GB884535A - Improvements in or relating to malting plant - Google Patents

Abstract

884,535. Malting. CHEVALIER, H. M. J. April 21, 1959 [April 22, 1958], No. 13504/59. Class 14 (2). [Also in Groups XIII and XXX] In apparatus for malting, drying or kilning grain, the material under treatment is circulated continuously within a compartment a 1 , Fig. 1, while resting on one or more perforated rigid platforms 10 inclined such that the material descends by its own weight at a predetermined speed under the influence of transverse angle members 50, Fig. 4, sliding on the platform in a downward direction. Grain, previously moistened when the treatment is malting, fed by a screw conveyer on to the platform 10 slowly descends thereon over an air box 18 delivering air through the perforations at the required temperature and humidity; on reaching the bottom of the platform, the grain is undercut by a " porcupine " and then fed through a further screw conveyer to, preferably, the next higher compartment, and so on. Blocking of the perforations by grain is prevented by fitting brushes 54, Fig. 4, between the flanges 51, 52 of the angle members 50. Heating and cooling, according to requirements, of the air, which is circulated and partially recirculated by a fan 40, is achieved by heat exchangers 42 through which heating or cooling fluid is circulated via a two-way pipe 43 (shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1). The effective flow-section of the air is adjustable by slide valves 45<SP>1</SP> and 39, and loss of air in the space between succeeding angle members is avoided by the provision of sprung rubber strips 48, 49. In Fig. 2 (not shown), the angle members do not project beyond the width of the platform 10 so that the partitions 21, 22, shown in Fig. 1, can be directly connected to the platform 10.