CropTec 2016: Taking guess work out of drying

Kentra’s Dryer Master DM510 control unit and software can be retrofitted to most continuous flow crop dryers or embedded into the control panel of a new Kentra dryer.

Both installations use a pair of moisture sensors – one at the intake, one at the discharge point – to calculate and automatically adjust the time grain needs to spend passing through the dryer to achieve the target moisture level set by the operator.

Barry Higginbottom, Kentra managing director, said: “This proven technology from Canada can save valuable time otherwise spent monitoring and managing a dryer manually and can bring about significant savings in terms of energy use and unnecessary weight loss resulting from over-drying.

See also: Recirculating grain dryer cuts costs

“Assuming a grain price of £100/tonne, a farm drying 20,000t of grain has only to save 1 per cent moisture in over-drying to regain £20,000 in lost revenue.

“A farm drying 4000 to 5000 tonnes of grain a year would recoup the £10,000 to £12,000 all-in purchase of a Dryer Master system in three years, while also saving time and hassle at harvest.

“With manual monitoring and control, you’re always working behind the curve, altering settings after the event – when the combine opens up in damper crop, around a field boundary, for example, or as crops lose moisture after a dewy morning,” he added “with intake moisture sensing and predictive software, grain drying becomes more accurate and consistent.”