Simulation of a Mathematical Model for the Temperature Profile in a Silo Bag for Bean

Abstract

The problems encountered with storage of agricultural products has warranted studies related to finding alternative methods of grain storage, thereby avoiding unnecessary losses. Stored grain deteriorates quickly at high temperatures. The moisture content of the grain influences the respiratory process; therefore, when at the recommended humidity of between 11 and 13%, this rate remains low, it prolongs maintenance of the product quality. The silo bag being airtight enables the grain mass to consume the entire internal O2 purse within it, and in that low or absent oxygen environment the grain mass saturates the CO2 atmosphere, inhibiting the multiplication of insects and fungi, thus providing a controlled environment. This study aims at simulating, using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), the time it would take for the entire grain mass contained in a silo bag to reach thermal equilibrium with the environment and analyzes the feasibility of the technique employed here. The simulations were performed based on the data of the average air temperature in the region at each harvest time and the average storage temperature of the bean mass (60°C). The results obtained from the simulations reveal that after one month of silo storage the entire bag remains in thermal stabilization, and four months later when it hits the entire mass, all the beans are in thermal equilibrium. Therefore, maintaining stable temperature and humidity within the recommended silo bag preserves the grain quality well.

Keywords

• storage, thermal conduction, cfd