JPH0118346B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a technique for continuously drying and cooling a large amount of grain.

When storing a large amount of grain such as imported grain for a long period of time, it is necessary to keep the grain at low temperature and low humidity to prevent deterioration of the quality of the stored grain. The problem here is a drying and cooling method for keeping such a large amount of grain at a low temperature and low humidity, and an apparatus directly used for carrying out the method.

Conventionally, the method of drying and cooling such large quantities of grain has been to perform the drying and cooling processes using separate equipment. There were many things to do.

However, with such conventional methods, the following problems cannot be denied. (1) Because separate equipment is used for drying and cooling, or because a single container is not used, a lot of time and energy are required for handling (moving, etc.) the grain to be processed. In addition, the entire device becomes larger and costs increase. (2) Since a small amount of grain is processed in batches, there is a limit to the amount of grain that can be processed per unit time, and efficient and good processing cannot be achieved.

This invention was made in consideration of the above points, and by drying and cooling the grains while flowing them using their own weight in one large container, a large amount of grains can be continuously produced with simple means. The present invention provides a new technology that enables efficient and efficient processing.

Hereinafter, the contents of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The main feature of this invention is that the drying and cooling of grains are carried out in a single cylindrical container 1, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The container 1 used is, for example, a large one with a rectangular cross section, and inside the container there are provided a drying zone 2, a pre-cooling zone 3, and a cooling zone 4 from above. Then, the drying zone 2 and the pre-cooling zone 3, and the pre-cooling zone 3 and the cooling zone 4.
Both are partitioned by hoppers 11 and 12 which are connected to the inner surface of the side wall of the container 1 and whose discharge amount can be adjusted in the form of a downward convergence. The upper drying zone 2 is a hot air area of, for example, 60 to 80°C, and is a part where the moisture in the grain is blown away to dry the grain. In addition, the lower two cooling zones 3 and 4 are
This is the part where the grain heated in the drying zone 2 is cooled down to the temperature required for storage (for example, 5 to 10°C). Therefore, the lower cooling zone can be combined into one, but in this case, preliminary cooling zone 3 is pre-cooled to a temperature slightly higher than the temperature required for stockpiling, and then cooling zone 4 is used for stockpiling. We are trying to fully cool down the temperature to the required temperature. By providing two or more cooling zones in this way, it is possible to moderate sudden temperature changes in the grains and reliably prevent the adverse effects on the grains caused by sudden temperature changes.

The container 1 also has a grain input port 5 on the upper end side.
A discharge port 6 is provided on the lower side. It is desirable that the same amount of grain be input or output from the input port 5 and the output port 6 (this point will become clear from the explanation of the function described later). It is best to include a valve device.

By the way, as a method of configuring each zone 2, 3, 4, various methods of sending hot air or cold air into each part within the container 1 can be used. for example,
A large number of suction and exhaust nozzles 7 penetrate through the side wall of the container 1.
The temperature range of the air sent into the container 1 can be configured by taking in air from one side of these suction/exhaust nozzles 7 and exhausting air from the other side. In this case, each nozzle 7 is connected to a hot air generator 91,
They are connected to cold air generators 92 and 93, respectively.
As the hot air or cold air generators 91, 92, 93 themselves, known ones consisting of a heat source and a blower fan can be used, and blower pipes 81, 82,
In order to efficiently send the air (hot air or cold air) generated from these devices 91, 92, and 93 into the container 1, the device 83 has a certain degree of heat insulation performance. Note that the position or number of each nozzle 7 is determined depending on the shape and size of the container 1 (in short, it is sufficient if a predetermined temperature range can be formed inside the container 1). Furthermore, by providing an outside air intake port 10 in the cold air generator 92 for forming the preliminary cooling zone 3, the air from the outside air intake port 10 is directly sent into the container 1 when the outside air temperature is low. You can also do that. Furthermore, each device 91, 9 for generating hot air or cold air
Regarding No. 2 and 93, it is preferable to make it possible to arbitrarily change the forward or reverse direction of the air blowing direction. This is because by changing the direction of air blowing, the effect of drying or cooling the grain can be made uniform, and the side wall of the container 1 can be prevented from being sucked in or the exhaust nozzle 7 is clogged.

Next, a case will be described in which a large amount of grain is dried and cooled using the apparatus of the present invention based on the above configuration.

First, the grain to be processed is put into the container 1 through the inlet 5, and then the hot air and cold air generators 91 are placed in the drying and cooling zones 2, 3, 4.
A predetermined amount of air is sent through 92 and 93. At the same time, the discharge port 6 is opened. Then, the grains M in the container 1 are sequentially discharged from the lower ones due to their own weight, and therefore the grains M in the container 1 as a whole descend at a constant speed. Therefore, the amount of grain M in the container 1 is kept almost constant at all times by charging the same amount of grains as the amount discharged per unit time from the input port 5 in accordance with the discharge and descent.

The grains M in the container 1 are dried by hot air in a drying zone 2, and then cooled successively in a pre-cooling zone 3 and a cooling zone 4 to the temperature required for stockpiling. In this case, grain M is constantly in flux,
Since the air is blown against the flowing grain M, the voids between the grain particles are relatively large. Therefore, grain M
The pressure loss caused by this process is small, and uniform drying and cooling can be performed using a small-capacity blower fan. Further, when changing the degree of drying and cooling depending on the type of grain M or the degree of humidity, the capacity of the blower fan, the temperature of the air, the moving speed of the grain M, etc. are appropriately controlled.

