Brian in Indiana
Brian is a long time Dryer Master user, having used Dryer Master systems for over 25 years now. He dries over a million bushels a year of Non-GMO waxy corn and has a wealth of experience to share.
Brian recently updated his two DM500 systems to two new DM510 systems to go on his two Zimmerman grain dryers, one a AP4500 and the other a Zimmerman VT3026.
Why did you buy Dryer Masters in the first place?
We were looking for a way to take the guesswork out of drying. Because we are a long term storage facility with minimal outbound blending capabilities, we needed consistent moisture and quality going into storage. The Dryer Master has been able to take the peaks and valleys out of our moisture content.
How does the Dryer Master change the way that you dry, or alter your drying operations from an operational perspective?
We had to learn to let the Dryer Master do it’s job. I tell my operators that every adjustment they make when drying, is probably undermining what the Dryer Master has “planned”. We had to learn not to react to what was happening with outbound samples (unless it’s a long term trend)…for instance, if the outbound sample isn’t correct, that adjustment should’ve been made 2-3 hrs ago. We watch the hourly trend and trust that the DM knows what’s going in and what’s coming out and will adjust dryer speed accordingly to hit the average target moisture. Operators have to understand that the DM is always trying to average to the target…if corn is coming out a little dry for an hour, expect the dryer to speed up and you might see a little bit of wetter corn for an hour. My main advice to operators…”don’t over-react, let the DM d
o it’s job”.
What drying tips (if any) would you like to pass on to other dryer owners about how to get the most out of their dryer and/or their Dryer Master?
During harvest, we often can see a 5-10% spread in the moisture of inbound grain. While the Dryer Master can handle those ranges of moisture, we try to “help” it by making the inbound wet grain stream more consistent. We have 3 wet hopper tanks and will divide those into 3 moisture ranges. We then blend those grain streams to the dryer to get a more consistent moisture content on the inbound side of the dryer. This helps the Dryer Master by not making it “react” to those big swings. It also helps us narrow the range that it takes to get to our average outbound target moisture.
Have you fo
und a financial difference in your drying performance using Dryer Master? In what way?
Yes. Anytime we overdry corn or underdry corn and have to recirculate, we are not getting efficient use of our utilities expense or our drying assets. The Dryer Master minimizes those situations and helps us stay within a very narrow +/- range of our target moisture.
How often do you typically calibrate your outlet moisture sensor? And what is your calibration procedure?
We sample every 30-45 minutes while the dryers are running. We keep a log sheet comparing DM sample to Moisture Meter (Dickey-John) sample. If we have 3 samples in a row that are off more than .5% in the same direction…then we calibrate.
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