Sand Slurry in Channels

[stablegirl]

I'm looking to build a new building and slurry system.

The cubicle sheds will be 150' long and 150' wide. It will have around 300 sand cubicles in.

With a concrete slurry store along side.

If i put 3 channels across the shed with the slurry and sand run out or seperate? What gradient does it need? I read here somewhere about a half pipe in b the bottom of the channel to help?

The tops will be able to be lifted off all along and there is no extra water or parlour washings in! Any advice.?

 

[MickMoor]

Well, somebody has to say something. Sand is probably the best bedding for cubicles as far as the cow is concerned, but the worst thing to mix in your slurry. It wears out pumps and stirrers very quickly, and settles out reducing your storage capacity. You will need to lift the tops off regularly. A bit will still stay in the slurry to wear the machinery out. There is a formula for keeping solids mixed in with a liquid as it flows, and the only way is to pump it along a pipe, but the size of pipe and pump need to be matched carefully to keep the liquid moving at the speed defined by said formula. No it is too complicated mathematics for me, I did have a slide rule that worked it out, but can't find it now.

 

[Boysground]

I have a similar sized setup here with sand in cubicles. The first thing to bear in mind is that sand will destroy anything metal it touches. We have auto scrapers running into a gutter with a scraper which takes slurry to the lagoon.

Sand will settle out fairly quickly if there is water with it. Much more slowly if no water. There are setups where a long shallow slope is used to give the sand time to settle from the slurry. I believe there is a setup similar to this at Reading uni. If you are going to use the gradient for the slurry to flow to the lagoon I would make sure there is a very simple way to unblock the channel.

I would start the design by planning how you are going to empty the lagoon. Make sure you can either drive in it or get a digger around the edge or both. Umbilical guys don't like sand and it does a fine job of blocking tankers.

I use a separator which takes some sand out in the solids and the rest settles immediately in a lagoon which we dig the sand out of a couple of times a year. It is not a perfect setup. Mainly because I had to learn the hard way that when people say their kit is sand resistant it probably is not. A few grand lost later I have learnt who the muppets are and aren't.

Any more questions please ask

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[hedger7050]

I'm looking to build a new building and slurry system.

The cubicle sheds will be 150' long and 150' wide. It will have around 300 sand cubicles in.

With a concrete slurry store along side.

If i put 3 channels across the shed with the slurry and sand run out or seperate? What gradient does it need? I read here somewhere about a half pipe in b the bottom of the channel to help?

The tops will be able to be lifted off all along and there is no extra water or parlour washings in! Any advice.?

Contact Giles from midland slurry systems. They're helping us design a separator and sand settlement system at the moment and has takes us to a few different systems one of which has a system exactly like you have described but after using sand they've blocked up all but one channel and now just use one with a chain elevator to draw slurry out and that is lasting well even in sand laden slurry. As I've said tho speak to midland slurry I can't speak highly enough of them friendly and willing to help.

 

[vinnie123]

You could fit a slurry tanker point at end of each run of slats on outside of shed. When blocked flush out with a tanker full of water?

A new build locally has a similar sized shed with auto scrapers running every few hours, they scrape the whole shed to one end where there is an open sluice, as the scraper approaches sluice there is a pump which flushes hundreds of gallons of dirty water down pipe to carry sand laden slurry the short distance to a settlement pit which is approx 80'long and split in middle by a weir , accessible with a machine. Once slurry settles out the liquid portion is used again to flush sluice or excess is diverted to lagoon.

It sounds very complicated but a lot of research and air miles went into the build and it works. Only thing I think would be better is if settlement pit was a drive in affair as currently a slew is required for emptying sand. If it was drive in then the farm telehandler could do it "in house" .

 

[Boysground]

Have spoken with Midland Slurry a few times over the years. They talk a lot of sense, I haven't bought anything from them yet though.

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[dannewhouse]

if your planning a concrete slurry store alongside I assume you are pumping up into it?

I have herd of a settling pit basically split your reception pit into 2 so it has to go over a wall into the pit you empty I'm told this will settle a high % of the sand out. then just when needed empty the 1st half of the reception pit make it accessible by the machine you choose ie big ramp for handler or lift off top for 360 <whatever you want.

I would imagine if you make your channels plenty deep it will take a long time to block up? definitely the right thing lift off tops or at least plenty of access points! I would imagine a tanker of water would help periodically and that the curved bottom maybe a good idea.

 

[Insane Ubolt]

We have sand sand cubicles and a short channel that auto scrapers scrape into ,parlour washings are pumped in at one end and this helps a lot, it doesn't seem to take much water to help keep it clean, but it still blocks up!!
Some thing I would say is the is the bottom off your channel wants to be above the top of the lagoon,so the sand physically FALLS into the lagoon as apposed to FLOWING into it .hope that makes sense.

