Bulk Solids, Mining, Aggregates & Material Processing worked example

Silo Capacity at 65% silo availability: a worked example

This worked example runs the silo capacity numbers for a tougher week than the baseline: 65% silo availability instead of the typical 90%. Estimate silo capacity for silo capacity for bulk solids, mining, aggregates, and material processing using plant-floor material, production, quality, capacity, or cost inputs.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Tons handled per fill-discharge cycle: 18 tons / cycle (held at the documented default)
  • Fill-discharge cycles available in the period: 240 cycles (held at the documented default)
  • Silo availability (uptime): 65 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 90)
  • First-pass discharge yield (no bridging or rathole loss): 96 % (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Gross silo capacity = silo capacity output per cycle × available silo capacity cycles.
  • Silo Capacity works out to 2,696 tons at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Gross silo capacity works out to 4,320 tons at these inputs.
  • Silo Capacity uptime loss works out to 1,512 tons at these inputs.
  • Silo Capacity yield loss works out to 112 tons at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where silo availability sits at 90% and the headline result is 3,732 tons, this scenario comes in 27.78% below the baseline at 2,696 tons.
  • Use it when sizing storage, scheduling reclaim, or diagnosing why a silo cannot keep a downstream process fed despite a large nameplate volume. A result at this level usually justifies acting on the stressed input before touching anything else, because every other figure in the table is downstream of it.

Results at a glance

  • Silo Capacity: 2,696 tons (headline result)
  • Gross silo capacity: 4,320 tons
  • Silo Capacity uptime loss: 1,512 tons
  • Silo Capacity yield loss: 112 tons

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Silo Capacity calculator, set silo availability to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.