Hello every one I hope you are all well,could any one tell me about belly tankers,I done bulk pellets in boxes feed into silos, is it any think like that,if you think you you are able to answer this for me sensibly I await your answer, thanks in advance
used to have belly tanks on our trls for cheap deisel from lux,andorra,gib etc nobody seems to use them these days
Banana Tank
Belly Tank
First of all you don’t tip them up or require a rotary valve. Gravity does most of the work, you still regulate product flow and blow down the delivery pipe. A gravity discharge will still have a pressurised blanket to stop the tank collapsing 1/2 Bar is enough
I haven’t done belly tanks myself, but basically it’s a tank with two to four ‘pots’ in-built with feed valves underneath each pot (no need to tip), usually all equipped with aerators as found on the back of a normal tipping tank, with a bank of controls so you can aerate (to fluidise the product) and then open each feed valve in turn, so no hydraulics needed but compressed air is a must, most of them appear to be fitted with donkey engines which means any tractor unit could be used.
I suppose in theory a specialist tank could have separate individual pots with a different product in each, but mostly they are one single void for one product at a time.
They run very close to the ground, with the important bits being the lowest and most vulnerable, i understand that especially when loaded they cannot use some raised/ramped weighbridges due to danger of grounding out.
Other than that the balancing of boost and aeration to feed is much the same as with a tipping tank.
Tankwashing not as simple, due to the design if the product gets stuck to the interior the tankwash crew can’t go inside to direct a serious pressure washer at close quarters, which they can do with standard barrel tanks by going in through the rear manhole.
Belly tanks seem to be favoured by the cement and associated producers, whilst foodstuff favours barrel tanks, maybe the washing situation has some bearing on this?
I suppose in theory a specialist tank could have separate individual pots with a different product in each
Like it was on fuel tankers years ago, six pots, six different products, good memory needed in these days!
Two methods of aeriation on the belly tankers
1, poppet valves these can be washed
2, aeritaion pads, these cannot be washed as its heavy canvas and the product will harden and block the canvas.