Lecture 23 Site Selection

Layout and Design of Grain Storage Systems  Two general (guiding) principles:  closed loop - deliver or receive grain from same location.  expansion - able to expand from two to four times the original capacity without violating the first principle

Site Selection  well drained  accessible  room to expand  available fuel and electrical power  all weather roads  location in relation to residential housing  physical security

Developing a Plan  scaled drawing  paper cutouts  bins, buildings, pit, bucket elevator, dryers, augers, wet holding bins, surge bins, Dryeration bins, single axle trucks, tandem trucks, trailer trucks and tractors with wagons.  lay in handling system

For each plan, ask the following: 1. Delivery vehicles move easily? 2. Closed loop apply? 3. Electrical power get there? 4. Where will you place the LP tank? 5. Solar orientation ok? 6. Will equipment remain ABOVE water? 7. Fans too much noise? 8. Room to add feed processing equipment? 9. Large enough for anticipated harvest rate? 10. Are parts of system mismatched? 11. Safe arrangement? Blind spots? 12. Expanded easily?

Planning - Summary 1. Plan for 20 to 30 years 2. Allow for times expansion 3. Bottleneck should be combine 4. Move a building/ bin if in wrong place 5. No out of the way spots 6. Identify bottlenecks in system... Perhaps spend $2000 on auger rather than 20,000 on a combine. 7. Safe as possible

Basic Schemes Advantages Centralized:  Flexible  ease of expansion - include any # bins / dryers  low labor requirement  meets needs of both large and small operator Disadvantages Centralized:  more skill required during construction  larger initial investment for handling equipment

Basic Schemes  Circular Advantages  efficient handling of grain with portable augers  Circular disadvantages  Expansion more difficult  best served if all bins are the same size  2nd tier of bins requires two staged augering  Delivery vehicles may need to back out  If bucket elevator used, will need to be taller

Circular Design Given these limitations, the following must be specified before laying out a circular design: present & future capacity as determined by the max. # of bins of a given diameter that can be constructed on the circle eave height and roof slope of bins delivery conveyer geometry width of receiving area

Issues concerning expansion  radius should be determined on potential capacity, NOT length of present auger  could a leg be installed later?  can a wet holding bin be installed or will you need to use the pit for temporary wet holding storage?  is there room for a portable dryer

Summary concerning circular arrangements  total storage related to radius  45 degree auger slope is not preferred  auger length and degree slope = design

Flat Storage  rectangular buildings, forced into storage  portable equipment used to fill & empty  duct type aeration (above floor)  grain generally not placed "against wall

Flat Storage Advantages of Flat Storage  multipurpose facilities Disadvantages of Flat Storage  shear strength is greatest at floor  large open doors  aeration more difficult  insect and rodents difficult to control  must fill completely right away  use only with dry grain