Aeration in-silo dryer for grain and seed

1
Aeration in-silo dryer for grain and seed

• Patent Support Request Presentation
• Vitaliy G. Danchenko, Larysa P. Potapovych,
  Ronald T. Noyes
• 380 562 368275
• vdan_at_ua.fm
• Elevator Limited Company
• Dniepropetrovsk

2
Outline

• Proprietary statement
• Market need
• Technology description Advantages
• Experimental results
• Stage of development, Next steps Costs
• Targeted market segment
• Competition Competitive matrix
• Improvements achieved
• Patent support request
• Action Plan for licensing

3
Proprietary information statement

• The technology material presented is
  available for licensing or joint product
  development.

4
Problem Description Market Need

• 40 from 40 millions tons of grain growing at
  Ukraine is harvested in moist state. Due to lack
  of drying equipment at a reasonable price and
  effective grain drying technologies 6 millions
  tons of grain is lost because of spoilage. It
  costs 0.8 billions for Ukrainian economics.
• According to statistics only 30 of grain
  enterprises are provided with drying capacity.
  Conventional drying equipment is not available
  for most of small and middle farms at Ukraine and
  others countries because of its high cost and
  power inputs during operation. Farmers need
  inexpensive and effective dryers.
• The potential market of the dryers at a
  reasonable price and operation costs with
  possibility to cover its cost quickly is
  practically unlimited in Ukraine as 68 millions
  of harvesting grain are not provided with drying
  equipment.

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Technical Merits

• The proposed aeration in-silo dryer has
  the following advantages in comparison with
  thermal dryers afforded at the market
• obtainable price (approximately half as much as
  thermal dryers prices)
• high quality of drying for grain and seed
• possibility of earlier harvesting on 12 weeks
• replacing expensive and faulty fuel energy
  carrier with economically priced fan power
• environmentally appropriate and fire safety
  drying conditions
• carefule grain finish drying after imperfect
  thermal drying
• ease of assembling and handling
• not high operation cost
• quick payback (during one year) due to the
  obtainable price and low (10 times less in
  comparison with the thermal dryers) power inputs.

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Description of dryer design and operations

• The proposed aeration dryer is designed as
  conventional grain silo. Its bottom can be
  conical or flat. A perforated multi-sectional air
  distributor is installed on the bottom. Ducts of
  gas jetting system feed the air distributor.
• The gas is purged through the air distributor
  sectional layerwise. Having processed grain the
  gas is removed outside the dryer through a slot
  gap between the roof and sidewall sheet.
• The dryer construction provide enriching the air
  feeding grain bulk with ozone which has
  properties of both disinfector and drying agent.
  To improve the air drying properties there are
  systems for its drying and heating.
• To simplify dryer assembling and operation
  processes it is provided with collapsible
  prefabrication sectional bottom.

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Technological peculiarities of the offered
aeration dryer in comparison with analogues

• Horizontal, shorter in size in comparison with
  vertical and less power-intensive way of gas
  movement using anisotropic properties of grain
  body resistance to air flow.
• Providing of moistened air removing from the
  dryer without its repeated contact with dry
  grain.
• The dryer design provides its rigidity both to
  internal loading from the grain weight ant to
  environmental stress that allows applying dryers
  with the height much more than the diameter.
• Opportunity of feeding any height of grain bulk
  with gas of identical initial characteristics
  with providing level-by-level adjustable on speed
  purge of the bulk
• Exception of an opportunity for reproduction and
  further development of pests in moist grain and
  maintenance of its qualitative parameters both
  during drying and the subsequent storage in a dry
  condition.
• Reduction of time and labor input of bottom
  assembly due to use of factory manufactured
  section elements without application of building
  equipment and concrete works.

8
Experimental results

• Researches of the preparatory grain fumigation
  with the ozonized air are fulfilled with the
  positive results.
• Processes of the gas moving inside the aeration
  dryer and moisture removing are studied with help
  of developed calculation model.
• Two aeration dryer imitators of 200 kg capacity
  are manufactured. Equipment for creation and
  monitoring of necessity medium inside the dryer
  as well as drying equipment is prepared. The
  tests will be begun in November of 2006.
• Engineering documentation for manufacture of
  field aeration dryer prototype of 18 ton capacity
  is issued. The prototype will be manufactured and
  prepared for the field test in February of 2007.

