Airflow Patterns Through Wheat, Barley, and Canola in Bins with Partially Perforated Floors— An Experimental Investigation

Abstract

Experiments were conducted to study the airflow patterns during drying through wheat, barley, and canola stored in a 4.2-m diameter (13.6 ft) cylindrical steel bin with a fully perforated floor that was modified to give three different partially perforated floors (straight, cross, and square floor openings). To show the airflow patterns through the grains, iso-pressure and iso-traverse time lines were drawn across two different cross-sections of the bulk for each floor type. The zones of poor ventilation were the portions of the grain near the lower corners of the bin farthest from the floor opening in all three cases. The shapes of the ventilation fronts through wheat, barley, and Canola were almost the same across any given cross-section of the bulk and floor type. Based on the traverse time, calculated using the airflow resistance data from the literature, drying or cooling rates through barley were faster than through wheat and the drying or cooling rates through wheat were faster than canola.