Bulk Solids, Mining, Aggregates & Material Processing worked example

Bulk Solids Shrinkage at 99% conveying and storage availability: a worked example

What does the result look like when conveying and storage availability reaches 99%? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. a plant team is reviewing bulk solids shrinkage for bulk solids, mining, aggregates, and material processing and needs a clear bulk solids shrinkage for production, quality, capacity, maintenance, purchasing, or costing decisions

The inputs for this scenario

  • Net product tonnage per handling cycle: 18 tons / cycle (unchanged)
  • Available handling or transfer cycles in the period: 240 cycles (unchanged)
  • Conveying and storage availability: 99 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 90)
  • First-pass retained-material yield: 96 % (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Gross bulk solids shrinkage = bulk solids shrinkage output per cycle × available bulk solids shrinkage cycles) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 4,106 tons for bulk solids shrinkage, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 4,320 tons for gross bulk solids shrinkage.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 43.2 tons for bulk solids shrinkage uptime loss.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 171 tons for bulk solids shrinkage yield loss.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where conveying and storage availability sits at 90% and the headline result is 3,732 tons, this scenario comes in 10% above the baseline at 4,106 tons.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when conveying and storage availability is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. It captures aggregate shrinkage as a yield factor and will not tell you where along the handling chain the material is being lost; a mass-balance survey is needed to localize the leak.

Results at a glance

  • Bulk Solids Shrinkage: 4,106 tons (headline result)
  • Gross bulk solids shrinkage: 4,320 tons
  • Bulk Solids Shrinkage uptime loss: 43.2 tons
  • Bulk Solids Shrinkage yield loss: 171 tons

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Bulk Solids Shrinkage calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.