Green and clean drying equipment to assist grain storage

In the Green Grain Drying Center on Shuangshan Island in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province, eight ground-source heat pump grain electric drying pieces of equipment are operating, accompanied by the rumbling sound of machinery.

Workers were occasionally seen operating the machinery to feed the drying equipment. This center is the first ground-source heat pump grain electric drying project in Jiangsu and the daily grain drying capacity can reach 96 metric tons.

Shuangshan Island is a small island located in the center of the Yangtze River, covering an area of about 20 square kilometers. There are 5000 mu (about 333 hectares) of high-standard farmland on the island. Currently, the wheat on the island has entered the mature stage, and the golden wheat sways in the wind, presenting a bustling scene of harvesting, transportation, drying and storage.

Drying and storage are critical processes after grain harvesting. Insufficient drying of grain can lead to losses such as mold and germination. "In the past, traditional coal or oil-fired hot air furnaces were used for grain drying, which had high drying costs and environmental pollution," said Weng Xiaoping, general manager of Zhangjiagang Shuangshan Agricultural Investment and Development Co Ltd.

To accelerate the transformation and upgrading of agricultural machinery and equipment, China Suzhou Zhangjiagang Power Supply Co of the State Grid Corp enhanced services and collaborated with the local agricultural and rural bureau to promote green and efficient agricultural machinery and equipment, such as drying, brewing and planting, throughout the city. They advocate clean heat source substitution technology and continuously improve the power supply service capabilities and electrification level in rural areas.

The geographical location of Shuangshan Island leads to inadequate supply of steam and natural gas through pipelines. To achieve clean energy drying, ground-source heat pump grain drying technology, which utilizes the earth as an "energy reservoir" and uses electricity to transport "energy," became the preferred choice. Last March, Zhangjiagang Agricultural and Rural Bureau took Shuangshan Island as a pilot and built the Green Grain Drying Center to explore the application of ground-source heat pump technology in grain drying. The center covers an area of 3,700 square meters and has 8 newly-built ground-source heat pump grain drying pieces of equipment, with a total investment of 2.5 million yuan ($350 thousand).