JPH04281182A - Grain moisture detection method for grain dryers - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the moisture detecting accuracy of drying grains as well as the stopping control of a grain drying machine by the moisture of grains. CONSTITUTION:When a grain drying rate, operated from an average grain moisture detected by a moisture sensor 3, is lower than a set grain drying rate during a predetermined period of time from the beginning of the drying, the drying machine is controlled while repeating initial moisture detection again. Even when the initial grain moisture detected by the moisture sensor 3 is different from an actual grain moisture, the grain moisture is detected again as the initial grain moisture in a predetermined period of time and is replaced by the initial grain moisture detected again whereby the detected value approaches the actual grain moisture.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a grain moisture detection method for a grain dryer.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, the grains are fed from the upper grain storage chamber to the lower grain drying chamber and dried by flowing hot air through the drying chamber, and the moisture in the grains is removed during drying. The moisture sensor detects the moisture a predetermined number of times at predetermined time intervals, calculates the average grain moisture from the detected grain moisture, and when the calculated average grain moisture reaches the finishing target moisture, stops drying the grains. It was a grain moisture detection method.

0003

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] The grains stored in the grain storage chamber of the grain dryer are repeatedly circulated from the storage chamber to the grain drying chamber and flowed down, while hot air flows through the drying chamber. By passing through the drying chamber, the grains flowing down are exposed to this hot air and dried, and the moisture in some of the grains during this circulation drying is detected by a moisture sensor a predetermined number of times at predetermined time intervals. Then, the average grain moisture is calculated from this detected grain moisture, and when the calculated average grain moisture reaches the finishing target moisture, the dryer is automatically stopped and the drying of the grains is stopped.

[0004] If the initial grain moisture detection at the start of drying is, for example, low and inaccurate, the defective initial grain moisture detection will remain until the end of drying, and the grains may actually be unprocessed. There are cases where it is assumed that drying has finished even though it is already drying, and this may result in inaccurate stop control of the dryer due to grain moisture, or it may be difficult to calculate the drying rate of the grain from the detected grain moisture. Therefore, when drying is controlled using this drying loss rate, this drying control may also become inaccurate.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problem] The invention as claimed in claim 1 is a method for drying grains by blowing hot air into the drying chamber 2 while letting the grains flow from the upper grain storage chamber 1 to the lower grain drying chamber 2. At the same time, in a grain dryer equipped with a moisture sensor 3 that detects grain moisture during drying, grain moisture calculated from the average grain moisture detected by the moisture sensor 3 within a predetermined time from the start of grain drying. The grain moisture detection method is characterized in that when the drying rate is less than a predetermined drying rate, control is performed to restart from the initial moisture detection.

According to the second aspect of the invention, while the grains are fed out from the upper grain storage chamber 1 to the lower grain drying chamber 2 and flowed down, hot air is passed into the drying chamber 2 to dry the grains, and during this drying, In a grain dryer equipped with a moisture sensor 3 that detects grain moisture, grain moisture is calculated from the average grain moisture detected by the moisture sensor 3 within a predetermined time from the start of grain drying and the upper and lower limits are cut. The grain moisture detection method is characterized in that when the drying rate is less than or equal to a predetermined drying rate, the upper limit cutting process is controlled to be canceled a predetermined number of times.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the grains are fed out from the upper grain storage chamber 1 to the lower grain drying chamber 2 and dried by blowing hot air into the drying chamber 2, and during this drying. In a grain dryer equipped with a moisture sensor 3 that detects grain moisture, the grain drying rate calculated from the average grain moisture detected by the moisture sensor 3 within a predetermined time from the start of grain drying is When the reduction rate is below, the average grain moisture is memorized and the initial grain moisture is detected again, and when the moisture difference between the initial grain moisture and the average grain moisture is equal to or greater than a predetermined grain moisture difference, The grain moisture detection method is characterized in that control is performed to replace the initial grain moisture with the average grain moisture at that time.

