Development of An Electrical Sterilization Device for Stored Grains | ||||
| Journal of Soil Sciences and Agricultural Engineering | ||||
| Article 1, Volume 12, Issue 10, October 2021, Page 627-638 PDF (1.35 MB) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jssae.2021.205759 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
A. S. El-Sayed  ; S. E. A. Mosa
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| Agric. Eng. Res. Institute, Agric. Rec. Center, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| This study aims to develop and fabricate a new device for electrical sterilization of stored grains by electrocution. This new device sterilizes directly infected grains and eliminates living organisms, whether they are whole insects, larvae or eggs. The electrocution destroys the moisture content of the organisms present only in the treated grains without affecting them. The device is equipped with a set of electronic circuits to automatically control the levels of electrocution, the speeds of the sieve, the motor and the auger carrying grains. Experiments were carried out at four grain auger speeds (0.262, 0.524, 0.785 and 1.047 m/s) with three levels of electrocution (3000, 6000 and 9000 volts) at two levels of electric sieve speed (0.220 and 0.283 m/s) with two levels of grain feed rate (0.18 and 0.36 Mg/h). The main results included that the percentage of insect mortality (sterilization efficiency) increased to 95.42% at the optimum levels of the tested variables. Also, the emergence rates of insect infestation reduced to 11.76% only after 1 month. The germination rate increased to 94.11%. Also, the percentage of mechanical damage and weight loss decreased to 5.13 and 4.43% respectively. The maximal productivity of the device reached 0.252 Mg/h at the optimum specific energy consumption rate of 1.98 kW.h/Mg with operating costs of 171.23 L.E/Mg. Therefore, the new device can be used inside grain stores and silos to perform sterilization operations periodically at the lowest production cost without the need for harmful chemical methods. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Electro-sterilization; electrocution; sieve; mortality; infestation; germination | ||||
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