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The stage of development and the international
patenting

• Dryers design and grain drying technologies have
  been studied by patent and subject literature
• 16 technical solutions the closest to the
  proposed dryer have been selected to use as
  analogs and prototypes
• Application materials on the invention (drawings
  of the dryer design, the description of its
  operation and the patent formula) have been
  prepared
• The application materials on invention have been
  discussed preliminary with a patent agent for
  their completion according to the international
  patenting requirements and submitting to the
  State patent association of Ukraine.

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Next Steps for Development

• Manufacturing the aeration dryer, its exploratory
  finalizing, engineering follow up, correcting
  make-ready and certification
• Presentation of the dryer full-scale prototype to
  managers of Ukrainian enterprises at training
  center of Agricultural Department in Mayskoye
  village, Dniepropetrovsk region, and obtaining
  official appreciation of the dryer for market
  penetration
• Development of presentation materials, Web-site
• Development of the business plan to get budgetary
  (innovation) financing for preproduction and
  dryers manufacturing by the way of componentry
  manufacturing at various producing plants and
  next assembling by Elevator Ltd staff
• International Patent application to take out the
  Patent in USA, Canada, Ukraine
• Cooperation with Companies which interested in
  the aeration dryers (GSI International, USA,
  Westeel, Canada, etc) to issue the license and
  organize joint business
• Exposition of the aeration dryer at Agro 2007
  Exhibition (Kyev, Ukraine), Agricultural Show in
  Hanover (Germany) and Brno (Czechia). Making of
  contract for dryers manufacturing and delivery
• Creation of dealer system for advertising and
  sealing

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Development Costs

• Development of the aeration dryer prototype
  consists of the following work stages
• analytical research
• laboratory experiment preparing
• laboratory experiment to option the aeration
  technology parameters
• issuing of design and engineering documentation
• preproduction work for new details and assembly
  unit
• manufacturing of the prototype and purchasing
  equipment for the field tests
• field tests of the aeration dryer
• refinement of the dryer design by the test
  results.
• Total development cost for the aeration
  dryer prototype of 100150 ton capacity amounts
  approximately 0.9 million of USD.

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Commercial potential

• Aeration dryer has all opportunities to win at
  the trade market owing to high technical and
  economic characteristics, parameters of quality
  and ecological compatibility as well as
  replacement of expensive energy carriers in
  technological process of grain and seeds drying
  such as natural gas and mineral oil by
  inexpensive energy of the fan.

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Targeted Market Segment

• The aeration dryer may be widely adopted at
• Seed-farming enterprises for
• carefully and pollution-free seed drying with
  ambient air
• germinating power stimulation and increasing the
  crop capacity (conceivably on 1015) due to seed
  processing with ozone.
• Small and middle farms foreconomical
• drying small grain batch
• Economical drying (without applying of expensive
  fuel).
• Large grain enterprises for
• Finish drying after incomplete thermal drying to
  abate power inputs
• Providing possibility to begin harvesting 12
  weeks earlier with furthering grain ripening
  during drying process.

