Master of Science / Department of Grain Science and Industry / Carlos Campabadal Teran / The use of grain aeration as a tool to minimize post-harvest losses requires lower ambient temperature (≤ 20°C) and relative humidity (≤ 70%) conditions than what is usually available during the summer season in temperate climates and throughout the year in some tropical climate regions. Warm and moist conditions contribute to pest problems and increase dependence on chemical control for pest reduction as part of grain management strategies. The grain chilling technology is a non-chemical alternative to cool grain stored under high risk climatic conditions. For this research project, the grain chilling technology was tested in a 1,350-ton low moisture content wheat silo during the 2015 and 2016 summer harvests in Kansas. The grain temperature was lowered from a maximum of 39°C to a minimum of 17°C in less than 250 hours. The results showed that chilled grain maintained at temperatures under 20°C reduced the development rate of insect pests compared to grain stored at temperatures over 25°C and cooled with ambient aeration. However, the cost of grain chilling was calculated to be between 0.26 and 0.32 $/t higher than using ambient aeration. Through computer simulation it was possible to evaluate the performance of the grain chiller against four different ambient aeration strategies for paddy rice stored under the tropical climatic conditions of the North Pacific coast of Costa Rica. After six months of storage, the minimum grain temperature achieved through ambient aeration was 30.8°C using an aeration strategy based on a grain-ambient temperature differential greater than 10°C. Grain chilling lowered the average grain temperature from 35°C to below 15°C in 117 hours and the maximum average temperature it registered after six months of storage was 15.5°C. The economic evaluation of the simulated ambient aeration and chilling strategy determined that the operational costs of grain chilling were between 2 and 4 $/t lower than ambient aeration plus fumigation. However, the initial cost of the grain chiller made the net present cost (NPC) of the chilling strategy between 0.22 and 0.85 $/t higher than the cost of ambient aeration plus fumigation over a 10-year analysis. Several potential financial options were analyzed to make the grain chiller more economically feasible for a rice miller in Costa Rica. It was concluded that the grain chilling technology can reduce grain temperatures below 20°C in a relatively short period of time, which helps control insect populations and maintain grain quality during summer storage in temperate climates and in tropical climates. Utilizing grain chilling reduced operational costs between 78% and 88% when compared to using chemical control of pests. Additionally, it was determined that an initial cost of $74,700 for the grain chiller would require a 16% discount or at least 10,641 t to be chilled annually to make this technology viable for the Costa Rican rice milling industry. Leasing the grain chiller (ten equal payments of $10,926) or adding a premium sell price of 1 $/t to chilled rice would make this technology feasible compared to the traditional grain management strategies utilized in Costa Rica.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:KSU/oai:krex.k-state.edu:2097/38261 |
| Date | January 1900 |
| Creators | Morales Quiros, Alejandro |
| Publisher | Kansas State University |
| Source Sets | K-State Research Exchange |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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