• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.263-268
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• 2004

Two field cooling tests were conducted to evaluate the cooling characteristic of paddy with a prototype grain cooler. The first test was carried out during summer season in a steel bin with 180.3ton of paddy at Sunchon. And the second test was carried out during harvesting season in a steel bin with 272.2ton of paddy at Ulsan. At the first test, initial paddy temperature of 23.6$^{\circ}C$ was dropped to 14$^{\circ}C$, and initial moisture content of 19.9% was dropped to 19.3% after 52.5 hours of cooling. At the second test, initial paddy temperature of 16.1$^{\circ}C$ dropped to 5.5$^{\circ}C$ after 78.0 hours of cooling. And, at the first test, the average air flow rates of chilled air leaving the grain cooler and penetrating the grain layer were 77.5 ㎥/min and 42.5 ㎥/min, respectively. To prevent leakage of chilled air from plenum chamber of steel bin, which was about 45% of the average air flow rates of chilled air leaving the grain cooler, a proper method was required. The average total power consumption at the first test during summer was 22.1 ㎾ with control of fan damper. At the second test, it was 17.4 ㎾ due to controlling the capacity of compressor with unloading solenoid valve and changing the flow rates of hot refrigerant gas flowing into evaporator and reheater from compressor, resulting in 27% reduction of energy consumption.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.250-256
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• 2004

The objectives of this study were to develop a new commercial grain cooler suited to domestic weather and post-harvesting conditions for paddy, and to evaluate the performance. A prototype grain cooler capable of cooling paddy of 200 tons within 24 hours was developed. The grain cooler was designed to control the refrigeration capacity from 0 to 100% by controlling the capacity of compressor with unloading solenoid valve and by changing the flow rates of hot refrigerant gas flowing into reheater and evaporator from compressor. And a controller with one chip microprocessor was developed to control temperature and relative humidity of cooling air. The maximum cooling capacity of the grain cooler was 35,284㎉/hr at condensing/evaporating pressure of 16.5/3.6 kgf/$\textrm{cm}^2$. Maximum flow rate of cooling air was 120 ㎥/min at static pressure of 279 mmAq. The total maximum required power was 22.8㎾, and total required energy was saved from 26.7 to 33.3% of maximum power depending on operating conditions. The coefficient of performance of refrigeration devices and total coefficient of performance of the grain cooler were 4.71 and 1.8, respectively.