 

[MickMoor]

Have spoken with Midland Slurry a few times over the years. They talk a lot of sense, I haven't bought anything from them yet though.

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Giles is one of the few people I would believe if he said he cn provide a system tht works.

 

[stablegirl]

We have seen quite a few sand slurry systems around the UK and USA, i dont think we are of a scale to be worrying about re using sand, im not sure it would be economical.

IDeally there would be no pumps involved and yes the Store will take advantage of a natural drop in the site and the top will be level with the floor of the shed.

4metres deep so only if there was more than 3 meters of slurry in the store would it run back into the channels.

This water thing with sand slurry really splits people doesnt it!

Thanks for the M<Midlands contact i will ring them, i want to avoid scrapers both in the passages and in the channels if possible.

 

[Wishful Thinker]

Keep channels level, plenty of shallow weirs and fill with water before you put cows in.

 

[multi power]

We have seen quite a few sand slurry systems around the UK and USA, i dont think we are of a scale to be worrying about re using sand, im not sure it would be economical.

IDeally there would be no pumps involved and yes the Store will take advantage of a natural drop in the site and the top will be level with the floor of the shed.

4metres deep so only if there was more than 3 meters of slurry in the store would it run back into the channels.

This water thing with sand slurry really splits people doesnt it!

Thanks for the M<Midlands contact i will ring them, i want to avoid scrapers both in the passages and in the channels if possible.

So no auto scrapers? Just tractor scrape straight into a big lagoon
What could be more simple

 

[stablegirl]

Yeah that's the idea but I'd rather have slats in the shed to push it down rather than scraping it outside the shed.

Also one shed is existing and slopes the wrong way and needs a channel.

 

[Boysground]

My worry with slats would be block ups in the channel. I wouldnt want to be going in a covered channel to clear it. With no water I think you would need a fair slope.
This short video is my gutter scraper. This was taken on the first day it was run and everything was very dry. Once it was full of muck it ran much better, there are 2 sledges in the system they work together to move the slurry along the channel, 1 1hp motor runs it.

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[Moorlands]

We thinking of going sand with new setup but rather than mess about with slats that will block or expensive mechanical solutions that will wear thinking of pushing muck out of back of sheds into a slurry lane that where thinking of doing 6 to 8 inch deeper than scrape passages so scraping machine can easily go up and down step, should be easy to push a large quantity of muck in a straight line without chasing it all round yard into
Concrete lagoon will then be to low side of shed.
That then means when we want to extend sheds we will go over and beyond lane and it'll be in middle of shed but cows should be ok crossing it as only the same as stepping in and out of cubicles!
Hope that makes sense!
Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[multi power]

We thinking of going sand with new setup but rather than mess about with slats that will block or expensive mechanical solutions that will wear thinking of pushing muck out of back of sheds into a slurry lane that where thinking of doing 6 to 8 inch deeper than scrape passages so scraping machine can easily go up and down step, should be easy to push a large quantity of muck in a straight line without chasing it all round yard into
Concrete lagoon will then be to low side of shed.
That then means when we want to extend sheds we will go over and beyond lane and it'll be in middle of shed but cows should be ok crossing it as only the same as stepping in and out of cubicles!
Hope that makes sense!
Anyone have any thoughts?

I would make it ten foot deep and just scrape into it, if that makes sense

 

[Moorlands]

I would make it ten foot deep and just scrape into it, if that makes sense

If I made it 10ft deep at back of shed wouldn't be able to extend over top of it well I could if it got slatted but then wouldn't be sand proof!

 

[multi power]

If I made it 10ft deep at back of shed wouldn't be able to extend over top of it well I could if it got slatted but then wouldn't be sand proof!

Just slat it when you want to extend, I'm sure you could clear the sand out now and then

 

[vantage]

Some one on the forum has a v shaped slurry channel that is sloped with a ceramic pipe at the bottom that has never blocked,but I can't remember who!
If you use sand do not have level channels with weirs as the sand does not float on the retained water and will sink and block the channel,been there done that

 

[BKFarmer]

So, this system may work...
-Robotic scraper scraping passages every couple of hours into a slurry channel.
-Slurry channel flushed with separated slurry into a reception tank with ramp for forklift access.
-Second tank beside first with Weir between the two, also sloped floor.
-Slurry that is in second tank is run through a separator.
-Liquid fraction stored in an above ground store, solids stacked in midden.
-Separated slurry taken from store to flush slurry channels.
-When reception tanks sediment up, pump off liquid, dig out and stack with solids for spreading.