Dynamics of the particle moisture distribution during storage of wheat under laboratory and pilot-scale conditions
2019
Schinabeck, T.M. | Weigler, F. | Mellmann, J. | Idler, C. | Flöter, E.
To predict the storability of grain, detailed information is required on the moisture distribution within the grain bulk since a significant variance can be expected in the moisture content between individual grain kernels during storage. Therefore, it is important to consider and determine the single kernel moisture content distribution. The aim of this work was to investigate mass transfer processes that occur during long-term and intermediate storage of grain. For it, the method of particle moisture distribution analysis by means of the Time Domain Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy was used. For this purpose, fundamental laboratory-scale experiments were conducted in small storage containers. As these storage experiments revealed, the width of the particle moisture distribution decreased noticeably when there was enough air available in the container for moisture exchange. Thereafter, the storage experiments were extended to pilot-scale using barrels to store grain for months in the scope of about 90 kg per batch. These experiments were performed without ventilation so as to simulate dead zones of airflow that often occur under industrial-scale flat storage conditions. In the closed barrels, no equalization of the particle moisture content was observed even after eleven months of storage. The knowledge gained from the experiments conducted at the micro and meso levels facilitates the understanding of the mass transfer processes that occur during macro scale storage, which are difficult to examine as an entity.
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