Bulk storage

Mineral Ores

Mining companies face the toughest environmental and permitting challenges. Geometrica helps meet both with elegant, versatile domes.

Ore stockpiles house immense volumes and produce dust.  They sit on sloping terrain at inaccessible locations.  They are irregular in shape.  And, often, they are already in operation. 

Geometrica domes can be built to meet every one of these challenges.  Dust is controlled and your property becomes attractive to clients, investors, regulators and neighbors alike.

A Geometrica dome solves your stockpile dust problem.

Geometrica domes can be built without stopping production.

Below we see the Herradura twin domes built over operating stockpiles.

bulk storage

Coal and Pet-coke

The largest fuel stockpiles can now be covered.

More than a third of the world's energy is produced from solid fuel. Coal and pet-coke are stored in huge stockpiles near plants that consume them. These piles used to be open-air, but current environmental consciousness demands that they are covered. As an example, above are Enel’s Bocamina coal yards in Chile. Over 300,000t of fuel were previously stored in the open. Now, two Freedomes cover all that fuel and 46,000m2.

bulk storage

Limestone and Clinker

In cement manufacture, Geometrica domes store raw materials and finished products.

Cement plants need large, column free buildings for limestone blending, fuel and additives storage, clinker storage and palletizing areas.  Geometrica provides cost effective buildings for all these needs with quick construction and low labor requirements.  Limestone blending beds typically go from under 70m to over 120m. Longitudinal additives and fuel stockpiles and stacking equipment require buildings that span from 50m to over 100m.  Geometrica has supplied domes in the whole range.  

Clinker storage silos contain the material with concrete walls.  The Geometrica dome sits atop the wall to cover the stockpile.  Being hygroscopic, clinker domes typically feature both internal and external cladding.  This prevents the material from accumulating on the structure in humid conditions.

Circular or longitudinal blending is best done under a Geometrica dome.

Gallery: Cement Manufacture Domes

bulk storage

Hazardous Materials

Fire, corrosion or explosion hazards are inherent to certain bulk materials. Geometrica domes can help control the associated risk.

Combustible Materials Storage

Coal, pet-coke and sulphur are combustible. Their dust presents fire and explosion hazards. Geometrica domes have round structural members that minimize potential dust accumulation, and may be clad internally to completely prevent dust from accumulating on the inside of the structure.

Corrosive Material Storage

Urea, sulfur, salt, and other materials can present corrosion challenges. Structure and cladding material selection is very important.

Geometrica provides structures in galvanized steel, aluminum and even stainless steel. Paint may be applied over these structural materials for added protection. Cladding may also be made from these different materials, or from plastic. And the structures may be clad internally, externally or both.

Comparison of Dome Cladding Systems

Hazardous materials must often be kept away from structural components to prevent corrosion or explosion hazards. This is not easy in conventional structures because dust accumulates on ledges and niches in the structural members. Geometrica structures, built with circular hollow sections, naturally shed most dust. And for even more protection, cladding can be fixed to the underside of the structure.

Bulk Storage

Ring Stockpiles

A Geometrica dome on your stockyard will improve your plant’s runoff and air quality measures.

Geometrica is the industry leader in domes for automated ring piles, having provided the majority and the largest domes in the world for this application.

A slewing stacker at the center stacks the material and creates the pile, while a bridge or a portal rake reclaims the material from a face of the pile. Limestone, clay, marl, coal, wood chips, fertilizers, sulfur and many other materials are stored in automated ring piles.

Geometrica geodesic domes have been built over piles of over 140m in diameter, and it is feasible to span up to 300m.

Typically, a dome for this application will need to cover an additional 3m to 6m width area around the base circumference of the pile for reclaimer clearance and circulation of maintenance personnel or small vehicles. Thus, the diameter of a dome for this application is usually 6 to 12m more than the pile's diameter. The dome's height is normally set at about 1/3 of the diameter for efficiency, but may be substantially lower or higher if desired.

Geodesic domes for ring piles also need to clear the reclaimer at its highest point near the perimeter of the stockpile, as well as provide a minimum height for the vehicles in the free area around the material. Instead of using an expensive vertical wall to achieve this, Geometrica can supply domes with elliptical or compound parabolic profiles that have a steep slope near the perimeter.

Bulk storage

Conical Piles

Ores, grains, salts and many other commodities are stored in conical stockpiles. Geometrica provides covers for all these materials.

Conical stockpiles are formed from the free-fall of bulk material off the end of a static conveyor.  In open-air conical piles, the drop of material through windy air creates blinding plumes of dust.  Geometrica domes block the wind and contain this dust, helping your plant meet its environmental goals.  

Domes may be designed to enclose the drop-off point, or to support the tip of the conveyor and load through an apex chute.  Clearance should be provided to allow mobile equipment to circulate around and on the stockpile.  A concrete wall support can increase storage capacity.  

In conical piles, fines naturally accumulate around the perimeter, at the  base of the pile. Because the dust is aerated when settling, fines have a very small angle of repose and the stockpile grows over time. Geometrica recommends placing the dome on a wall, or leaving a gap around the pile where equipment may circulate to remove accumulated dust.  Geometrica also offers replaceable panels for the dome’s bottom ring to prevent damage in case of accidental lateral overloading.

Whether mining, agriculture, concrete or other industries, a Geometrica dome protects your inventory and the environment from each other.

Maximizing Efficiency, Eliminating Downtime

Geometrica domes are custom-designed to for your projects specific site conditions. Local labor can install the domes using a variety of construction methods and following the strictest health and safety standards.

The Caserones dome in Chile. An engineering feet in a tough terrain, with snow and slopes, yet beautifully displaying Geometrica’s system.

Click below to watch video

bulk storage

Freeform Piles

Existing bulk material stockyards are often unruly. Tame them with a Freedome®.

Geometrica free-form domes achieve the world’s longest spans.

The Freedomes at Enel’s Bocamina II power plant in Chile may be the world’s largest domes of irregular plan. They cover more than 45,000 m2, following the original border of the uncovered fuel yards. Below is a lighthearted video (duration 01:44) about how we delivered the first of these domes, from concept to completion.

Click the image below to play video.

bulk storage

Longitudinal Piles

Geometrica offers efficient longitudinal structures in cross sections that suit the project's conditions.

Perhaps the most common way to store large volume bulk materials is by stacking them in long, prismatic piles. The material is loaded with a side stacker, or with a tripper car from above. Reclaiming is done with a bridge or side scrapper reclaimer or with front end loaders.

For Carthage Cement in Tunisia as seen above, Geometrica built three bulk-storage structures for the greenfield plant.

• 200m Additives longitudinal dome

• 300m Coal longitudinal dome

• 90m Limestone circular dome

Custom Longitudinal Geometries

The different Geometrica geometries are shown in the figures below. Parabolic or acute geometries are best for large crest loads, such as tripper cars, which these domes can easily support. Circular cross sections are ideal for large wind loading sites. Bents start vertically to minimize the footprint of the building. The ends of any enclosure may be left open, or closed with semi-domes or flat space frame walls.

Geometrica longitudinal structures are particularly suited for highly corrosive environments. The structural tubes may be galvanized steel or aluminum, and either of these materials may be finished with a highly resistant thermoset epoxy or polyester coating. Cladding may be steel, aluminum, fiber-reinforced plastic, polycarbonate, or a combination of these. For aggressive interior environments, FRP cladding may be applied internal to the structure.

PARABOLIC PROFILE

Circular Profile

Acute Profile

Bent Profile

COMPOUND CURVE PROFILE