Beard Industries

Other

The United States of America As Represented by the Department of Energy

Ronald T Noyes

Eugene E Williams

Gregory A Lynch

Larysa P Potapovych

Vitaliy G Danchenko

Vitaly G Danchenko

Aeration drying and disinfecting grain crops in bulk and pretreating seeds includes passing through a bulk of grain crops and seeds disinfecting and drying agents including an ozone and air mixture and surrounding air, subdividing the disinfecting and drying agents into a plurality of streams spaced from one another in a vertical direction, and passing the streams at different heights through levels located at corresponding heights of the bulk of grain crops and seeds transversely in a substantially horizontal direction.

Method of aeration disinfecting and drying grain in bulk and pretreating seeds and a transverse blow silo grain dryer therefor

This process embodies forcing air through grain and granular biological products using a high volume horizontal airflow from a central vertical pervious tube to one or more plenum chambers near the structure sidewall to dry or cool products. Cross-flow air movement can be supplied by either suction or pressure. This conditioning and drying method has advantages over conventional storage structures, especially where product depth is much greater than diameter. In this process, horizontal air typically moves only &#x2153; to &#x2159; of vertical distances. Horizontal airflow resistance through elongated seeds is 50-60 percent of vertical airflow. Power for horizontal airflow is typically 8-15% that of vertical airflow. Grain and seed drying costs will be 15-30% of high temperature drying. To enhance germination, storage and grain and seed quality, and to kill or exclude insect pests, ozone is applied to drying or aeration airstreams for treating stored products and storages.

Method and apparatus for low-energy in-bin cross-flow grain and seed air drying and storage

A cross flow grain drying and conditioning apparatus having an improved grain column configuration wherein the thickness is narrower at the top and bottom thereof than at an intermediate portion thereof for optimumly confining the grain to be dried. A single blower operates to force heated drying air through a first zone of the column of grain and to pull cooling air through a second zone or alternatively to push heated air through both the first and second zones by opening or closing a plenum divider which can be closed to define the zones or opened to combine the zones. An exhaust drying and cooling air recycling structure is provided for regulating the volume of exhaust air versus recycled air in an exhaust area and for blending unsaturated exhaust heated air with incoming cooling air drawn from the second zone or secondly for recycling exhausted drying air from the second zone when using both zones for best drying, or thirdly for exhausting all drying and cooling air when using pressure heating and cool drying. A secondary partial plenum divider and an improved burner also provided for supplying hotter air to the cooler, wetter incoming grain than to the partially dried and warmer grain as such grain moves down through the grain column. The secondary partial plenum divider also includes an opening therein for inspection and for allowing fines to drop out into an automatic cleanout apparatus.

Grain drying and conditioning apparatus

A continuous grain drying and conditioning apparatus of a type including a burner and blower, or a multiplicity of burners and blowers, surrounded by a plenum chamber, air pervious grain holding walls positioned outwardly with respect to the plenum chamber is characterized by having a plenum divider which is selectively adjustable in position to divide the grain holding walls into a heating section and a cooling section. A multiplicity of grain turning apparatus of full and partial width of the grain column is disposed in the grain column for separating the grain mass into two or more separate divisions and then turning the cooler-wetter grain inwardly as it moves downwardly and turning the hotter-dryer grain outwardly as it moves downwardly in the grain column. Grain is constantly removed from the bottom of the apparatus at a rate governed by the average temperature of the air exiting the grain at a point adjacent the position of the plenum divider and a point closer to the input of the grain. Grain to be dried and conditioned is constantly introduced into the top of the apparatus at a rate that satisfies the rate of discharge of the dried and conditioned grain as it is delivered out of the bottom of the apparatus. Structure and management is also provided for controlled recycling of unsaturated exhaust air back through the dryer, whereby, the exhaust air is selectively proportioned and controlled based on the degree of saturation of the lower portion of the exhaust air. Further control of the recycled air is obtained at the level adjacent to the closed plenum divider level by a door positioned in the weathershield which design causes a separation between upper heated exhaust air which is diverted into the corner column for return to the blower, and the lower cooling air which is drawn by vacuum through the grain column cooling the grain. A still further consideration in this air control door is that the sloped separator panel is controlled by gravity, spring, or other closing means such that when grain particles or other foreign material builds up on the upper surface to a weight greater than the force holding the door closed, the door automatically begins to open, giving visual indication of needed cleanout, of vital importance in column grain dryers for optimum timing of housekeeping to maintain clean grain panel exhaust area and prevent fire hazards. A further modification of this air control door provides a means of using the entire grain column for drying when cooling of the grain is not desired by closing all cool air inlet louvers and positioning the air control doors at a position intermediate between fully closed as discussed above and fully open as for cleanout or supplemental cooling air inlet.