[0008]

According to the invention as claimed in claim 1, the grains stored in the grain storage chamber 1 of the grain dryer are repeatedly circulated from this storage chamber 1 to the grain drying chamber 2 and flowing down. However, as the hot air passes through the drying chamber 2, the grains flowing down the drying chamber 2 are exposed to the hot air and dried.

[0009] The moisture content of some of the grains during this circulation drying is detected a predetermined number of times by the moisture sensor 3 at the start of drying, and the average grain moisture content of the detected grain moisture content is calculated. Thereafter, the grain moisture is detected a predetermined number of times at predetermined time intervals, and the average grain moisture is calculated from the moving average of the detected grain moisture, and the drying rate of the grain is calculated from the calculated average grain moisture. This calculated grain drying rate is compared with a set predetermined drying rate, and within a predetermined period of time from the start of grain drying, if the calculated grain drying rate is less than the predetermined drying rate, It is assumed that the initial moisture detection detected at the start of drying was defective, and the process is restarted from the initial moisture detection. Contrary to the above, in the above case, the process is continued without being redone. When the calculated average grain moisture content reaches the finishing target moisture content, the dryer is automatically stopped and the drying of the grains is stopped.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the grains stored in the grain storage chamber 1 of the grain dryer are repeatedly circulated from the storage chamber 1 to the grain drying chamber 2 and flowing down. As the hot air passes through the drying chamber 2, the grains flowing down the drying chamber 2 are exposed to the hot air and dried. The moisture content of some of the grains during this cyclical drying is detected a predetermined number of times by the moisture sensor 3 at the start of drying, and the average grain moisture content of the detected grain moisture content is calculated. Thereafter, the detection is performed a predetermined number of times at predetermined time intervals, and the upper and lower limits of the detected grain moisture are cut to calculate the average grain moisture using a moving average.From this calculated average grain moisture, the drying loss of the grain is calculated. The rate is calculated.

[0011] The calculated grain drying rate is compared with a predetermined drying rate, and within a predetermined period of time from the start of grain drying, the calculated grain drying rate is less than or equal to the predetermined drying rate. In this case, it is assumed that the initial moisture detection detected at the start of drying was defective, and the upper limit cutting process for the detected grain moisture is stopped a predetermined number of times, and the average grain moisture is calculated in the same way as above. The drying rate of the grain is calculated from the average grain moisture obtained. In contrast to the above, in the above case, the upper limit cut process is continued without being stopped. When the calculated average grain moisture content reaches the finishing target moisture content, the dryer is automatically stopped and the drying of the grains is stopped.

In the third aspect of the invention, the grains stored in the grain storage chamber 1 of the grain dryer are repeatedly circulated from the storage chamber 1 to the grain drying chamber 2 and flowing down. As the hot air passes through the drying chamber 2, the grains flowing down the drying chamber 2 are exposed to the hot air and dried. Some of the grains undergoing this circulation drying are detected a predetermined number of times by the moisture sensor 3 at the start of drying, and the average grain moisture of the detected grain moisture is calculated. Thereafter, the grain moisture is detected a predetermined number of times at predetermined time intervals, and the average grain moisture is calculated from the moving average of the detected grain moisture, and the drying rate of the grain is calculated from the calculated average grain moisture.

[0013] The calculated grain drying rate is compared with a predetermined drying rate, and within a predetermined period of time from the start of grain drying, the calculated grain drying rate is less than or equal to the predetermined drying rate. In this case, it is assumed that the initial moisture detection detected at the start of drying was defective, and this calculated average grain moisture is memorized and retained, and the initial grain moisture is detected again and this initial moisture detected again. The grain moisture difference is calculated by comparing the grain moisture with the calculated average grain moisture, and when the calculated grain moisture difference is greater than or equal to the predetermined grain moisture difference, the initial grain moisture detected again is It is replaced by the average grain moisture calculated at that time. Contrary to the above, in the following cases, it is continued without being replaced. When the calculated average grain moisture content reaches the finishing target moisture content, the dryer is automatically stopped and the drying of the grains is stopped.

