Once cereals crops are harvested, they may need to be stored before they are marketed or used as seed or feed. The period of time that cereal grains can be safely stored is determined by the condition in which they were harvested and the type of storage facilities being used. Cereal grains binned at low temperatures and moisture contents can be stored for long periods before their quality deteriorates. Additionally, grain drying helps to reduce the weight of the grains and makes it easier to transport the grain over long distances. Here are the three major types of hot air grain dryers in Southern Idaho.
Continuous Flow Dryers
In a continuous flow dryer, hot air is passed through a continuously flowing mass of grains. The grains are then cooled by blowing cold air through them. Since the grains pass through the drying column once, they are not dried uniformly as in a recirculating batch dryer. One of the key advantages of continuous flow dryers is that large quantities of grains can be dried without the dryer stopping.
Batch Hot Air Dryers
There are two major types of batch dryers, including non-recirculating and recirculating dryers. In a non-recirculating batch dryer, the columns of grains are put in the same location relative to the dryer for full batch drying. The grains are over-dried on the inside layer and under-dried on the outside layer. In a recirculating batch dryer, grains are mixed constantly using a recirculating auger. The key advantage of recirculating batch dryers is that grains are dried uniformly due to the constant re-circulation.
Bin Hot Air Dryers
A bin dryer consists of a fully perforated floor, sweep auger, grain spreader, fan and heater, and an under-floor uploading auger. The grains are loaded as a consignment and remain stationery in the dryer throughout the drying process. Bin dryers are expensive to install when compared to the continuous flow dryers and batch dryers. Some advantages of bin dryers include:
* Minimal supervision is required
* There is a possibility of obtaining variable batch sizes
* Availability of storage bins after drying
Apart from hot air dryers, there are many other types of Grain Dryers in Southern Idaho, including the solar dryers and concurrent flow dryers.
For additional information about Grain Dryers, visit Domain.
