Technological line for drying the seeds of fodder grasses for the conditions of the north-west of Russia

In the Vologda Oblast, harvesting takes place in difficult weather conditions, as a result of which the seeds of perennial grasses come to the post-harvest treatment unevenly, they have high humidity and a high content of impurities, as well as significant unevenness in ripeness. Therefore, agrotechnical and technological methods of post-harvest processing in the harvesting of seeds in each farm are aimed at obtaining and maintaining high sowing and yielding qualities of seeds. The use of energy-efficient facilities with the introduction of new technological methods of drying seeds from fodder grass ensures reduced energy costs. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to develop resource-saving technologies of drying of seeds of fodder grasses, which provides high conservation of sowing qualities of seeds and energy savings of 10-15%. The article presents materials on the development of energy saving production line for drying grass seed with the use of tray driers. This technology enables the complex application of new effective technical means of drying grass seeds by improving the post-harvest processing at the level of modern requirements. The research novelty lies in the development of a seed drying facility based on the method of a multi-sided heat-transfer fluid inlet which provides high preservation of sowing qualities of seeds and reduces energy costs. The main difference of this method from similar developments is constant heat supply around the whole dryer. In existing dryers, heat supply is carried out from the bottom up so the bottom of the drying chamber is overheated and the seeds may have low germination capacity. The technology is confirmed by patents for the invention “The method of drying grass seeds by active ventilation and the device for its implementation” and “The method of drying small batches of seeds and the device for its implementation”. The technological line for drying seeds of grasses is intended to increase the efficiency of production of own seeds of fodder grass in conditions of agricultural enterprises of various forms of ownership. The research method likes in conducting experimental verification of technical equipment operation and technology of fodder grass seeds drying using the method of multi-sided heat-transfer fluid inlet. The technology includes the following operations: loading of seeds into a drying chamber of the tray type, drying of grass seeds and unloading for storage. The practical significance lies in the development of a technology for drying seeds of fodder grasses, which provides high sowing qualities. The seeds are dried in a tray drier, which makes it possible to obtain high quality grass seeds and reduce energy costs by 15%. This method of drying with a uniform heat supply can be used for drying seeds of grain crops, for example in hopper-type dryers.