Incidentally, the grains in the lower part of the container 1 that are put in for the first time may be suddenly cooled down without being dried. Therefore, it is desirable to re-input such original grains through the input port 5 and reprocess them. In this respect, each zone 2 inside the container 1,
Hopper 1 with adjustable discharge amount at the boundary between 3 and 4
1 and 12, such a problem can be avoided. Furthermore, by doing so, the hoppers 11 and 12 can prevent heat loss due to heat exchange in each zone 2, 3, and 4, and the discharge amount adjustment hopper can prevent heat loss in each zone 2, 3, and 4. Since the residence time of grain can be adjusted, a large amount of grain can be processed more effectively and uniformly.

As explained above, according to the method and apparatus for drying and cooling grains according to the present invention, the following excellent effects are achieved.

(a) A container 1 in which the inside of a single vertical cylindrical container is divided into three parts, a drying zone 2, a pre-cooling zone 3, and a cooling zone 4 in order from the top, by hoppers 11 and 12 provided inside the container. Since the grains put into the container 1 can pass through all the zones due to their own weight, there is less space between containers compared to the conventional method using multiple containers. A means for moving (transporting) grains, a means for controlling the grain, etc. in the present invention are no longer necessary, and therefore the entire apparatus can be significantly simplified and costs can be reduced accordingly.

(b) When the grains put into the container 1 flow and fall due to their own weight, it takes only a short time to pass between the zones. Because it doesn't cost
Accordingly, the drying, precooling, and cooling processes can be carried out extremely efficiently and continuously.

(c) Since the preliminary cooling zone 3 is provided between the drying zone 2 and the cooling zone 4, even if both the drying zone and the cooling zone, which have contradictory conditions, are provided in one container 1, the preliminary cooling zone 3 is provided between the drying zone 2 and the cooling zone 4. cooling zone 3
Due to the presence of the drying zone 2 and cooling zone 4, the atmospheres in the drying zone 2 and cooling zone 4 do not directly influence each other, so the temperature in both zones 2 and 4 becomes stable, and the temperature gradient in the vertical direction inside the container 1 is reduced by pre-cooling. Since it is smaller by the amount of zone 3, it is possible to soften the rapid temperature change of the grain and reliably prevent the adverse effect on the grain due to the sudden temperature change.

(d) Each zone is divided by a hopper that can adjust the discharge amount, so even though each zone is formed in one container, each zone becomes an almost independent space, and as a result, The temperature of each zone can be set independently to an appropriate temperature.

(e) Since the hopper acts to block the flow of heat between each zone, and because the temperature distribution in each zone is configured to decrease from the top, air convection occurs between the zones. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the temperature change (heat loss) due to convection between adjacent zones, which allows the temperature of each zone to reach the desired temperature more accurately and stably. It becomes possible to set the Therefore, from this point of view as well, the adverse effects of temperature changes on grains can be reduced and drying and cooling processing can be performed in good conditions.

(F) In each zone, the suction and exhaust nozzles provided on one side and the other side of the side wall of the container, which face each other, blow air into the zone by switching between forward and reverse blowing directions, while drying and drying in each zone. Since pre-cooling and cooling processes are performed, it is possible to prevent suction and exhaust nozzles from being clogged with grains, and also to equalize the temperature in each zone, allowing for even drying and cooling of grains. Can be done.

Note that the entire device including the container 1 can be used independently for drying or cooling.
Further, in addition to drying and cooling, if dust or impurities are to be removed, it is of course possible to use another device before or after the drying and cooling process. Furthermore, for the flow of the grain M, in addition to its own weight, a conveyance means such as a screw conveyor can also be used in combination.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall system diagram showing an embodiment of this invention, and FIG. 2 shows an example of a container used in this invention, with A being a cross-sectional view and B being a longitudinal sectional view. 1... Cylindrical container, 2... Drying zone, 3, 4
...cooling zone, 5...input port, 6...discharge port,
7... Suction and exhaust nozzles.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A drying zone, a pre-cooling zone, and a cooling zone are provided in order from the top inside the vertical cylindrical container,
Moreover, the boundary between these zones uses a single container configured with a two-tiered hopper that divides the inside of the container into an upper and lower part and has an adjustable discharge amount. These grains are made to flow downward in the container by their own weight, and during this flow, air is blown from suction and exhaust nozzles provided on one side and the other side of the container side walls facing each other in each zone. The feature is that while blowing air into the zones by switching between forward and reverse directions, drying, preliminary cooling, and cooling are sequentially performed in each zone, and then the treated grains are discharged from the lower end side of the container. A method of drying and cooling grains. 2. Equipped with a vertical cylindrical container constructed almost vertically,
This container has a grain input port at the top end and a grain discharge port at the bottom end. Inside the container, a drying zone, a pre-cooling zone, and a cooling zone are provided in order from the top, and each of these zones The boundary part is formed by a hopper that can adjust the discharge amount and is provided to partition the inside of the container into an upper and lower part, and the container side wall has a suction pipe penetrating through the side wall on one side and the other side of the side wall facing each other. A large number of exhaust nozzles are provided and communicated with each of the zones, and the suction and exhaust nozzles of the drying zone are connected to a hot air generator, and the nozzles of the pre-cooling zone and the cooling zone are connected to a cold air generator having different blowing temperatures. 1. A grain drying and cooling device characterized in that the hot air generator and the cold air generator are connected to each other, and each of the hot air generator and the cold air generator is configured to be able to switch between forward and reverse directions of blowing air into the zone.