Bulk Solids, Mining, Aggregates & Material Processing worked example

Silo Refill Frequency at 99% silo and feeder availability: a worked example

Push silo and feeder availability up to 99% and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. a plant team is reviewing silo refill frequency for bulk solids, mining, aggregates, and material processing and needs a clear silo refill frequency for production, quality, capacity, maintenance, purchasing, or costing decisions

The inputs for this scenario

  • Tons discharged per silo draw-down cycle: 18 tons / cycle (unchanged)
  • Draw-down cycles available in the period: 240 cycles (unchanged)
  • Silo and feeder availability: 99 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 90)
  • First-pass yield of discharged material: 96 % (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

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

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where silo and feeder availability sits at 90% and the headline result is 3,732 tons, this scenario comes in 10% above the baseline at 4,106 tons.
  • It computes effective deliverable tonnage by multiplying per-cycle output and available cycles to get gross capacity, then derating for uptime and first-pass yield. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • Silo Refill Frequency: 4,106 tons (headline result)
  • Gross silo refill frequency: 4,320 tons
  • Silo Refill Frequency uptime loss: 43.2 tons
  • Silo Refill Frequency yield loss: 171 tons

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Silo Refill Frequency calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.