Corn Drying by Aeration with Ambient Air

Two experiments were made for seven masses of com by aeration with ambient air. In those two experiments, three air distribution systems were used, one made of U-shaped movable tripod ducts equiped with axial flow or centrifugal fans, another one made of lateral ducts expending from the central main duct with axial-flow fans, and the last one composed of brick-stack duct with axial-fans.In the first experiment, corn's initial moisture content was between 16.53 % and 17.52 %, with grain depth ranging between 2.2 and 2.5 meters, the air temperature during the experiment var ied from 1.14 to 13℃, and the average relative humidity 59% to 61%. After 31.5 to 46 hours of discontinual aeration with the airflow rate of 51 to 95 m³/ t · h, the moisture content failed uniformly into the range of 13.78% to 14.73%, a desired content for safe storage of corn. The corn in the second experiment, with the initial moisture content of 16.46% to 60.98%. was piled with a depth of 2 to 4 meters. The air temperature varied bewteen 7 to 16.8℃, and the average relative humidity 46% to 60% . After about 42 hours of aeration with an airflow rate of 41 to 90 m³/ t · h,the moisture content was reduced to a range of 13.47% to 14.02%, the electricity consumption was 0.015 to 0.041 kilowatt-hour per kilogram of evaporated water.