Low-Cost Solar Collector Helps Dry Corn
"It's maintenance-free and helps dry our corn at virtually no cost even on the coldest winter days," say Harvey and Gary Lorton of Greenfield, Ill., about the passive solar collector panel they built around their Shivvers 10,000-bu. grain drying bin.
The solar unit consists of several sheets of tin that run from under the eave down to the ground. The sheets are painted with black asphalt to absorb heat. There's a 4-in. wide gap between the black tin and the bin wall. A 10 hp fan sucks the warmed air down into a plenum around the base of the bin and then forces it into the grain through the bin's aeration floor. The fan is enclosed by a small shed with a sloping roof.
"It produces a lot of heat and there's nothing to worry about mechanically," says Gary. "The collector raises the air temperature about 10 degrees. In good weather that's enough heat to dry about 600 bu. of 20 percent moisture corn per day. It produces some heat even on cloudy days.
"The Shivvers bin comes with vertical outside reinforcement ribs which stand out some 4 in. The tin that we painted black is attached to these bars."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Harvey Lorton, Rt. 1, Greenfield, Ill. 62044 (ph 217 368-2168).
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Low-Cost Solar Collector Helps Dry Corn GRAIN DRYERS Grain Dryers (29E) 25-4-33 "It's maintenance-free and helps dry our corn at virtually no cost even on the coldest winter days," say Harvey and Gary Lorton of Greenfield, Ill., about the passive solar collector panel they built around their Shivvers 10,000-bu. grain drying bin.
The solar unit consists of several sheets of tin that run from under the eave down to the ground. The sheets are painted with black asphalt to absorb heat. There's a 4-in. wide gap between the black tin and the bin wall. A 10 hp fan sucks the warmed air down into a plenum around the base of the bin and then forces it into the grain through the bin's aeration floor. The fan is enclosed by a small shed with a sloping roof.
"It produces a lot of heat and there's nothing to worry about mechanically," says Gary. "The collector raises the air temperature about 10 degrees. In good weather that's enough heat to dry about 600 bu. of 20 percent moisture corn per day. It produces some heat even on cloudy days.
"The Shivvers bin comes with vertical outside reinforcement ribs which stand out some 4 in. The tin that we painted black is attached to these bars."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Harvey Lorton, Rt. 1, Greenfield, Ill. 62044 (ph 217 368-2168).
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