Climate effect on strategy sellection and energy consumption for in-bin drying of corn with natural air/low temperature

Abstract

This is a general study about the performance and energy requirement for NA/LT in-bin drying of corn at 10 different locations in Argentina.  The goals of this study were to use the PHAST-FDM simulation model and historical weather data to study the performance of four NA/LT in-bin drying strategies for drying corn with different airflow rates (1 to  2 m³ min^-1 t^-1) and from different initial moisture contents (MC) (17 and 20%) in terms of drying time, final moisture content and dry matter loss, among other parameters.  Additionally, the electrical and caloric energy consumption was also estimated.  The most successful strategy across locations was the intelligent strategy (a model based strategy).  The appropriate specific airflow rate was 2 m³ min^-1 t^-1 in North Argentina and 1 m³ min^-1 t^-1 in the South Argentina.  In some locations with warm weather, no NA/LT in-bin drying strategy succeeded in drying corn with initial MC of 20% or superior under the airflow rates ranges investigated in this study, mostly due to excessive dry matter loss.  The location with the coldest weather (Balcarce) resulted with the highest total energy consumption per point of moisture extracted and per ton of grain, (35.5 and 25.1 kWh for 17% and 20% initial MC, respectively).  On the contrary, the location with the warmest weather (Saenz Peña) resulted with the lowest total energy consumption, with 9.4 and 10.7 kWh per point of moisture extracted and per ton, for 17% and 20% initial MC, respectively.

Keywords: in-bin drying, natural air / low temperature; drying strategies; climate effect; simulation; dry matter loss; energy consumption