Segregation of dockage and foreign materials in wheat during loading into a 10-meter diameter bin

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Date
2020
Authors
Salarikia, Alireza
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Abstract
Harvested bulk grains contain many impurities, categorized into dockage and foreign materials (DFM). Segregation of the DFM particles is an unavoidable phenomenon in grain during handling, transportation and storage that causes many problems such as uneven airflow distribution during aeration and drying. In this study, the radial distribution of DFM, and shrunken and broken kernels (SBK) was determined during loading of grade two Canada Western Red Winter (CWRW) wheat at 12.2 ± 0.4% moisture content (wet basis) in a 10-m diameter flat-bottom cylindrical bin. Wheat was loaded vertically into the bin from five different drop heights (1.6, 2.5, 3.4, 4.3 and 5.2 m). Samples were collected from the top and bottom of a sampling tube (29 cm diameter and 50 cm deep) inserted vertically at five different locations (0.00, 1.25, 2.50, 3.75 and 5.00 m horizontal distance from the center) along three radii of the bin for each drop height. The impurities from each collected sample were divided into five different categories with different sizes (other grains, other particles, shrunken and broken wheat kernels, fine particles, and dust and fragments) by sieving using a sieve shaker. Impurities larger and smaller than wheat kernels were categorized as large impurities and small impurities, respectively. No vertical segregation was observed between top and bottom samples from each sampling location. Drop height significantly influenced the radial distribution of fine particles and dust and fragments; however, it did not affect the distribution of other grains and other particles. Fine particles and dust and fragments mainly accumulated in the center, while shrunken and broken wheat kernels accumulated mostly near the wall of the bin. Both true density and test weight (bulk density) of unclean wheat and test weight of clean wheat significantly changed along the radius of bin. Test weight of unclean wheat was minimum in the center and close to the wall of bin. Drop height did not influence true density and test weight of clean and unclean wheat. Porosity, thousand kernel weight, kernel dimensions, and sphericity of wheat were similar at different radial locations of bin as well as with different drop heights.
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Segregation, Dockage, Foreign materials, DFM, Particle distribution, Wheat
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