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Drying grain in a silo bag

7K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  Smoore 
#1 ·
I am from South Africa and new to this forum. I have developed a system that can dry grain inside an ordinary silo bag. This system compliments the known benefits of silo bags. ( Moist grain can be stored for longer periods in a silo bag before drying is necessary than in conventional storing systems). The system has been tested successfully locally and in Australia (Southern Region of Western Australia near Bremer Bay).
There are already some of these commercial systems drying grain in South Africa and Australia. The capacity of the system is 2% moisture reduction per 7 days per silo bag. The system is installed after the bag is filled. Once the system is installed virtually no labour other than refuelling gensets is required.

The system cannot overheat the grain and there is no risk of contaminating grain due to polluted air being sucked through the grain.

When the bag is dried the system is taken of and installed on the next bag. The bag can then be debagged immediately after drying or at a later stage. No modifications are necessary to existing bagging and debagging equipment.

The system uses a combination of electrical and solar energy to dry the grain. Up to 75% of the drying energy is solar. In total 16.5 kW of power is used to dry a 75m bag. (3 x 5.5kW/unit). Air is sucked out of the bag by the suction blowers. Fresh air enters the bag through the solar collectors which heat up the air. This dry air is sucked through the grain towards the suction blowers which dries the grain. Underneath the solar collectors are self regulating heating elements which assist with heating the air entering the bag at night time and cloudy days.

The operating cost is halve of that of known commercial dryers.

There is a huge demand for such an in the bag drying system. SILOSTRAT in South Africa has bought units from me and after a couple of weeks they bought another couple of units. The system works really well and I am looking for new opportunities. Patent applications have been handed in already in 2015.

The tests were done on two different farms is Australia and I am already working with Damon Parker in the Bremer Bay region( Southern region of WA). He has a lot of experience with silo bags and can supply silo bags, the driers and other bagging equipment.
Happy to answer any questions.
 
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#9 ·
How even is the moisture through the bag when done drying with the duelat system? Seems like it would take a lot more effort to dry grain the long way in a 250' long bag than going across the shorter 10' width. Does it leave a moisture front and spoilage zone in the bag if you stop sucking with the fan too soon?
 
#10 ·
How does it work with the late fall temperatures we have in western Canada? 10-15 deg C during the day and near freezing at night?
Also will it work during freezing temperatures? How do the solar panels work?
 
#11 ·
Twix
The shape of the bag, long and thin, causes the air passing through it to be at a higher velocity through the grain than in a steel silo. That air has less time to pick up moisture from the grain which in turn cause the air leaving the bag not to be saturated. Yes the system dries the grain from the one inlet ( underneath the solar collectors) towards the other, but is does not have a drying front that is wetter than the grain originally put into the bag like in a steel silo. But you need a certain minimum airflow through the bag to achieve drying it. That is why the system has this patent pending layout on the bag.

If one wants to force the air across the bag through the grain you will have to many outlets (suction hoses ) which will make the system to cumbersome to move around etc. Also you will destroy the integrity of the bag.

After drying the moisture fluctuates by about 0.5 % Which is not a problem as the grain mixes anyway when out loaded.
 
#12 ·
Highmaker
The system has been teste in summer temperatures between 15 and 40 deg C and in winter between -10 and 20 deg C It works a little bit better in winter because the ambient air is drier. It has not been tested in snowing conditions, but adding more heat to the system is easy. It is getting enough air through the grain that was the big challenge. One way to add more heat is to increase the self regulating heaters underneath the solar collectors capacity.

The solar collectors heat the air the same way as a solar water heater would. No electronics or electrical equipment in the solar collectors. When dirty you wash them with water.
 
#13 ·
After the grain in the bag is dried to acceptable levels the system can be moved to the next bag. The silo bag can then be de-bagged or the grain can be de-bagged at a later stage


Qoute from website..... does this mean, after the grain is dried, you need to re-bag the grain into a different bag?
 
#14 ·
BoSoT
No the grain does not have to be re-bagged after drying. You reseal the holes and can keep it in the original bag. Holes can be sealed with duct tape or vinal stickers cut to size. (the same stickers they use for signage on vehicles etc.) A 75m bag will have 6x140mm and 48 x 50mm holes in the bag after drying
 
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