OT: Drying corn

Richard G. · Sep 27, 2013

At what air temp and humidity level of outside air can you blow just air through corn in a bin to dry it down about 2 percent.
Thanks, Richard

paul · Sep 27, 2013

I don't have an answer.

I believe relative humidity and airflow rate are the important 2 numbers to try to figure any of this out.

So, maybe how big is your fan, and how tall is your bin of corn, so you can look up the charts on airflow rates?

More airflow means you can get something to happen with worse relative humidities.

Less airflow means you need a lot more days.

Hard to talk in absolute numbers, because actual temp and humidity and how wet the corn is makes a difference, but not as much as the other 2 numbers.

I would guess you are around 17% moisture then?

Paul

Richard G. · Sep 27, 2013

Yep, corn is about 17 percent. Bins not that large, about 16 feet across and 12 or 13 feet high. Fan will blow the door off the tops if it is not fastened down. Never done this before and just asking.
Temps for the next several days in the upper 70's and sunny.
Richard in NW SC

rustyfarmall · Sep 27, 2013

Depends more on the humdity level than it does on temperature. I always kind of figured that if the relative humidity is lower than the moisture content of the corn, then blowing air through it would dry it down.

I know there is an exact formula for calculating it, but it"s been too long since I needed it.

ohiojim · Sep 27, 2013

2% sounds awfully dry,..i never heard of drying corn that low

farmer boy · Sep 27, 2013

You do plan on leaving the top lids open I hope?Bad things will happen if the air doesn't have any where to go. There should really be proper vents on the bin, but if the fan isn't too big, the doors should suffice.

Richard G. · Sep 27, 2013

Need to dry it down 2 percent. Not down to 2 percent.
Richard

Richard G. · Sep 27, 2013

Yep, tops will be open.
Richard

Anonymous-0 · Sep 27, 2013

this early in the fall with warm temps and no stirrator or lp heater you are asking for problems, if it was Nov. i'd say cool it down, monitor it regularily and move it before spring you would be ok

jon f mn · Sep 27, 2013

Here in Mn. we can get by with 17% if it's late in the fall and cold enough to freeze it. Then run the fan periodically through the winter to keep it cold, but it has to be taken out before it get's warm in the spring. You will never get that cold or have that low of humidity. I would think that where you are 15% would be the max that would hold even with good air. Even here we dry to 13% if we are going to hold it into summer which is the temp and humidity conditions you will have all winter.

randallinMo · Sep 27, 2013

If the humidity stays 60% and below with temperatures in the 70's, you can remove "about" 2/10ths of a point per day. Night time temps and humidity will also affect this. BEst advice: turn the fan on and leave it on for about three weeks.....NEVER turning it off. I would routinely take in corn 20% and less and dry it with air only. The fans would run for 4-6 weeks in a 15,000 bu bin.

Heat Houser · Sep 27, 2013

Equilibrium Moisture content
Poke here

Bruce from Can. · Sep 27, 2013

I have a bin that will hold about 100 tons of corn. It has a full floor dryer , with a 7hp fan. We can put corn in there in November, at 22-24% moisture . Leave the fan on till January, and run it on any cold snap in winter. Then in spring , as things warm up, I run the fan on warm sunny days. Corn dries out real good. We feed out of this bin year round.

Richard G. · Sep 27, 2013

Thanks for all the replies. Corn is drying down already and with our forecast, looks like it won't take long to get it ready to move.
Thanks again, Richard in NW SC

Pair-a-dice farm · Sep 27, 2013

It's been a long time ago but I worked at a grain elevator for 17 years and drying the grain was part of the job. We dried the grain before it was put in the bin but I have lowered the moisture a couple of points by just running fans. Our biggest problem was sweating in big temp swings. If there was more than a 30 degree daytime high change in temperature we ran the fans unless it was over 70% humidity. It's important to get a consistent flow of air throughout the bin. If there is a dead spot you will probably have a spoilage problem. I never had a real problem with corn because of the airspace between the kernels was adequate for good air flow but s drying floor is better.

ss55 · Sep 28, 2013

How big are your fan and your bin? The more CFM's per bushel the faster it will dry.

todd hamilton · Sep 28, 2013

We did it that way to save on propane costs. The trick to it is don't fill the bin with wet corn. Go in thirds for layers, get the first layer where you want it and the put wet corn on top of it. Works a lot better with stirators. More than one nice fall in indiana we never turned the burners on. Run the fan 24/7.

T in NE · Sep 29, 2013

Heard on the radio the other day that drying corn at something like 74 degrees vs 64 degrees saves a couple days on drying time.

OT: Drying corn

Richard G.

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paul

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Richard G.

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rustyfarmall

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ohiojim

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farmer boy

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Richard G.

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Richard G.

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Anonymous-0

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jon f mn

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Heat Houser

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Bruce from Can.

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Richard G.

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todd hamilton

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T in NE

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