Minnesota Inventor Unveils Revolutionary Crop Dryer

Minnesota Inventor Unveils Revolutionary Crop Dryer GRAIN DRYERS Grain Dryers 29E A Minnesota inventor s revolutionary crop dryer has passed its first major on-farm test with flying colors Designed and manufactured by Sylvan Sib Sime owner of Simes System Walters Minn the new concept Simes dryer went to the field last fall to show its stuff I really believe it s the dryer of the future concludes Richard Stadheim farmer and owner-operator of a grain elevator in Emmons Minn He bought the very first Simes dryer built and used it last fall and winter to dry right at 140 000 bu of corn in the 17 to 22% range Stadheim figures his fuel cost Lp-gas @ 40 cents/gal was 2 5 to 3 cents per bu That s about half of what it cost me to dry corn of comparable quality and moisture in my conventional Clipper dryer Stadheim told FARM SHOW We ran wet corn through the Simes dryer at about 650 bu per hour and heated it to about 210? The new dryer runs quiet has vey few moving parts and requires virtually zero maintenance We didn t have any problems with it Sime veteran manufacturer of electric lift jacks for building big grain bins hopes to have six just-produced production models of his new dryer in the field this fall for further on-farm testing on a broader scale Unlike conventional dryers which are portable and completely assembled at the factory the revolutionary Simes dryers are non-portable and erected on site on a poured concrete foundation I d estimate that about 95% of all crop dryers sold to farmers are never moved once they re set up at the farm Sime points out The main reason they re made portable is for the manufacturer s benefit ù so they can ship them Since most farmers don t need portability we ve taken a totally different approach ù on-site erection which will allow us to ship component parts much more efficiently ùflat and knocked down - to anywhere in the world Another unique feature is a heavy coat of insulation which serves as an overcoat to retain and recycle hot air ù instead of letting it escape out the sides Here according to Sime are other key features of what he calls his totally new concept in crop drying: • Adjustable thickness of the grain column Wet grain enters the dryer at top center through a canister with an adjustable skirt which allows thickness of the incoming grain layer on the roof cone to be adjusted from 6 to 16 in depending on moisture content Wet grain gravity feeds down the roof cone and drops into one of 12 vertical compartments formed by two circles one inside the other of perforated metal spaced 9 in apart and supported by vertical 12 ga galvanized metal z-bar supports 9 in wide These vertical z-bar supports are imbedded in concrete at the bottom and form the basic structure 13 5 ft in dia and 26 ft tall of the dryer explains Sime There s a door at the bottom of each of the 12 vertical columns around the circumference of the dryer These doors provide fast total cleanout when switching from one grain to another In case of a fire the door can be opened to allow all of the grain in the dryer to empty out in a matter of minutes Sime points out Also if there are any big rocks they ll generally come to rest at the bottom of a compartment ù without getting into and possibly damaging the sweep or take-away augers • The dryer s 48 in vane axial fan suspended in the center of the center plenum and driven by a 40 hp electric motor provides unusually high air flow 45 000 cu ft /min against 1 in of static pressure This type of fan is normally faulted for being noisy However the heavy coat of insulation around our dryer helps dampen this noise so it isn t a problem Sime points out • Drying capacity is rated at 400 bu per hour to remove 10 points of moisture in corn and up to 750 bu per hour to remove 5 points Corn exiting the dryer is cool enough to go directly into storage says Sime Also drying is uniform We think it s possible to have virtually every kernel within 1% of the target moisture level We ll be running tests to verify this • A double sweep 8 in auger at t

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