Method and means for grain drying optimization

A method for drying and conditioning of grain in a bin comprising:

• positioning a plurality of sensors, each of said plurality of sensors configured to measure temperature and moisture;
• gathering data from the grain, air within the bin, air entering the bin, and air exiting the bin such that said data are convertible to Dry Bulb and Dew Point values, said data being obtained at predetermined intervals of time from said plurality of sensors;
• establishing a system-wide common data format for the air, gas, vapor, and materials values;
• integrating said data with the quantitative algorithm of direct differential vapor pressure analysis;
• conditioning the grain in response to results obtained from the quantitative algorithm of differential vapor pressure analysis, said conditioning chosen from the group consisting of warming and drying, maximum warming, wet warming, incremental drying, specified equilibrium moisture content drying, cooling and drying, ventilating to even grain temperatures, ventilating to profile test, and re-wetting.

A method for drying grain in a bin comprising:

• use of sensors to determine moisture and temperature of the grain and air entering, inside, and exiting the bin;
• and
• conditioning or selecting the air entering and inside the bin such that
• the air entering and inside the bin is configured to be warmer than the grain and whose temperature differential with the grain is between 5-7° F. is used to warm the grain, and controlling the rate of heating the grain such that the temperature difference between the grain and air inside the bin is prevented from becoming so great that moisture expelled from relatively warmer grain is prevented from condensing on cooler grain,
• the air entering and inside the bin is configured to hold more relative moisture than the grain and whose temperature differential is greater than 5° F. to warm the grain, and controlling the rate of heating the grain such that the temperature difference between the grain and air inside the bin is prevented from becoming so great that moisture expelled from relatively warmer grain is prevented from condensing on cooler grain, or the air entering and inside the bin obtains a state of being colder and holding less moisture relative to the grain.

A method for treating material in a bin with gas or vapor contact comprising:

• gathering data specific to the bin in regards to physical dimensions, filling means and rates, size of fans, and the volume of air-flow in time or cfm per bushel, atmospheric pressure at the bin site, and the relevant ratio for the vapor or gas constants;
• gathering data specific to the grain being dried in regards to mass per bushel, volume of grain or number of bushels, percent grain moistures, historical equilibrium equations, and predetermined equations for the change in the specific heat of the grain as grain moisture changes;
• entering data as pairs of temperatures and moistures, either sensed or converted to independent values of dry bulb and dew points, in the ambient air, within the grain, and of the exiting air;
• calculating from said pairs of data values resultant vapor pressures and absolutes humidities;
• converting said dry bulb temperatures of standard scale into absolute temperature values to derive specific volumes;
• converting the volume of air-flow per unit time, the number of bushels being examined, the specific volumes, and the time interval being considered to derive the Mass of air-flow per unit time;
• deriving mass of water removed or added from the differences in said absolute humidities multiplied by said mass of air-flow per unit time;
• calculating the enthalpy of the latent heat of said air by multiplying the computed water removed value by the latent heat of vaporization at said air temperature;
• calculating enthalpy of sensible heat by multiplying the computed air mass by the bushels and the mass per bushel, multiplying by the said specific heat of the grain, and multiplying by the considered temperature differential;
• calculating enthalpy of sensible heat by multiplying the computed air mass by the specific heat of air and by the considered temperature differential;
• deriving a time to temperature equilibrium with regard to a source of thermal change, cooling warm grain with colder air having a dew point less than or equal the dew point measured within the grain, by dividing the enthalpy of the grain by the sum of the enthalpy of the sensible heat plus the enthalpy of the latent heat, or heating cold and wet grain with warm air having a dew point permitting evaporate cooling by dividing the sum of enthalpy of the graining and the enthalpy of the latent heat by the enthalpy of the sensible heat.

A method for drying grain in a bin comprising:

• using a plurality of sensors to determine temperature and moisture of the grain, air entering the bin, air inside the bin, and air exiting the bin;
• conditioning said air entering the bin in response to predetermined temperature differentials to respond to grain temperature changes;
• and
• preventing moisture expelled from the grain from re-condensing on the grain.