Unit 10
Grain Storage
Prepared by : Er. Ashish Poudel
Grain storage
1. It is estimated that in tropical countries approximately 25-40 % of
the food grains produced is lost because of inadequate storage
facilities.
2. In the field and during storage the products are threatened by
insects, rodents, birds and other pests. Also the products may be
spoiled by infections due to fungi, yeasts or bacteria.
3. Losses during storage may be either qualitative or quantitative.
Losses in weight due to feeding of rodents, spillage during loading
and unloading may be attributed to quantitative losses and loss in
aroma, during milling, in cooking quality, or due to fungal
infections may be attributed to qualitative loss.
A good storage structure should satisfy the following
requirements
1. Protection from rodents, birds, insects etc.
2. Protection from moisture and temperature
3. Easy aeration
4. Easy inspection
5. Easy loading and unloading
6. It should be economical
The basic requirements to safeguard food grains from the enemies
responsible for losses are :-
1. Modification of the food grains (cooling or drying)
2. modification of atmospheric conditions of the storage system
Advantages of storage :-
1. Ensures against fluctuation in production.
2. Stabilizes price.
[Link] from distress sale
4. Strengthen public distribution system.
5. Replenishes the depleted stock.
Types of Grain storage structure
1. Bag storage
2. Bulk storage
The choice based on the local factors
• Type of grain
• Duration of storage
• Value of grain
• Climate
• Transport system
• Cost and availability of labour
• Cost and availability of bags
• Incidents of rodents and certain types of insects
Bag storage system
• Generally has a capacity of 5000 tonnes and consists of 3 compartments
• Air circulation is maintained through steel ventilators and air inlets of rolled
steel sections
• Bagged food grains are arranged in stacks with a base of 6 m x 9 m with a
stack height varying from 4 to 5 m, leaving 27 per cent free space of the
floor area for alleyways generally.
• It should be leave a free space of 2 m between the stacks and 0.8 to 1.0 m
between wall to stack for easily moving of person for observation.
• There should be 2.4 x 2.4 m size two large doors of opposite direction and
top ventilators are used
• The thickness of wall is kept minimum of 37.5 cm and maximum of 45 cm.
• The height of wall on which trusses are placed is generally kept about 5.5 m.
Design a bag storage structures for storing 250 tonnes of Paddy. Assume
reasonable data where ever necessary.
Solution.
Design capacity of the storage structure = 250 T = 250,000 kg
Let the Capacity of a bag of 100 x 60 x 30 cm = 75 kg of Paddy
Hence, number of bags required for storage of 250 T paddy
number of bag = (250,000/75) = 3333.33 = 3340 bags
Now,
Let the bags are arranged in stacks as 10 bags in length and 10 in breadth
So number of bags in one layer = 10 x 10 = 100 numbers
Let there are 12 layers
Then, number of bags = 100 x 12 = 1200 bags
So number of stacks required = 3340 /1200 = 2.78 = 3 numbers
Now dimension of each stack
Length = number of bag x length of 1 bag
= 10 x 100 = 1000cm = 10m
Width = number of bags x width of 1 bag
= 10 x 60 = 600 cm = 6m
Height of stack = number of bag x height of 1 bag
= 12 x 30 = 360 cm = 3.6 m
• The clear distance between the walls and the end of stack = 0.8 m
• The clear distance between the stacks i.e. between two stack = 2.0 m
• Hence, the length of floor L is
L = (3 x 6.0) + (2 x 2.0) + (2 x 0.8)
= 23.6 m ≈ 24.0 m
Now, The width of floor W is
W = (10 x 1.0) + (2 x 0.8)
= 11.6 m ≈ 12.0 m
• Therefore, the overall dimensions of the go down may be taken
as 24.0 m length, 12.0 m width and the height of the walls may be
kept as 5.0 m above the floor level.
The floor plan of the go down is shown in following Figure
Bulk storage
• In this types of storage structures the grain is generally stored in bulk. This types of
storage structures having generally capacities between 1 to 50 tonnes.
• There are two types of bulk storage
1. Rectangular bin : they are made to store different varieties of grains separately
under the same shed
2. Cylindrical bin:- can generally store up-to 40 tones
Rankine’s formula is used to design cylindrical bin
Where H = height of bin
H
D = diameter of bin tan 45
D 2
Φ = angle of repose
The angle between the horizontal and inclination of heap is called the natural angle
of repose. The angle of repose is an indicator of the product's ability to flow
Feed storage structure
• It is need to store animal fodder and feeds, fertilizers, seeds,
vegetables, milk and milk products, farm machineries etc., in
a variety of storage structures.
Farm silo : Silo is a farm structure which stores and products
the animal fodder providing an ideal condition. There are 3
types of silos.
1. Pit silo
2. Trench silo
3. Tower silo
Pit silo
• It is circular well type pit
• Used where ground water table is deep
• Side and bottom part is lined with brick masonry or concrete to
protect silo from moisture
• It is desired to have a shed over the silo to protect from sun and rain
• Stair is made along the wall but it may cause air pocket, so rope and
pulley can be used to take out silage
Design criteria
1. Rate of removal - 10 cm/day
2. Silage fed per day - 3 kg/100kg of body weight
3. Maximum diameter - 6m
4. Depth - 2-3 times diameter
5. 1m3 of silage - 650 kg
Trench silo
• It is trapezoidal type of trench
• Used where ground water table is shallow
• Its depth is limited to 2.5m
• It is covered with straw and mud plaster done over it
Tower silo
• It is built above the ground surface
• Used where ground water table is very near to ground surface
• It is costly in comparison to other type of silo loading and unloading is
difficult
Q: Work out the economical diameter and depth of a silo to store sufficient quantity of silage for a herd of 300 dairy
cows having an average body weight of 450 kg each. The cows fed with silage for 200 days /year.
Given :
No. cows - 300
Body weight - 450 kg
No of days per year - 200 days /year.
Let i) 1m3 of silage = 650kg.
ii) Thickness of silage fed per day = 10 cm/day.
iii) Let each cow fed 3kg of silage per 100 kg of the body weight.
Weight of silage required for each cow = (3/100) X 450
= 13.5 kg / day
Weight of silage required for 300 cows =13.5 X 300
= 4050 kg / day
Volume of silage required to be stored =4050/650
= 6.23 m3
Allowing 20 % loss, Actual volume of silage = 6.23 + 0.2x6.23 = 7.476 m3
Volume of pit for a daily withdrawal depth of 10 cm = d 2 0.1m3
4
d 2 0.1m3 7.476
4
d 9.756 10m
Depth of the silo = daily depth x no. of days = 0.1 x 200 = 20 m
Design a trench silo for a small farm having 140 buffaloes weighing 680 kg each and has to be
fed at the rate of 4 kg/100 kg of its weight. The silage is fed 160 days in a year.
Solution:
No. of animals = 140
Wt. of each animal = 680 kg
Feeding rate = 4 kg / 100 kg of body weight
No. of days of feeding = 160 days
Solution:
Let the depth of silo be 2.5 m
Length of feed per day be 15 cm
Side Slope be 1 : 2
Equating (1) & (2)
Result:
Top width of silo = 16.87 m
Bottom width of silo = 14.37 m
Depth of silo = 24.0 m
Length of silo = 28.8 m.