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Competition My competitors are manufacturers of
thermal dryers GSI, MFS (USA), Westeel (Canada),
Arai (Poland), Meri (Finland). Apparently from
the resulted table, of eleven basic
characteristics for a choice of the dryer,
offered aeration one has ten superlative
characteristics of higher, except for one the
speed of drying.
Thermal dryers Aeration dryer
High cost Price of the equipment is 3 times below than thermal dryers
High power inputs Power inputs are more than 2 times below, than at thermal drying
Cracking and damages of grain, caused by internal pressure Use of sparing drying and after-dying excludes damage of grain
Are not economic enough at drying grain and seeds of small parties Economic at drying small parties of grain and seeds
Not high quality of seeds drying High quality of grain and seeds drying
Possibility of ignition at drying of olive cultures Ignition-safe conditions of drying
Environmental contamination by products of energy combustion Ecological safety of drying
Insufficient efficiency of drying grain after pre cleaning, for 1 2 weeks Efficiency of drying after pre cleaning for 1-2 weeks
Complexity of installation and operation Simplicity of installation and operation
High speed of drying due to high-temperature heating Speed of drying is slower than in thermal dryers
Use of expensive energy resources - natural gas or diesel fuel Low-cost energy of the fan
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Competitive Matrix of the proposed and known
dryers
Important dryers characteristics Proposed aeration dryer Thermal dryer of column type GSI,MFS (USA), Westeel (Canada), Arai (Poland), Meri (Finland) Thermal bunker dryer GSI and MFS (USA)
Weight, tons 3.8 10.8 13.0
Dryers cost, USA 17 000 85 000 58 000
Weight of drying grain batch, tons (corn on 15, wheat on 5) 100 100 100
Drying period, hours Corn 36 Wheat 96 Corn 4.0 Wheat 15.8 Corn 5.0 Wheat 20.5
Cost of gas for drying of one batch, USA - Corn 18.2 Wheat 70.5 Corn 16.3 Wheat 62.5
diesel oil, USA - Corn 25.4 Wheat 98.7 -
electric power, USA Corn 13.5 Wheat 43.3 Corn 3.2 Wheat 10.9 Corn 2.8 Wheat 9.8
Cost of total spending, USA Corn 13.5 Wheat 43.3 Corn 21.4 Wheat 81.4 Corn 19.1 Wheat 72.3
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Competitive Matrix of the proposed and known
dryers (continuation)
Important dryers characteristics Proposed aeration dryer Thermal dryer of column type GSI,MFS (USA), Westeel (Canada), Arai (Poland), Meri (Finland) Thermal bunker dryer GSI and MFS (USA)
Grain drying efficiency Not enough high High High
Drying efficiency for small grain batch High economy Not high economy Not high economy
Seed drying efficiency Not high productivity High economy High productivity Not high economy High productivity Not high economy
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Competitive Matrix of the proposed and known
dryers (continuation)
Important dryers characteristics Proposed aeration dryer Thermal dryer of column type GSI,MFS (USA), Westeel (Canada), Arai (Poland), Meri (Finland) Thermal bunker dryer GSI and MFS (USA)
Quality of marketable grain drying High Corn - high for lt 25 moisture Wheat - high Corn - high for lt 25 moisture Wheat - high
Quality of seed drying High Not enough high Not enough high
Grain quality after drying and ripening Improves Doesnt deteriorate Doesnt deteriorate
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Competitive Matrix of the proposed and known
dryers (continuation)
Important dryers characteristics Proposed aeration dryer Thermal dryer of column type GSI,MFS (USA), Westeel (Canada), Arai (Poland), Meri (Finland) Thermal bunker dryer GSI and MFS (USA)
Finishing drying of seed and grain after incomplete thermal drying Economically and rationally Doesnt apply Doesnt apply
Ecological compatibility High Not enough high Not enough high
Fire safety High for any grain-crops Not enough high at drying oil-bearing crops Not enough high at drying oil-bearing crops
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Reached improvements

• The proposed aeration dryer design is
  improved in comparison with the prototype and
  possesses 15 distinctive attributes (according to
  the patent formula)
• The improvements allow
• To reduce energy expenses more than in 2 times
  for drying
• To provide natural and ecologically pure ripening
  of grain and seeds
• To raise operational and functional qualities
• To raise a degree of factory manufacturing
• To reduce the price of the equipment (in 3 of 5
  times in comparison with similar thermal dryers)
  
• To reduce influence of surrounding atmosphere on
  process of drying
• To provide qualitative drying of the grain not
  dependent on height of a grain embankment
• To provide use in other brunches, for example,
  for drying loose materials or crushed wood.

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The requirement of patent support

• The requirement of patent financial support
  in the sum of 2,200.00 USD is necessary for
  submission of the international application. It
  is planning the following clauses of expenses
• Patent investigations -
  350
• Drafting of the Patent Formula -
  150
• Drafting of the declaration and drawing - 150
• Application submission -
  50
• Duty -
  1500
• Total -
  2 200

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Action Plan for Licensing

• Prepare list of competitors and companies to
  contact
• Find and assemble marketing team
• Develop business-plan to obtain investment
• Prepare promotional material
• Manufacture demonstrational prototype of the
  aeration dryer
• Carry out presentation of the proposed dryer for
  stakeholders abroad and for representatives of
  the foreign companies in Ukraine
• Prepare Partner project for development of seed
  aeration dryer together with US and Canadian
  experts
• Negotiate with stakeholders about creation of
  joint enterprises for manufacturing aeration
  dryers on licensing basis

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Contact information

• V.Danchenko, L.Potapovych,
• 380562-368275
• vdan_at_ua.fm
• Elevator Limited Company
• Dniepropetrovsk