CFD modelling of physical velocity and anisotropic resistance components in a peaked stored grain with aeration ducting systems

Modelling airflow in large stored grain silos has been dealt with superficial velocities and with uniform airflow resistance across the bulk. However, superficial velocities are always lower than physical velocities in an isotropic medium. Besides, due to varying grain properties, there is a high potential of variation in airflow resistances along the vertical and horizontal directions. Thus, a 3D CFD model was developed considering physical velocity in an anisotropic porous media to predict airflow and static pressure distribution from a V-shaped aeration floor. Varying airflow resistances along the horizontal direction of an element were incorporated into the model to account for the variation in grain properties. Mesh independency tests were conducted for achieving numerical stability during the steady-state simulation. The model was validated using the static pressure taps and airflow data measured in an on-farm grain storage silo. A 0.35 m mesh size was optimized using the static pressure and airflow data in the silo model. Least error for static pressure and airflow predictions were observed when horizontal airflow resistance was 50% of the vertical airflow resistance. Furthermore, the model predicted that 14.3% of the total grain volume exhibited a low airflow rate below the recommended value of 2 L s(-1) t(-1) including a significant proportion of the top grain volume above the eave height. Due to 85% of the non-perforated section on the silo floor, 12.6% of the lower grain volume up to a maximum height of 4.4 m above the floor exhibited the low airflow regime. As physical experimentations are tedious, the proposed physical velocity based model could be extended for simulating different options for minimizing dead zone proportions for better grain storage management.