Numerical Simulation and Experimental Study on Static Storage of Bulk Grain

Abstract.

Based on the characteristic of static storage bulk grain and the hypothesis of virtual continuous medium, the representative elementary volume in bulk grain was selected to construct the heat and mass transfer model by employing local thermal equilibrium method. A coupled heat and mass transfer model was obtained and used to simulate the static storage process of wheat. The model was solved by COMSOL Multiphysics software with given initial conditions and boundary conditions according to the storage experiments. The simulated results are in good agreement with the experimental results. The natural convection of air in the bin, the heat and mass transfer in the grain pile were simulated, and the dangerous zone where the condensation would appear can be found by the model. It is beneficial for taking preventive measures to avoid storage hazard.