Coal / Bulk Material Storage
Air Domes
Air dome is a highly effective and versatile solution for bulk material storage, offering several advantages compared to traditional storage structures. It is used in various industries for storing coal, raw materials like sand and aluminum, grains, and more. Because of its unique structural design, the Air Dome does not require any columns or beams. Since the primary load on the foundation is an upward tensile force, and the overall weight of the Air Dome is much lighter than that of a conventional steel structure, it only needs a minimal civil foundation. An Air Dome can be constructed with spans of up to 200 meters, and in theory, there is no specific limitation on its length. This allows the creation of large covered spaces at a fraction of the cost and time compared to traditional buildings. A typical Air Dome with a floor area of 40,000–50,000 m² can be designed, engineered, installed, and commissioned within just 5-6 months.
1. Shenhua Group – Bayannur Coal Domes, 2012, Inner Mongolia
Shenhua Group Bayannur Coal Domes is the first coal dome project in China. The two Air Domes provide total storage capacity of coal more than 650,000 ton. These Air Domes were provided with patented technology of belt conveyor sealing and both Air Domes are using Stacker and Reclaimer with fully mechanized coal handling system. The location experiences heavy wind and dust due to desert area and Air Domes are working with no problems since last more than ten years.
2. Renqiu Thermal Power Plant Coal Storage, 2018, Heibe Province
This Power Plant is using two Air Domes for coal storage, and both coal storage is equipped with Stacker Reclaimer for coal handling operations.
3. Yanzhou Coal Company – Coal Domes, 2018, Jining, Shandong
With a total area of 18,300 m2, the coal Air Dome has reduced the pollution drastically and emission of toxic gases, like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia, nitrogen, etc.
These Air Dome were built on the original site without disturbing the existing equipments like Stacker, Reclaimer, Belt Conveyors, etc. Also, the coal storage yards divided into multiple compartments/units for storing multiple coal types.
Theses Air Dome coal storage adopts the trestle bridge coal falling design (Broadwell Patent) for accumulation of coal, equipped with vehicle access system (Broadwell Patent), airtight doors for personnel movement, fire escape access system and other systems which makes coal handling pollution free, convenient, and safe.
4. Shandong Jurun Building Material Co. Ltd., 2016, Sand raw material storage, Glass Indl. Park, Shandong
The Shandong Jurun Air Dome was created for storage of sand for glass manufacturing industry, with primary aim of pollution control, energy conservation and safe operation.
The Air Dome is provided with transparent strip at top which allows sun light inside and saves substantial electrical consumption by switching off day lights, and other parts of Air Dome provided with opaque membrane which ensures no excessive temperature inside.
5. Xixiang Aluminum, 2018, Al. raw material storage, Henan Province
The membrane is specially designed with seven layers, each with specific purpose. The Air Dome is provided with 4 doors for trucks movement, 1 revolving door for personnel movement, and 4 emergency doors. Ventilation system ensures fresh and dry air inside the dome.
6. China Merchants Port, 2015, Granary Storage, Shenzhen
The project is the first granary storage using Air Dome structure in China. The granary dome is not only leakproof, moisture-proof, heat-insulated, closed and ventilated, but also has the advantages that traditional steel structure granaries can't match, i.e., good sealing performance, strong anti-corrosion ability, seawater erosion resistance; light weight, suitable for construction in soft coastal areas. Additionally, the membrane has self-cleaning characteristics, hence maintenance-free, and cost effective.
The granary dome is equipped with a vehicle door and an intelligent mobile monitoring system to monitor the warehouse in real time to ensure stable operation of air pressure, temperature, humidity and air volume, saving energy and ensuring safety.
7. Shen Zhen Grain Group Co., 2016, Grain Storage, Dongguang, Guangdong
The project is the second granary storage using Air Dome structure in China. The storage capacity is 20,000 ton. The air dome is a maintenance-free building with excellent self-cleaning properties. Since no steel, iron and other traditional building materials are used, there is no need to worry about rust protection in the future. During operation, maintenance costs will extremely low.
