: confirmed at enquiry, based on configuration and workload
Packing: export wooden case or steel frame, cylinder and cone shipped as separate fixed sections
Trade terms: FOB, EXW, CFR, CIF or CIP
Payment: T/T or L/C
The silo is normally delivered in sections so it can pass through a standard factory door and be welded or flanged on site. The cone, legs, ladder and platform travel separately, with the bolts and gaskets in a marked crate.
It is a storage and buffering unit that holds plastic raw materials such as powder, granules and flakes before they are fed into mixing, conveying or recycling equipment.
It stores powder, granules and flakes, including PVC powder, PE and PP granules, calcium carbonate, regrind and flake. The material should flow through the cone with the selected anti-bridging setup.
Effective volumes range from about 0.5 to 100 m3, with vertical raw material silos commonly at 5 to 50 m3 and buffer hoppers at 0.5 to 5 m3. The exact volume is confirmed at enquiry.
The cone angle is set steeper than the material angle of repose, and optional vibrators, air hammers or a cone-shaped bin activator keep the flow going when fine powder would otherwise bridge at the hopper throat.
Yes. Level probes at the top and bottom talk to the loader and the discharge valve, so the unit refills itself and feeds the downstream machine without an operator watching it.
Carbon steel with painting or powder coating is the standard, and SS304 or SS316 is used for food and chemical duty. The choice is confirmed at enquiry.
Beside the mixing unit, at the end of a conveying run, in front of an extruder, or between washing and pelletizing steps. The position is set by the plant layout and the material flow direction.
The top inlet takes material from a vacuum loader or a chain conveyor, and the bottom outlet feeds a screw, a slide gate or a weighing system. The control signals are linked so the level stays in band.
Top dust filter, breather valve, level sensors, vibrators, air hammers, bin activators, slide gates, butterfly valves, ladder and platform, and weighing modules. Each one is confirmed against the material.
MOQ is 1 set. Lead time depends on the volume, material and accessories, and it is confirmed at enquiry.
To get a correct quote, please send the following details together:
Material type, bulk density and particle size
Required effective volume in m3
Installation position: mixing line, conveying system or recycling line
Upstream filling method and downstream discharge method
Body material requirement: carbon steel, SS304 or SS316
Whether dust control and anti-bridging hardware are needed
Voltage, frequency and phase
Destination port and preferred trade terms
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