Continuous flow grain dryer
AssigneeIngenieria Mega S.A.
InventorMarcelo Valfiorani
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A continuous flow grain dryer comprising a plurality of vertical columns for receiving and heating/drying grain, with each column having an inlet wall including side drying air inlets, and an opposite outlet wall including side exhausted air outlets, wherein the inlets and outlets are provided with diverters angularly extending towards a longitudinal axis of the column and defining a central clear region for permitting the free downward moving of the grain, with an air descending path being defined between an inlet and a downwardly adjacent outlet, and a tempering region being defined between a diverter and an associated opposite wall portion.
Claims21
A continuous flow grain dryer of the type comprising at least one vertical column for receiving the grain, wherein the grain enters at an upper inlet in the at least one column, follows a descending path within the at least one column and exits the at least one column at a bottom outlet thereof, thus defining a continuous flow for the grain, the dryer also comprising heater means for heating drying air and fun means for transversely circulating the heated air through the grain in the at least one column, with the heated air entering the at least one column through corresponding side air inlets defined in an inlet wall of the at least one column and exiting the at least one column, as exhausted air, through corresponding side air outlets in an outlet wall of the at least one column, the at least one column comprising:
- an inlet diverter at each side air inlet, the inlet diverter downwardly extending from an upper edge of the side air inlet towards a longitudinal axis of the at least one column;
- an outlet diverter at each side air outlet, the outlet diverter downwardly extending from an upper edge of the side air inlet towards said longitudinal axis of the at least one column;
- wherein the inlet wall comprises inlet wall portions extending between adjacent side air inlets, with each inlet wall portion being opposite to an associated outlet diverter, and
- wherein the outlet wall comprises outlet wall portions extending between adjacent side air outlets, with each outlet wall portion being opposite to an associated inlet diverter, and
- wherein each inlet diverter has a free end and each outlet diverter has a free end, and the free ends of the inlets diverters being vertically aligned to define an inlet line and the free ends of the outlet diverters are vertically aligned to define an outlet line, with the inlet and outlet line being spaced apart to define a central vertical clear region in the at least one column for the free pass of the grain, and
- wherein an inlet diverter and a downwardly adjacent outlet diverter define an air descending circulating path, with corresponding grain tempering regions being defined between an inlet diverter and at least part of its associated opposite outlet wall portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.