[0014]

According to the invention as claimed in claim 1, within a predetermined period of time from the start of drying, when the grain drying rate calculated from the average grain moisture is less than the predetermined drying rate, the initial moisture is detected. By redoing the initial moisture detection when it is estimated that the grain moisture is defective, an accurate average grain moisture close to the actual grain moisture can be obtained, which makes it possible to obtain an accurate drying rate. Also, when controlling the drying of grains using this drying loss rate, accurate drying control can be performed.

According to the invention of claim 2, if the grain drying rate calculated from the average grain moisture is less than the set predetermined drying rate within a predetermined time from the start of drying, the initial moisture detection is determined to be defective. The average grain moisture is corrected by stopping the upper limit cut process for the detected grain moisture a predetermined number of times, and obtaining an accurate average grain moisture close to the actual grain moisture. Therefore, an accurate drying loss rate can be obtained, and when grain drying is controlled using this drying rate, accurate drying control can be performed.

According to the third aspect of the invention, within a predetermined period of time from the start of drying, the drying loss rate calculated from the average grain moisture content is
When the drying rate is below the set predetermined drying rate, it is assumed that the initial moisture detection was defective, and the grain moisture difference between the initial grain moisture detected again and the average grain moisture at that time is the predetermined grain moisture difference. In the above case, the initial grain moisture detected again is replaced with the average grain moisture, which is equivalent to correcting the average grain moisture, and the accurate average grain moisture close to the actual grain moisture is obtained. Thus, an accurate drying loss rate can be obtained, and when grain drying is controlled using this drying rate, accurate drying control can be performed.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The example shown is a circulating grain dryer 4 that dries grain.
This figure shows a state in which a moisture sensor 3 for detecting grain moisture is attached to the grain. This dryer 4 has a rectangular shape that is long in the front and back direction, and is provided with a transfer gutter 6 and a ceiling plate 7 in which a transfer spiral is rotatably installed on the upper part of the machine wall 5, and grains are stored below the ceiling plate 7. A grain storage chamber 1 is formed.

On the lower side of the storage chamber 1, left and right grain drying chambers 2, 2 are provided between the left and right ventilation chambers 8, 8 and the central ventilation chamber 9. At the bottom of the chambers 2, 2, feeding valves 10, 10 for feeding and flowing grains are rotatably supported. The lower side of the drying chambers 2 and 2 is configured to communicate with a grain collecting trough 11 having a rotatably built-in transfer spiral.

On the front side of the machine wall 5, the ventilation chamber 9
A burner 12 is installed on the outer surface of this machine wall 5 to correspond to the inlet side.
A burner case 13 containing a burner case 13 is detachably attached thereto, and an operating device 14 for starting and stopping the burner 12, the moisture sensor 3, and the dryer 4 for each operation of loading, drying, and discharging is detachably attached. It is installed and installed. Further, on the back side of the machine wall 5, there is formed an air exhaust passage chamber 15 which can communicate with the left and right exhaust air chambers 8, 8, and an exhaust fan 17 is formed in the central rear side air exhaust body 16 of this air exhaust passage chamber 15. An exhaust fan motor 18 for rotationally driving the exhaust fan 17 is provided.

Reference numeral 19 is a valve motor that connects the delivery valve 10.
, 10 are configured to be rotationally driven via a deceleration mechanism 20. A fuel pump 21 having a fuel valve is provided on the outer side of the lower plate of the burner case 13, and the fuel pump 21 sucks fuel in the fuel tank 22 and supplies it to the burner 12 by opening and closing the fuel valve. A variable speed blower motor 24 for rotating the blower 23 at variable speeds is provided on the outside of the upper plate, and the blower 23 blows combustion air commensurate with the amount of fuel to be supplied to the burner 12.

