Silo

Silos are structures used to feed (loading, unloading) and storage of bulk solids. The term silo is derived from the French silo, which in turn from the Spanish silo, "underground storage", possibly originating from the Latin Sirus, which comes from the ancient Greek silos, "a pot or pit for storage of grain" . Opinions have been expressed about its reduction to the Basque Zilo "hole" or to a Celtic word with meaning "plant seed", but no suggestion has been confirmed so far.
Silos are used in agriculture to store fermented cereals or bulk forage (known as silage). Silos are used to store seeds, pulverized coal, cement, soot, sand, fertilizers and generally any technical, construction, chemical or food products in solid, chopped and powdered form.
The sizing of the silos, and in particular the design of the unloading sections, is based on specialized design principles depending on the operating conditions and the type of solid to be used, while the mechanical strength design for metal silos is covered by various codes and specifications.