Volumetric measurements of bulk materials

Measurement of bulk materials and inventory of raw materials using modern 3D laser scanning technology.

Measurements of warehouse capacities are an integral part of the work of elevators, agricultural enterprises, ports, mining plants, mines, since the raw materials or finished products the quantity of which is quite difficult to determine. First of all, it is about accounting for bulk materials.

Accurate measurement of bulk materials is widely used in the inventory of raw materials and finished products (grain, coal, coke, sand, gravel, ore and ore concentrates, etc.)

The traditional tool used in most cases at present to determine the volume of bulk materials in warehouses used by inspection and international survey companies on the Ukrainian market is geodetic survey (using a digital theodolite), which allows to determine the volume of materials with accuracy (not meant the measurement error of the device) not higher than 5–10% or the geometric determination of volumes using a laser rangefinder and geometry with an accuracy of no higher than 15–20%. Geometric determination of the volume of crops in silos using laser rangefinders, currently remains the main method of determination. But this method has a high error probability, because crops will never have the ideal shape of the geometric figure and this process is complicated when the shipment of crops begins, because negative cones begin to appear in the geometric shapes, which are not only difficult to measure, but also very difficult to subtract this void.

Also, the company’s specialists are currently finalizing the development of a technology that will enable the measurement of grain volumes in silos using 3D laser scanning with a minimum measurement error of 0.1%.

The main limitation when working with theodolites and laser rangefinders is the low measurement speed and the physical impossibility of detailed shooting of large volumes of materials. When using the methods of traditional tacheometric measurements, with what step is it really possible to shoot large volumes of bulk materials – for example, one point per 0.5-1 square meter and how long will measurements be taken? It is unlikely that this will be enough to compare with the operation of a 3D laser scanner, which performs millions of measurements when determining the volume of the bulk materials warehouse.

In contrast to measuring the storage capacities of bulk materials using theodolite or laser rangefinders, 3D laser scanning technology allows to measure and reflect the shape of the surface of the material in a warehouse in detail, with steps of up to a few millimeters. Such a detail of measurements with a laser 3D scanner allows to get the accuracy of measurements not achievable when using any other existing technology for measuring the volume of bulk materials. The high speed of the scanner Leica RTC 360 amounting which makes millions of measurements per second, and modern software for processing the obtained results of laser scanning enable to quickly measure bulk material warehouses and calculate volumes with an error of up to 1%.

Our staff has an extensive experience in conducting measurement work to accurately determine the storage volumes of bulk materials. When determining the volume of bulk materials in warehouses, our company uses modern equipment recognized around the world – a scan of the station of the Swiss company Leica with 3D laser scanning technology, which makes it possible to measure in detail and reflect the surface shape of bulk material in warehouses and calculate the required volumes with minimal error.

Performance stages:

1. 3D laser scanning of objects;

2. Pasting the obtained scans into a single point cloud;

3. Building 3D models of shooting objects;

4. Calculation of volumes of objects.

The measuring department of the company “MSI” has successfully passed accreditation in the SE “Ukrmetrteststandart”

The State Enterprise “All-Ukrainian State Scientific and Production Center for Standardization, Metrology, Certification and Consumer Rights Protection” (SE “Ukrmetrteststandart”) has confirmed the conformity of the equipment and the qualifications of the personnel of the measuring department of the company “MSI”.

This is evidenced by the received certificate (No. ПT-72/21 dated 12.02.2021) issued to the company MSI LLC, which is valid until 11.10.2022.

This enables the measuring department of the company “MSI” to provide the following certified services:

1. Graduation of tanks;

2. Graduation of tanks; Determination of the volume of bulk materials in warehouses and in containers.

At the end of the measurements, the customer is given a measurement protocol of the established form.