[0021] At the center of the bottom plate of the transfer gutter 6 in the longitudinal direction,
A supply port for supplying the transferred grains into the storage chamber 1 is provided, and a diffusion plate 25 is provided below the supply port to uniformly diffuse and return the grains into the storage chamber 1. Grain raising machine 2
6 is provided on the outside in front of the machine wall 5, and a belt with a bucket conveyor 27 is stretched inside, and the upper end communicates with the starting end of the transfer gutter 6 by providing a dispensing tube 28. A supply gutter 29 is provided between the lower end and the terminal end of the grain collecting gutter 11 to communicate with the lower end.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a grain elevator motor, which is configured to rotationally drive the belt with the bucket conveyor 27, the transfer spiral in the transfer gutter 6, the spreading plate 25, etc. The spiral is configured to be rotationally driven via the belt with the bucket conveyor 27. The grain raising machine 2
The moisture sensor 3 for detecting grain moisture is provided at approximately the center of the grain 6 in the vertical direction. This moisture sensor 3 has a structure in which a moisture motor 31 is rotated by the transmission of an electrical measurement signal from the operating device 14, and each part of this moisture sensor 3 is rotationally driven. The structure is such that the grains that fall are received, the grains are crushed under pressure, and at the same time, the moisture content of the crushed grains is detected.

The operating device 14 has a box shape, and the dryer 4, the burner 12, the moisture sensor 3, etc. are mounted on the surface plate of the box, and a starting operation is performed for each drying and discharging operation. A switch 32, a stop switch 33 that is operated to stop, a moisture setting knob 34 that sets the finishing target moisture content of grains depending on the operating position, a grain type setting knob 35 that sets the temperature of the hot air generated from the burner 3 depending on the operating position; A digital display section 3 that alternately digitally displays the setting amount of filling 36, detected grain moisture, detected drying temperature, remaining drying time, etc.
7 and a monitor display.

Also, inside, an A-D converter 39 converts the detected values detected by the moisture sensor 3 and the hot air temperature sensor 38 into A-D, and the converted values converted by this A-D converter 39 are input. an input circuit 40 to which the operations of the switches 32, 33 and the setting knobs 34, 35, 36 are input, and various input values input from these input circuits 40, 41 are subjected to arithmetic and logical operations and comparison operations. The CPU 42 performs
, a drying control device 44 including an output circuit 43 and the like that receives and outputs various commands from the CPU 42 is built-in. The setting knobs 34, 35, and 36 are of a rotary switch type, and a predetermined value and type are set depending on the operating position.

The grain moisture detection control by the drying control device 44 is performed as follows. That is, the operation details of the moisture setting knob 34 are input to the CPU 42, and the finishing target moisture (ML) of the grain is set based on this input. On the other hand, the grain moisture detected by the moisture sensor 3 is also input to the CPU 42, the input detected grain moisture is compared with the set finishing target moisture (ML), and the detected grain moisture is determined as the finishing target moisture (ML). When it is detected that this has been reached, each operating part of the dryer 4 automatically stops to finish drying the grains.

When grain drying is started, grain moisture detection in the early stage of drying is carried out by detecting grains one by one using the moisture sensor 3.
The grains are detected and input to the CPU 42, and the average grain moisture of these 32 grains is calculated. This grain moisture detection is repeated 4 times, and the 4 grains are further calculated from the average grain moisture of each of these 4 times.
The average grain moisture content (MS1) is calculated, and the calculated average grain moisture content (MS1) becomes the initial average grain moisture content.

After the initial mean grain moisture (MS1) detection, when the initial mean grain moisture (MS1) is 18% or more, one grain is detected at 14 minute intervals in the same manner as above. When 32 grains each are detected and the upper limit is +2% and the lower limit is -5% different from the average grain moisture (MS1) of the previous detection, the upper and lower limits are cut. When 32 grains are detected, the average grain moisture of these 32 grains is calculated, and when it is 18% or less, 4
32 grains were detected, one grain at a time, in the same way as above at minute intervals,
The upper and lower limit cut processing is performed to calculate the average grain moisture of 32 grains, and as shown in Figure 2, from the average grain moisture of these 32 grains, the average grain moisture after initial moisture detection (MS2),
(MS3), ... (MSn), (MSn+1), (MS
n+2), (MSn+x) and the average grain moisture (MS2
) and onward is the configuration detected, and this average grain moisture (M
Sn) reaches the finishing target moisture content, the drying of the grains is stopped.

