Many products must be stored in large quantities in order to regulate agricultural production and to meet market demand. The Eurosilo system was invented to store huge quantities of potato starch during the season in between two successive potato seasons.

Using the first-in, last-out (FILO) principle, the Eurosilo system is well suited to store semi-basic products such as starch, cereal, and so on.

Potato Starch

The history of the Eurosilo goes back 40 years, when it originated as a large-scale silo for potato starch. The earliest installations were developed for the Dutch starch company AVEBE, and the applications spread across Europe throughout the 1970s. Later, around the turn of the last century, a high demand for potato starch storage capacity developed in Japan.

Europe

Back in the 1960s, the Dutch potato starch manufacturer AVEBE found itself facing a requirement for long-term storage of their product. As the production of potato starch is subject to seasonal influences, while sales tend to fluctuate, the company needed huge storage facilities for long-term storage.

The Eurosilo consists of a screw reclaim mechanism, centered around a central column, combined with four outlet units of oscillating beam feeders at the bottom of the silo.

In the late sixties and seventies, five Eurosilo installations were constructed in the Netherlands: in Ter Apelkanaal and in Alteveer in 1967; Gasselternijveen in 1968; De Krim in 1969; and Veendam in 1975.

In addition, four other installations were constructed elsewhere in Europe during that period: in Sünching, Germany, 1970; in Gmünd, Austria, in 1970 and then again in 1971 for Österreichische Agrar Industrie; and in Dallmin, Germany, for the Prignitz Starch Factory.

Japan

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Japanese potato starch industry decided to rationalize and modernize. And the most popular choice of storage system among many of Japan’s leading potato starch manufacturers was the Eurosilo.

Among the locations where Eurosilo constructed Silos in Japan included were the Starch Factory Nakasatsunai in Minami-Tokachi in 1996 and a second silo in 2000; the starch factory in Bihoro in 1998; the starch factory in Naka-Shari in 1999; the starch factory in Tobu-Tokachi; and two silos at the starch factory in Shihoro in 2001. Each of these cites is located on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaidō, which is home to much of the Japanese potato starch industry.