Insulated Steel Silo Project in Russia, Tackling Frigid Climate Storage Challenges
Liaoning Qiushi Silo Equipment Engineering Co., Ltd. (Liaoning Qiushi), a leading provider of cold-resistant bulk storage solutions, has successfully commissioned a 20,000-ton insulated steel silo project in Russia’s Central Federal District. Comprising 4 units of 5,000-ton insulated steel silos, the project is specifically designed to withstand Russia’s harsh frigid climate, providing a reliable long-term storage solution for local wheat and barley reserves, and marking a new milestone in Sino-Russian agricultural cooperation in the storage sector.
Russia, as one of the world’s top grain exporters, boasts abundant grain production, but its long and cold winters (with temperatures dropping to -40℃ in some regions) pose severe challenges to grain storage. Traditional storage facilities often fail to maintain stable internal temperatures, leading to grain freezing, germination rate decline, and significant post-harvest losses. The Central Federal District, a key grain-producing area in Russia, has long been in urgent need of large-capacity, cold-resistant storage facilities to improve grain preservation capacity. “The harsh winter climate has been a major bottleneck for our grain storage,” said Mr. Ivan Petrov, a representative of the local agricultural cooperative. “We needed a storage solution that could not only accommodate large grain volumes but also effectively resist extreme cold, and Liaoning Qiushi’s insulated steel silos perfectly met our needs.”
Tailored to Russia’s frigid climate, the 4 units of 5,000-ton insulated steel silos integrate advanced cold-resistant and thermal insulation technologies, with key highlights including:
1. Super Insulation Structure for Extreme Cold Resistance:
Each silo adopts a four-layer composite insulation design – the outer layer is made of high-strength Q355 steel with a 350g/m² galvanized coating to resist low-temperature corrosion; the second layer is a 5mm thick anti-freezing protective plate; the third layer is 200mm thick high-density rock wool insulation material (thermal conductivity coefficient ≤0.032 W/(m·K)), which has excellent thermal insulation performance; the inner layer is coated with food-grade anti-condensation paint. This multi-layer structure ensures that the internal temperature of the silo remains above 5℃ even when the external temperature drops to -40℃, completely avoiding grain freezing and mold growth caused by temperature fluctuations.
2. Sealed & Anti-Condensation Design:
Utilizing Liaoning Qiushi’s patented spiral edge-biting technology, the silos achieve 99.8% airtightness, preventing cold air and moisture from entering the silo. Meanwhile, the silos are equipped with a dedicated anti-condensation system that discharges the humid air generated by grain respiration in a timely manner, maintaining the internal relative humidity below 60%. This design not only ensures the quality of stored grain but also extends the storage period to 3 years, providing more flexibility for the cooperative’s grain sales arrangements.
3. Low-Temperature Adaptable Intelligent Monitoring System:
The project is equipped with an IoT-based smart monitoring system that can operate stably in low-temperature environments. High-precision sensors installed inside the silos real-time track temperature, humidity, grain moisture, and storage volume, transmitting data to the local cooperative’s central control room via a low-temperature-resistant communication module. When the internal temperature is too low or the humidity exceeds the standard, the system automatically activates the auxiliary heating and dehumidification equipment, ensuring the safe storage of grain without manual intervention. “The intelligent system allows us to monitor the grain storage status remotely even in the cold winter, greatly reducing the difficulty of management,” added Mr. Petrov.
The project construction faced multiple challenges, including extreme cold, short construction periods, and long-distance equipment transportation. Liaoning Qiushi formed a professional cross-border construction team, optimized the construction plan according to Russia’s climate characteristics, and arranged the main construction work during the relatively mild summer period. Meanwhile, the company adopted a prefabricated production model, completing 90% of the silo components in its Chinese factories and transporting them to the site for bolted assembly, which not only ensured construction quality but also shortened the on-site construction period by 45% compared to traditional methods, ensuring the project was completed before the arrival of the cold winter.
The completion of the 20,000-ton insulated steel silo project will bring significant economic and social benefits to the local area. It is expected to reduce the local grain storage loss rate from 12% to 1.0%, saving about 2,200 tons of grain annually. This not only reduces economic losses for the agricultural cooperative but also strengthens the region’s grain reserve capacity, helping to stabilize local grain prices and ensure food security. In addition, the project has promoted technical exchanges between China and Russia in the field of agricultural storage, laying a solid foundation for further cooperation between the two countries in the agricultural sector.
“This project is a successful practice of our cold-resistant insulated steel silo solutions in the Russian market,” said Mr. Zhang Wei, International Business Director of Liaoning Qiushi. “Russia has huge demand for high-quality cold-resistant storage facilities, and we will continue to rely on our professional technology and rich experience to provide more customized storage solutions for Russian customers, contributing to the development of Sino-Russian agricultural cooperation.”