Advanced optimum continuous crossflow grain drying and conditioning

A grain drying and conditioning apparatus having a housing with an outer pervious skin with impervious end walls, air inlet, grain inlet, grain outlet and air exhaust duct structures connected thereto has air pervious walls which are spaced within the structure for confining a column of grain to be dried. A blower and heater mechanism is also connected to the housing for causing heated air to be forced through a first zone of the column of grain in one direction to heat and extract moisture therefrom and simultaneously causing air for cooling the grain to be pulled through a second zone of the grain column in an opposite direction, or, by simple adjustments, to be pushed in the same direction as the flow of the heated air. A plenum chamber is formed between the innermost of the pervious walls, the air duct structure, and a rear bulkhead wall opposite the air duct structure; an adjustable plenum divider mechanism is provided between the innermost of the pervious walls and the air duct structure in the plenum chamber for selectively dividing the plenum chamber into a first and a second section for the purpose of optimizing the heating and cooling of the grain in the first and second zones, or for combining both zones of the plenum chamber for optimum heated air drying in the entire structure. Air recycling structure and specific air control devices for regulating the volume of exhaust air versus recycled air in the exhaust areas of the dryer is provided for blending unsaturated exhaust heated air which was forced through the lower portion of the first zone (drying zone) of the grain column area by pressure with incoming cooling air drawn through the second zone (cooling zone) of the grain column area by suction to save the energy in such heated air.

Optimum low profile continuous crossflow grain drying and conditioning

A continuous grain drying and conditioning apparatus of a type including a burner and blower, or a multiplicity of burners and blowers, surrounded by a plenum chamber, air pervious grain holding walls positioned outwardly with respect to the plenum chamber is characterized by having a plenum divider which is selectively adjustable in position to divide the grain holding walls into a heating section and a cooling section. A multiplicity of grain turning apparatus of full and partial width of the grain column is disposed in the grain column for separating the grain mass into two or more separate divisions and then turning the cooler-wetter grain inwardly as it moves downwardly and turning the hotter-dryer grain outwardly as it moves downwardly in the grain column. Grain is constantly removed from the bottom of the apparatus at a rate governed by the average temperature of the air exiting the grain at a point adjacent the position of the plenum divider and a point closer to the input of the grain. Grain to be dried and conditioned is constantly introduced into the top of the apparatus at a rate that satisfies the rate of discharge of the dried and conditioned grain as it is delivered out of the bottom of the apparatus. Structure and management is also provided for controlled recycling of unsaturated exhaust air back through the dryer, whereby, the exhaust air is selectively proportioned and controlled based on the degree of saturation of the lower portion of the exhaust air.

A continuous grain drying and conditioning apparatus of a type including a burner and blower, or a multiplicity of burners and blowers, surrounded by a plenum chamber, air pervious grain holding walls positioned outwardly with respect to the plenum chamber is characerized by having a plenum divider which is selectively adjustable in position to divide the grain holding walls into a heating section and a cooling section. Grain turning apparatus is disposed in the grain column for separating the grain mass into two separate divisions and then turning the cooler-wetter grain inwardly as it moves downwardly and turning the hotter-dryer grain outwardly as it moves downwardly in the grain column. Grain is constantly removed from the bottom of the apparatus at a rate governed by the average temperature of the air exiting the grain at a point adjacent the position of the plenum divider and a point closer to the input of the grain. Grain to be dried and conditioned is constantly introduced into the top of the apparatus as fast as dried and conditioned grain is delivered out of the bottom of the apparatus. Structure is also provided for recycling unsaturated exhaust air back through the dryer.

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Frankfort, IN, United States of America

Ronald T Noyes