Modelling and Simulation Moisture Transfer in Wheat Stored in a Simulated Sealed Pit

Abstract

A mathematical model, coupled to another one which was used to calculate the conductive heat transfer, was developed to predict the change of moisture distribution with time in the radial and axial directions in a simulated sealed cylindrical pit storing wheat. The finite difference method was used in the model to calculate the diffusive moisture transfer. The model predicts the grain moisture contents in the pit during the storage period using input data of initial grain temperature, initial grain moisture content, storage time and number of spatial elements in both radial and axial directions. Other input data include the finite difference spatial increment in both directions, the finite time increment, temperatures of soil surrounding the pit and the physical properties of grain, pit wall material and surrounding soil. To validate the model, predicted moisture contents were compared with measured data for wheat of Apollo variety being stored in a simulated sealed pit for a period of 70 days. The wheat was stored in a cylindrical mild steel tank with 0.6 m in both diameter and height. The initial uniform grain temperature was 15 °C and the initial uniform grain moisture content was 12.45% (w.b.). Both measured and predicted moisture contents show that the major change in wheat moisture content took place during the first week of the storage and an establishment of steady state under the storage conditions of the pit is unattainable i.e. moisture diffusion is a very slow process. At the end of the storage period, the grain moisture contents were increased by an average of 1.62% (w.b.) and the grain temperatures were decreased by an average of 2.63°C at the top layer of the pit. For the bottom layer of the pit, the grain moisture contents were decreased by an average of 0.50% (w.b.) and the grain temperatures increased by an average of 7.04°C. The diffusive moisture transfer model predicted the grain moisture contents with a standard error of estimate between measured and predicted of 0.18 -0.75% and of 0.18-0.74% (w.b.) using Chung's equation and modified Henderson's equation, respectively. There was no difference between the two sorption equations (Chung's and modified Henderson's equations) used in predicting grain moisture contents.