Positive results of using wireless sensors to monitor grain stores
Wireless sensors are a good and reliable technology for monitoring grain stores according to a technical report from Aarhus University, which is based on a test of the sensors that have come onto the market in recent years.
Knowledge of the temperature and humidity of grains and seeds is essential in order to protect the crop and reduce losses during storage. Such knowledge is also important for the optimal control of the drying system.
In recent years the use of the so-called integrated wireless sensors that are placed within the stored grain and are able to measure temperature and humidity has gained ground. This is one of the reasons why the Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, prepared a technical report of tests of the SensSeed sensors that have been developed by the company Webstech.
And the conclusion after a series of tests of the sensors is clear:
- The system has worked without any problems. Wireless sensor balls may be a good alternative to conventional systems with fixed sensors placed inside the stored grain and connected by cables to a control box, explains Erik Fløjgaard Kristensen, academic employee at the Department of Engineering.
He has, among other things, helped to test the ability of the sensor to measure temperature and relative humidity, both in the case where air was blown through the grain, and in the case where the grain was stored without air ventilation. The study showed that a minimum of three hours of inertia was required before the recorded data could be used to determine the condition of the grain and, if required, control the drying or ventilation system.
In other experiments, multiple sensors were embedded in an on-floor store of barley seed that had a moisture content of 17.5 percent in the autumn, falling to 14.0 percent mid-January. Another sensor was located in an on-floor store of malting barley with a moisture content of 14.1 percent. After aeration and cooling during the autumn, the moisture content fell to 12.7 percent in mid-January. The results of temperature and relative humidity measurements were tested, and the scientists found a clear correlation between the measurements obtained by the sensor balls and the actual change in the grain quality.
The report can be found here.
Further information: Academic employee Erik Fløjgaard Kristensen, Department of Engineering, telephone: +45 8715 7659, email: erikf.kristensen@eng.au.dk