Simulation of low temperature corn drying in three locations in Italy

Abstract

Corn (maize) drying was simulated using a computer program, written in basic and developed on an IBM-PC. The simulations concerned 12 years of measured weather data for Milan and 4 years for Bologna and Perugia. The minimum airflow requirements for the worst year and for each location were determined for all combinations of the following conditions: (a) harvest date (1, 15 and 30 October); (b) initial moisture content 22 and 25% w.b.; (c) continuous heat, 1 and 3 K temperature rise (1 K by the fan and 2 K, in the latter case, by supplemental heat). The resulting minimum airflow rates are in the range 120 to 700 m 3/ht. The simulation runs show the advantage of supplemental heat and of later harvest dates in reducing the required airflow rates, even if the low temperature drying methods do not appear to be economically feasible in most cases.