The flow of rape seed in a silo equipped with a discharge device

The paper contains a review of experiments with rape seed in a model silo with a semicircular flat bottom equipped with a low-height discharge device. Observations of flow patterns were made during filling and discharging through the transparent front wall of the model silo. Measurement of wall normal pressures and discharge flow rate were also made. A properly designed discharging device can eliminate a pressure peak which is usual for the transition point (dynamic overpressure) in mass flow silos. Experiments have shown that a low-height discharge device can be applied to reduce the pressure increase during discharging damaged silos