Energy Efficiency in Crop Drying

Although crop drying is a still a few months away, now is the time to think about your grain drying and storage facilities to ensure they are in optimum condition for the season.

Farms looking to install new crop drying equipment should consider LPG fired dryers as LPG is a cleaner burning fuel than oil. As LPG does not leave a residue, it means maintenance costs can be reduced and crops are not tainted in any way.

Calor, the UK’s leading supplier of LPG, is working alongside all major manufacturers of both mobile and static crop units including Opico, Thermobile UK, Octagon and Harvest Installations and urges farmers to consider the whole crop drying installation, as well as the equipment itself.

Jeff Penfold of Calor says energy and money can be saved by considering a number of factors in the crop drying process. “As humidity is the main factor in crop drying, careful monitoring of outside temperatures using modulating heaters ensures that no more heat is supplied than is necessary to reach the required moisture levels.

“Further savings can be made by ensuring that insulation in crop drying and storage areas is adequate. This can be implemented by using polystyrene either internally within the building or as a layer between the internal wall and external cladding.”

A spray on foam, or polyurethane, can also be used. This is particularly effective as it not only insulates the building, it also fills any structural gaps reducing heat loss though leakage.

In a recent report to DEFRA1, Warwick HRI stated that the insulation of crop stores could save considerable amounts of energy, particularly in the potatoes sector and estimated up to 90GWh savings for the industry. The report suggested that, collectively, optimised grain drying, storage and ventilation has the potential to make energy savings of 200GWh or 4 per cent of energy currently used in this sector.

In fact, improving drying and storage facilities was cited as one of the top ten recommended energy saving measures for the agriculture industry to reduce carbon emissions and an estimated 24,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide could be saved each year.

Jeff concludes: “As LPG is a cleaner burning fuel than oil, the final step in reducing energy consumption and therefore energy costs would be to switch from oil to LPG, or to choose LPG for your next installation.”

For more information, or to arrange a Calor representative to visit your site to discuss potential energy and cost savings, call 0800 216 659, email commercial@calor.co.uk or visit www.lpg-farming.co.uk.

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1 Direct Energy Use in Agriculture: opportunities for reducing fossil fuel inputs (www.defra.gov.uk)

Issued on behalf of Calor by Connect PR

For further information, please contact:

Kathy Hodson
Connect PR. The Chubb Buildings, Fryer Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1HT
Tel: 01902 714957 / 07890 381725
Email: kathy@connect-group.com
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