A choice of technological scheme for grain cleaning-and-drying unit

Abstract

There were substantiated technological schemes of grain cleaning-and-drying units for agricultural enterprises of the Siberian Federal District (SFD). Depending on grain humidity is recommended to use technologies without drying, with one- or two-time drying. Technologies without drying can be used in only limited areas of the SFD, such as dry steppe zones of Khakassia, Tuva, Buryatia, and Transbaikal Territory. Technologies with one-time grain drying are recommended for steppe and southern forest-steppe areas of Omsk, Novosibirsk Regions, Altai and Krasnoyarsk Territories. The other zones require two-time grain drying technologies. The postharvest grain handling is most efficiently conducted by using grain cleaning-and-drying units. A daily volume of grain handling is assumed to be a basic characteristic of sizes of the units. For conditions of Siberia, the sizes of 100, 200, 400, 600 and 800 tonnes daily are recommended. The seasonal volumes of grain handling by these units make up 1-2, 2-4, 4-8, 8-12, and 12-16 tonnes daily, respectively. The requirements for post-harvest technologies for handling grain and seeds, and variants of technological schemes of grain cleaning-and-drying units to realize them are given. Such technical and economic indices of grain cleaning-and-drying units as labor costs, operating costs and specific investment costs were determined. It has been established that operating costs across the considered variants of technological schemes are not very different. To reduce labor costs in post-harvest handling, a significant increase in investments is needed. A choice of one or another technological scheme of grain cleaning-and-drying unit for a certain agricultural enterprise will be determined by a level of financial and human resources. Labor costs decrease with the increase in investments.