Silo Management System

Grain storage is very important in paddy industry. The grain is stored inside a tank called a silo. Although the grain is safely stored in the silo, the changing of temperature and humidity inside the silo will affect the grain. So, in order to control them, aeration system is implemented. Aeration is the process of moving air through a medium (grain storage) in order to control the temperature and moisture of the grain. Aeration system can prevent condensation from happening. It can also reduce microbial growth and remove bad odours caused by the microbial activity. Therefore, this project is designed to monitor and control the aeration process in the silo. This aeration system consists of a fan, vent, transition duct, perforated floor, sensors and a motor. When the temperature is higher than the set point, the fan will blow the air up through the silo. The heat from the warm grain will transfer to the air while the air is moving to the top. The air will flow out from the silo to the atmosphere through a vent. This report will discuss on the literature review, methodology, results and also discussion of this project. Literature review is more on the research of the aeration process. The methodology discusses the requirements needed to design an aeration system. The discussion consists of calculations of parameters such as the airflow rate and also the labview programming.