BIT’S a good feeling when a decision is vindicated.
Such is the case at Esperance Grain Handlers, where manager Andrew Johnston has overseen a decision by company directors to buy an Alvan Blanch double-flow grain dryer.
The English-made unit was installed earlier this year and despite the stop-start harvest on the South Coast, Mr Johnston said the unit already has proven its worth.
“We bought the machine to handle the extra work coming in,” Mr Johnston said.
“It was a wise move to offset the work being done by our ‘old girl’ dryer, which can handle the long runs of more than 1000 tonnes of grain.
“This new model gives us the ability and flexibility to dry the smaller loads without waiting to aggregate tonnages to use our big dryer, which needs the big tonnages and takes a while to crank up.
“With the Alvan Blanch, we can take out one per cent of moisture at the rate of between 40 and 50 tonnes an hour, depending on moisture levels, and using less gas as well.
“That quicker turnaround can be very advantageous if we’ve got trucks waiting to deliver to CBH during those hectic periods.”
Esperance Grain Handlers has two grain dryers working 24 hours a day in an integrated system involving 21 silos and 12 garner (overhead) bins.
A seed cleaning facility is also onsite.
The business is one of many companies and farm enterprises taking advantage of the availability of these dryers which are marketed in Australia through the company’s Queensland-based branch, headed by regional sales manager Jim Duncan.
“Alvan Blanch is a grain dryer manufacturer based in England and exporting to the world with a history of more than 65 years in the industry,” Mr Duncan said.
“The company’s design ethos is to keep it simple, with a design and conceptual process to ensure swift turnaround of trucks during the busy time.
Grain is introduced into the top deck of the dryer via a top hopper while pressure jet, diesel or gas burners, introduce regulated hot air via two centrifugal fans.
The hot air moves through the mat of grain on the top deck as it carries grain to be inverted to the bottom deck before cool air is introduced on the last third of the bottom deck – Alvan Blanch recycles as much of the already warmed air as possible, which allows the energy demand to be lowered.
According to Alvan Blanch, mechanical conveying and full bed inversion ensures consistent moisture removal, resulting in even drying which suits malting, seed feed and milling quality crops, all in the same machine with minimal changes required.
A controller for the automated system provides easy management in terms of temperature control, chain speeds, etc.
This also includes a fail-safe system which monitors grain flow, air pressure and temperature via sensors on board, the unit can also be supplied with a touch screen PLC which allows remote monitoring of performance while sitting on the header.
More information: Jim Duncan 0435 776 796 or jim.duncan@alvanblanch.com.au