Miller Magazine Issue: 125 May 2020

60 COVER STORY MILLER / MAY 2020 from losing quality during storage, the temperature of the silo is reg- ularly measured. This allows areas that are heating up to be detected immediately and counter-measures to be taken. PROVEN EXPERTISE AND PROJECT CONSTELLATION Raiffeisenbank Hemau-Kall- münz undertook an investment in order to optimize and modernize its commodities business. This has been an investment in the future: "We are a large, recognized part- ner for the agricultural business, and the farmers also generate income by marketing their grain through us." With a total of eleven silos, a capacity of 10,000 tons and mod- ern machinery, the grain plant is state-of-the-art and can cope with steadily increasing uti- lization. "During the plant design, Bühler Group were of- fered Bühler machines, which have been tried and tested worldwide. Bühler chose the classic aspirator and the grain cleaning machines for the intake area. A grain air pre-clean- er provides a second additional line. Vertical conveyors and horizontal conveyors meet the current state-of-the-art. And then of course there is also an energy-efficient dryer," says Hans-Peter Konrad, Area Sales Manager at Bühler. The planning work for the new agricultural site Pfraundorf was correspondingly extensive. The choice fell on Bühler, which operates a center of competence in Beilngries, just a half hour away by car. “It was important for us to have a company that could handle the entire project from beginning to end. Bühler has already been a partner for us in previous buildings and has always assisted us, in service as well, and was our first point of contact.” (Gottfried Glaab, the head manager of com- modities for the agricultural site.) Adds Hans-Peter Konrad, Area Sales Manager, "Bühler was a partner of Raiffeisenbank in this situation. They offered a complete solution here, taking over the entire engineering and working with competent partners in steel construction and round silos." SERVICE AVAILABILITY AS AN IMPORTANT FEATURE The reliable operation of the plant is very import- ant, especially at harvest time, for the agricultural site. Bühler’s regular servicing and the plant automation en- sure that this happens. In the event of a problem, Bühler can be there within minutes because it is located so close by. Gottfried Glaab praises this strong partnership. “Bühler is quickly available be- cause of the short distance which is extremely important for our ongo- ing operation; we didn’t have that with other companies before. Bühler is also constantly asking us, even af- ter we were up and running, wheth- er everything is working, or what we could improve. That is a big plus- point for Bühler.” (Gottfried Glaab, the head manager of commodities for the agricultural site.) Since the commissioning there has been a lot of encouragement and praise for the efficiency of the new agricultural site. Especially the short waiting times during intake are a positive aspect. Hans-Peter Konrad is also sat- isfied: "Bühler has created a plant jointly with the customers that serves the farmers and the region. It personally fills me with pride when I visit the farm and hear about how satisfied the operators - our customers - are, as well as the farmers. The plant has been well received here." Gottfried Glaab is glad to personally confirm this: "One also hears from customers, when the sun shines on the plant in the morning, that it is an attractive site, and it gives a feeling of pride to say, I work here." The project at a glance. Project specifications Pfraundorf agricultural site Type Capacity/ per- formance Storage 7 corrugated metal silos with cooling cone 4 corrugated metal silos with funnel 8,400 t 1,100 t Intake 2x trucks (side and rear tipping) 150 t/h each Processing cells 9 cells 765 t Processing 1 pre-cleaning TAS 204A-4 1 primary cleaning ASU 200 150 t/h 150 t/h Drying technology EcoDry STKL6-07/02 with direct gas heating (from 35% to 15% moisture) 6 t/h Conveying technology 15 chain conveyors 5 elevators 150 t/h 150 t/h Dedusting technology Round filters 400 m3/min Picking line 10 t/h Loading 1x truck on continuous scale 150 t/h