Design and development of hermetic storage bin for de-hulled Kodo millet

Abstract

Hermetic storage is sealed airtight non-chemical based storage system used to preserve the quality of grain, protect from pests, insects, and minimizes the storage losses. A hermetic storage bin was designed with a capacity 200 kg for de-hulled kodo millet. To design the hermetic bin the physical properties of de-hulled kodo millet such as bulk density, true density, porosity, angle of repose and co-efficient of friction were studied. The bulk density, true density, porosity, and angle of repose of de-hulled kodo millet were found to be 685.42 kg/m3, 1250 kg/m3, 45.16% and 26.1°. The co-efficient of friction of de-hulled kodo millet against the mild steel was found to be 0.781. The lateral pressure exerted on the wall surface for was 123.45 kg/m3 at the height of 0.6m. Pressure decay test was performed to check the air tightness of the hermetic bin. This hermetic bin can advocated to farmers and processors for value addition of small millets.