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Binspector
The earliest possible spoilage detection enables early decision-making when the least amount of inventory is affected. This is a huge economic advantage over the current status quo where spoilage is all too often detected late in its development, requiring expensive mitigation action that involves a large fraction, or all, of the bin inventory. With early warning from Binspector CO2 detection, you will trim spoilage losses from many thousands of bushels per incident down to just a few hundred or even zero bushels, saving thousands of dollars with each detection.
"This new tool is going to revolutionize grain quality management during storage."
- Dr. Dirk E. Maier, Professor, Department of Grain Science & Industry, Kansas State University
Why Monitor Carbon Dioxide (CO2)?
All condition loss processes in grain (mold or insects) generate heat and carbon dioxide. Grain’s thermal insulation properties are excellent and keep heat from a spoilage site from moving very far into the surrounding unspoiled grain mass. The slowness of this heat transfer makes spoilage detection via heat measurements a difficult task. At the same time, while heat is generated and essentially trapped at the spoilage location, carbon dioxide gas, CO2, is generated in large amounts and is free to move or diffuse throughout the stored grain. Inside a bin or tank, much of this CO2 reaches the headspace and mixes with the free air between the grain surface and the roof. Unlike heat, CO2 from a spoilage site gets to the headspace air almost instantly where it is available for detection by a gas sensor. In this way, CO2 provides the earliest possible warning of undesirable biological activity in a grain storage bin.
How it Works
Left: When biological activity is present in the form of mold or insects, you always get: CO2 + water + some heat.
Middle: Regardless of where the spoilage starts, the CO2 it generates quickly diffuses through the grain mass to the headspace.
Right: Because the CO2 generated by spoilage migrates quickly and easily to the headspace air, Binspector-CO2 can detect it, providing the earliest possible warning of spoilage in progress.
- Control electronics box.
- Solar panel recharging eliminates external power cord requirements allowing quick installation.
- A panel rotation bracket facilitates easy setting of the solar panel pointing direction for the best sun exposure angle.
- Weather-tight, UV and impact protected plastic enclosure protects the Binspector's brain from the elements.
- Sensor shroud roof flange cover seals the installation hole and serves as a cable clamp for adjusting the height of the sensor shroud above or below the bin eave level, as stored grain height dictates.
- Armored high tensile strength Sensor Power/Data Cable can be used to extract a buried sensor shroud and housing.
- Sensor shroud protects the sensor housing and dust filter from direct grain contact; provides an anchor point for extracting the sensor housing should the unit be buried in grain.
- Sensor housing protects the CO2, temperature, and relative humidity sensors from physical damage, and serves as a closed air sampling cavity for the system.
- CO2, temperature, and humidity sensors. Abnormal concentrations of headspace CO2 indicate grain quality problems long before significant heat is generated by spoilage; temperature and relative humidity readings refine the diagnostics for spoilage at depth, surface fungus and insects.
- A sensor dust filter passively excludes dust from sampled headspace air without the use of barrier filters, leading to low power, clog-free and maintenance-free sensor operations.