A new
control system designed to provide reliable drying of grain and other
combinable crops with minimal manual intervention will be launched at the
CropTech event by Kentra, one of the UK’s leading crop dryer manufacturers.
The Dryer
Master DM510 control unit and software can be retrofitted to most continuous
flow crop dryers or embedded into the control panel of a new Kentra dryer. Both
installations use a pair of moisture sensors – one at the intake, one at the
discharge point – to calculate and automatically adjust how long grain needs to
spend passing through the dryer to achieve the target moisture level set by the
operator.
Barry
Higginbottom, Kentra managing director, says: “This proven technology from
Canada can save valuable time otherwise spent monitoring and managing a dryer
manually and can bring about significant savings in terms of energy use and
unnecessary weight loss resulting from over-drying.”
The Dryer
Master system comprises a highly accurate moisture sensor installed in the
conveyor line taking grain from the dryer and an inlet sensor usually fitted at
the top of a continuous flow dryer that detects changes in the moisture content
of incoming grain. The control software uses the readings from these sensors to
calculate the residence time needed to hit an average target moisture and
adjust the discharge rate accordingly.
“The ability
to predict when, say, wetter incoming grain will fill the dryer takes all the
guesswork out of managing the system and results in more accurate and consistent
drying,” says Mr Higginbottom.
“
Both sensors
automatically compensate for grain temperature to ensure accurate readings and
calibrating the post-drying sensor involves nothing more than pressing a
‘calibrate’ button on the control panel, putting a couple of samples through a
moisture meter and entering the readings.
“We don’t
advocate a ‘set and forget’ approach; it’s good practice to have someone
supervising the drying operation and we recommend repeating the sensor
calibration two or three times a day as a check,” says Barry Higginbottom. “But
the accuracy of this automated control system will give the store supervisor confidence
to attend to other aspects of harvest management without neglecting the dryer.”
Significant
cost saving is the other potential attraction of the system, he adds: “Manual grain
dryer management involves responding to samples taken after the grain has been
dried and to avoid being caught out there is a tendency to err on the side of
caution, which often results in a lot of grain being dried beyond the optimum.”
That is
costly in energy – bearing in mind it takes more energy to move grain from 14%
to 13% mc than from 15-14% – and also in weight loss.
“Assuming a
grain price of £100/tonne, a farm drying 20,000 tonnes of grain has only to
save 1% moisture in over-drying to regain £20,000 in lost revenue,” Mr
Higginbottom points out. “A farm drying 4-5000 tonnes of grain a year would
recoup the £10,000-£12,000 all-in purchase of a Dryer Master system in three
years – a bigger operator even sooner – while also saving time and hassle at
harvest.”
The Dryer
Master display provides a quick view of drying status and settings, a manual
option for operators who prefer to make their own discharge rate decisions, a
number of alarm alerts and a print-out for records. Where Internet access is
available, the display is duplicated on a web browser accessible on a farm
office computer or remotely via a smart phone or other mobile device.
CropTec 2016
Make sure to visit Kentra stand M19 at this year's event, taking place on the 29th & 30th November at the east of England Showground, Peterborough.
We also have over 140 exhibitors at the event displaying the latest science and technology across the trade stands, while CropTec’s well established seminars and hubs will feature the latest thinking on a range of key arable topics delivered by leading specialists.
The event is free to attend for those visitors that pre-book their tickets. ALL visitors will be charged £15 on the day.
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