Project Number: 5430-43440-005-15
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jul 22, 2005
End Date: Jun 30, 2010

Objective:
The specific goals of the expanded research are to: 1. Develop two-dimensional mechanistic models of grain commingling in lab-scale and full-scale bucket elevator boots. Appropriate modeling methods have been identified¿the discreet element method will be used¿and needed grain physical properties have been tabulated from the literature. 2. Determine the effect of repeated handling on particle size distribution of dust emissions from corn and wheat during elevator handling. Experimental protocols were developed during testing with feed pellet handling that can be applied to measurements with wheat and corn.

Approach:
Additional data will be obtained on commingling during elevator handling and the expert system will be modified to include the new data. Remedies for commingling problems will be investigated such as retrofitting or designing equipment to be self-cleaning and identifying appropriate clean-out time for equipment to achieve the desired level of self-cleaning. Retrofitting elevator legs and truck dump pits to make them self-cleaning will be studied. Parameters for the design of IP-friendly grain elevator systems will be developed. Current data on dust emission and particle size distribution during grain and feed handling will be extended to include the affects of type of grain or feed, moisture content, grain quality, drop height, and a wider range of flow rates in the receiving area of the GMPRC elevator. Isokinetic extractive sampling using high volume samplers will be used for measuring dust emissions. Particle size distribution (PSD) analysis of total suspended particulates will be erformed to determine particulates less than 10 mm (PM10) and, possibly, other sizes. The effect on grain quality will be evaluated by analysis of variance, as will the effect of grain flow rate and drop height and their interactions for each grain type.