BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an assembly for saturating or aerating a medium with fluid. More particularly, the invention is directed to an assembly that selectively saturates cross sections of the medium within or without a container. The invention is used to saturate or coat any medium with fluid having or providing desired properties. As one example, the assembly can be used to saturate grain within a bin with air. This air may be artificially conditioned with heat, moisture, fumigants or any combination thereof. The natural air may also be accepted to be sufficient as is.

Drying grain, aerating grain, or both is known in the art. Typically, grain is placed in a pile or in a bin atop a perforated bed or floor through which air, but not grain, may pass. A pressure gradient is created such that air is forced through the grain mass to push, pull, or both (“push”) a drying front through the grain. This process is passive in that the system is static; it does not react to changing conditions within the grain mass. Nor does it change the air flow patterns within the system. The drying front is pushed through the entirety of the grain mass, including the bottom tiers to the top tiers, even after these tiers, or cross sections, of the grain mass have been conditioned.

As a result, the pressure gradient that needs to be overcome is large requiring large amounts of energy to be put into the system. This energy typically comes in the form of mechanical energy, which creates the pressure gradient; and thermal energy, which facilitates the removal of moisture from grain. There also could be energy pertaining to air conditioned with fumigants. Not only is grain quality suboptimal, but often some grain is left too wet and others too dry. Accordingly, a need exists in the art for an assembly that addresses these deficiencies.

An objective of the present invention is to provide a system that is adaptive to changing conditions within a grain mass.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a system that is more energy efficient in conditioning a grain mass.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a system that conditions a grain mass in less time.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a system that more evenly conditions, preserves, or both, a grain mass.

These and other objectives will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the following written description, drawings, and claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An assembly or system for saturating and/or aerating a medium with fluid includes at least one hollow cylinder with an inlet port and an exhaust port embedded within a medium, such as a grain mass. The cylinder has at least one vent associated with an opening in the cylinder to selectively seal the opening to either prevent or allow fluid to flow from the cylinder, through the opening, and into the grain mass.

The cylinder may also have one or more gates that selectively either allow or prevent fluid from flowing from an inlet port through the cylinder, and out the exhaust port. Through the combination of cylinders, vents, and gates, the system can dynamically create multiple flow patterns to direct fluid to targeted areas or sections within the grain mass. The flow patterns are horizontal, vertical, angular, transverse, two dimensional and three dimensional.

The system also includes a plurality of sensors that detect and transmit information about conditions in the grain mass and operating parameters of the system. The detected information is combined and compared with detected data from other systems in a centralized database.

The sensed data is also used by a control system having a computer. The control system processes the detected information and dynamically activates the vents and/or gates to create desired flow patterns.