As shown in FIG. 3, the grain drying rate (ME) is calculated from the calculated average grain moisture (MSn), and the calculated grain drying rate (ME) and Said CP
This is a configuration in which the grain drying rate (ME1) set and stored in U42 is compared. For example, after starting drying,
Within 2 to 4 hours after being set and stored in the CPU 42, the CPU 42 detects that the calculated grain drying rate (ME) is less than or equal to the set grain drying rate (ME1). When this happens, all the grain moisture detected so far is discarded and the process starts again from the initial moisture detection. Conversely, when the above happens, the process continues without starting from the initial moisture detection. The structure is such that grain moisture detection is performed by

As shown in FIG. 9, after starting drying, the C
Within 2 to 4 hours after setting and storing in the PU42, the calculated grain drying rate (ME) is equal to the set drying rate (M
E1) When it is detected by the CPU 42 that it is below, the upper limit cut processing control for grain moisture detection is canceled a predetermined number of times and only the lower limit cut processing is performed, so that the average grain of 32 grains is This is a configuration for calculating grain moisture, and thereafter, the average grain moisture (MSn) is detected in the same manner as described above. With this control, even when the initial grain moisture is detected to be lower than it actually is,
The average grain moisture content of these 32 grains is successively corrected so that it becomes close to the actual grain moisture content.

As shown in FIG. 10, within 2 to 4 hours from the start of drying after the setting and storage in the CPU 42, the calculated grain drying rate (ME) is the set drying rate. (ME1) or less, when the CPU 42 detects that the calculated average grain moisture (MSn
) is stored in the CPU 42, and at the same time, the average grain moisture (MS1) is detected again using the same method as in the initial stage of drying, and the initial average grain moisture (MS1) of this re-detection is combined with the stored average grain moisture (MSn). ) and the grain moisture difference (MA
) is calculated.

The calculated grain moisture difference (MA) is the set grain moisture difference (MA) set and stored in the CPU 42.
1), and when it is detected that the calculated grain moisture difference (MA) is greater than or equal to the set grain moisture difference (MA1), the initial average grain moisture (MS1) detected again is The structure is such that the average grain moisture content (MSn) is substituted. Contrary to the above, when it is detected that the moisture content is below, the grain moisture detection is continued without replacing it with the detected initial average grain moisture (MS1) again. With this control, even when the initial grain moisture is detected to be lower than it actually is, the initial mean grain moisture (MS1)
This means that the grain moisture content has been replaced, resulting in a composition that is close to the actual grain moisture content.

Additionally, the drying control device 44 has the following functions. That is, the operation contents of the setting knobs 35 and 36 are input to the CPU 42, and the temperature of the hot air generated from the burner 12 is set by this input. On the other hand, the hot air temperature detected by the hot air temperature sensor 38 is also input to the CPU 42, and the input detected hot air temperature and the set hot air temperature are compared, and if they are different, the temperature is set to be the same as the set hot air temperature. The fuel pump 21 is configured to increase/decrease the amount of fuel sucked by the fuel pump 21 by increasing/decreasing the number of times the fuel valve is opened/closed.

[0033] When grain drying is controlled by the grain drying rate,
For example, the grain drying rate calculated from the average grain moisture detected by the moisture sensor 3 is input to the CPU 42, while the set grain drying rate is also input to the CPU 42, and the calculated grain The drying rate and the set drying rate are compared, and if they are different, the number of openings and closings of the front fuel valve is controlled to increase or decrease in the same way as above so that the drying rate becomes the same as the set grain drying rate. A configuration may also be adopted in which the amount of fuel sucked by the pump 21 is controlled to increase or decrease.

