Abstract
Most aeration fans are sized to produce a minimum airflow rate of 0.1 m3/min/t (0.1 cfm/bu) in on-farm grain storage structures. At this airflow rate a significant amount of time is required to move a cooling front completely through a bin. The desired grain temperature andprevailing weather conditions will have a significant effect on required fan size. Thirty years of weather data were analyzed for the eastern United States to determine the amount of time available in temperature windows between 0 to 15 °C and 0 to 17 °C. Contour maps were generated with ArcMap 8.3 for the percentage of each month within the given temperature windows. A substantial amount of time (over 4% of the month) is available within temperature limits of 0 and 17 ° C between September and April. This indicates that airflow rates of at least 0.6 m3/min/t (0.5 cfm/bu) would be more adequate to completely move an aeration front through a bin for summer harvested grain in Southern regions of the United States. However, during July and August only the northern half of the United States would have a sufficient amount of time available for cooling grain below 17 °C using an airflow rate of 0.1 m3/min/t (0.1 cfm/bu). The maps generated provide a starting point for sizing aeration fans in the eastern United States.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 665-669 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Applied Engineering in Agriculture |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 5 |
State | Published - Sep 2004 |
Keywords
- Control
- Fan
- Stored product
- Temperature
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Engineering