Sampler for quality control of grain drying

The objectivity of assessing the quality of stored grain depends on the efficiency of the grain samplers used and the technologies for their use. An analysis of commercially available samplers and new technical solutions in the development of technological equipment for taking grain samples showed the need to create a small-sized portable grain sampler for taking samples in hard-to-reach places and with small storage volumes. The purpose of the study is the development of technological equipment for sampling grain stored after drying. Research objectives: development of design and technical documentation, production and testing of an experimental sample of the sampler. In the course of the research, the design of technological equipment for sampling was developed and an application for a patent was filed, a patent for the invention No. 209612 “Grain sampler” was received. The materials of the paper include a kinematic diagram, a description of the design and the principle of operation of the sampler. According to the presented kinematic scheme, a prototype sampler was made and experimental studies were carried out to test it at a grain processing enterprise. The operating parameters of the experimental sample of the sampler were determined. Sampling was carried out using new equipment, which showed that the capacity of the sampler receiving hopper was 200 g, and for the surface of a grain lot of 100 m2 weighing 20 tons, it is necessary to take grain samples at 5 points of the total surface of the lot: in the center and at four points with an indent of 1 meter from the edge of the boundaries of the surface of the batch, while the grain of the first samples was taken at a depth of 15 cm, the second samples were taken in the middle of the surface, the third grain samples were taken from the bottom of the bunker. The mass of the total (combined) sample was about 3 kg and consisted of 15 patterns (samples) of grain. It has been established that the use of a new design grain sampler makes it possible to take grain samples with an error (in accordance with regulatory documents) up to ±5 % by weight.