World Grain - February 2011 - 65

GRAINOPERATIONS

Dryer fire prevention tips
Over the years, many fires at grain facilities around the world have been linked to dryers that weren’t properly maintained. The issue of preventing and responding to grain dryer fires will be addressed by Chuck Kunisch, facility manager, Michigan Agricultural Commodities, during an educational session from 7:30 to 9:45 a.m. on March 1 at the 2011 GEAPS Exchange in Portland, Oregon, U.S. The session will be separated into two 45-minute segments. During the first segment, Kunisch will discuss in detail the best ways to maintain dryers and related systems for safe operation. The second segment will focus on a dryer fire that actually occurred, circumstances that led to the event, and how the company responded. Some steps that can be taken to prevent dryer fires include: • having dryers inspected on a regular basis by a qualified service technician; • making sure that safety controls such as thermostats, high-temperature switches (cut-out switch), air flow switches and flame detectors are in place and working; • not modifying original controls, such as the gas pressure regulator setting, and not bypassing safety shutdown controls; and • frequently inspecting the drying system for chaff build-up in the plenum and grain chamber. keep the ﬁnes accumulation in the dryer heating chamber to a minimum. Fine accumulation is the number one cause of grain dryer ﬁres. You obviously need to do the necessary bearing lubrication based on the operating hours as recommended by the dryer manufacturer. Belts should also be checked for wear and proper adjustment. You also need to monitor the ﬂame to make sure the burner is operating at maximum efﬁciency. This article certainly does not include everything that needs to be accomplished in the maintenance of your dryers. Check with your dryer manufacturer to see what type of checklist it has developed. In many cases, you may ﬁnd that information on the manufacturer’s website. Some of the newer electronic controllers even have checklists and suggestions in them. Remember, this is a mechanical piece of equipment that is essential to your operation. If properly maintained, it will give you many years of efﬁcient service and the chance of a breakdown during the critical time of use will be reduced.
Harmon L. Towne is retired from Brock Manufacturing where he was vice-president of engineering and product development. He can be reached at hltamt@charter.net.
We want to hear from you — Send comments and inquiries to worldgrain@ sosland.com. For reprints of WG articles, e-mail reprints@sosland.com. For more information, see Page 114.

THE CONFERENCE
Join us at GRAPAS International 2011 Exhibition & Conference at the Koeln Messe, Cologne, Germany, 3 - 5 May 2011. See the latest equipment and products, and attend the conference to learn about advances in flour milling, grain processing, grain and finished product storage and handling solutions.

Topics will include: HEALTHGRAIN - results and perspectives Long term preservation of high moisture grain under European conditions Grain storage and handling Organizing stored crop management; easy, safe and economical How twin screw extrusion faces health and environmental challenges of grain processing industries Case study of NIR Spectroscopy applied throughout a bakery plant Trends in grain milling: relevance and technical solutions Improved feed hygiene and animal performance by means of structural grinding and expander use

www.feedconferences.com

Gold Sponsor

Media Partner

www.World-Grain.com / World Grain / February 2011

http://www.feedconferences.com http://www.World-Grain.com

World Grain - February 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World Grain - February 2011