The operation of the above embodiment will be explained below. By operating the setting knobs 34, 35, and 36 of the operating device 14 to predetermined positions and operating the start switch 32 that starts drying work, each part of the grain dryer 4, the burner 12, the moisture sensor 3, etc. are started. Then, hot air is generated from the burner 12, and this hot air passes through the grain drying chambers 2, 2 from the ventilation chamber 9, passes through the ventilation chambers 8, 8, and the ventilation path chamber 15, and is sucked and exhausted by the ventilation fan 17. As a result, the grains stored in the grain storage chamber 1 are exposed to this hot air and dried while flowing down from the storage chamber 1 into the drying chambers 2, 2, and are dried by the delivery valves 10, 10. The grain is fed out to the lower part and flows down from the collection gutter 11 to the supply gutter 29.
The grains are then transferred and supplied into the grain hoisting machine 26 by a lower transfer spiral,
It is conveyed to the upper part by the bucket conveyor 27 and is supplied into the transfer gutter 6 through the dispensing tube 28, and from this transfer gutter 6 to the diffusion plate 2.
6 by the upper transfer spiral, and this diffusion plate 26
Then, it is evenly diffused and returned into the storage chamber 1 and is circulated and dried.

At the start of this drying, the moisture of 32 grains is detected four times by the moisture sensor 3, and the average grain moisture of each of these four times is calculated. The average grain moisture of these four times is further calculated from the grain moisture, and this calculated average grain moisture is displayed on the display section 37 as the initial grain moisture.
will be displayed. After the initial grain moisture detection, 32 grains are detected one by one at a predetermined time interval depending on the initial grain moisture, the upper and lower limits are cut, and when 32 grains are detected after the cut processing, the average grain of these 32 grains is Moisture is calculated and these 3
The average grain moisture of the moving average after the initial moisture is calculated from the average grain moisture of the two grains using a moving average, and the average grain moisture of this moving average is displayed on the display section 37, and the average grain moisture of this moving average When the moisture reaches the finishing target moisture set by operating the moisture setting knob 34, the drying control device 44 of the operating device 14 automatically controls the drying machine 4 to stop the drying of the grains. be done.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure shows one embodiment of the invention.

[Figure 1] Block diagram

[Figure 2] Grain moisture calculation diagram

[Figure 3] Flowchart

[Figure 4] Relationship diagram between drying time and grain moisture

[Figure 5] Partially cutaway overall side view of the grain dryer

[Figure 6] A-A enlarged cross-sectional view of Figure 5

[Figure 7] Enlarged rear view of part of the grain dryer

[Figure 8] Enlarged partially cutaway front view of a part of the grain dryer

[Figure 9] Flowchart

[Figure 10] Flowchart

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Grain storage room 2 Grain drying room 3 Moisture sensor

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claim 1: The grains are fed out from the upper grain storage chamber 1 to the lower grain drying chamber 2 while flowing down, while blowing hot air into the drying chamber 2.
In a grain dryer equipped with a moisture sensor 3 that ventilates and dries the grain and detects the moisture of the grain during drying, the average grain moisture detected by the moisture sensor 3 within a predetermined time from the start of grain drying. A grain moisture detection method characterized in that when the grain drying rate calculated from the grain drying rate is less than a predetermined drying rate, control is performed to restart from the initial moisture detection. 2. Hot air is supplied to the drying chamber 2 from the upper grain storage chamber 1 to the lower grain drying chamber 2 while letting the grains flow down.
In a grain dryer equipped with a moisture sensor 3 that detects grain moisture during drying, the moisture sensor 3 detects moisture within a predetermined time from the start of grain drying and cuts the upper and lower limits. A grain moisture detection method characterized in that when the grain drying rate calculated from the processed average grain moisture is less than or equal to a predetermined drying rate, the upper limit cutting process is controlled to be canceled a predetermined number of times. 3. Hot air is supplied to the drying chamber 2 while feeding and flowing the grains from the upper grain storage chamber 1 to the lower grain drying chamber 2.
In a grain dryer equipped with a moisture sensor 3 that ventilates and dries the grain and detects the moisture of the grain during drying, the average grain moisture detected by the moisture sensor 3 within a predetermined time from the start of grain drying. When the grain drying rate calculated from is below the predetermined drying rate, the average grain moisture is memorized and the initial grain moisture is detected again, and the moisture content of the initial grain moisture and the average grain moisture is calculated. When the difference is greater than the predetermined grain moisture difference,
A grain moisture detection method characterized by controlling to replace the initial grain moisture with the average grain moisture at that time.