Top UK Grain Driers now in Africa

Lions Den Farms, a large, forward thinking farm in Zimbabwe, started off as a small 60ha dryland farm in 2011 and has grown to one of the biggest, and most diverse, farming operations in the country – now operating on six different farms.

Lions Den Farms is a diverse company that is currently cropping over 2000ha per year. They have a wide range of crops in order to reduce market risks and improve cash flow. The 2018 cropping program includes 1000ha commercial maize, 250ha seed maize, 400ha commercial soya beans, 120ha seed soya beans, 100ha seed wheat and 200ha commercial potatoes.

This agricultural company is at the forefront of introducing and utilising high tech precision farming equipment to maximise efficiency and yields in order to have a sustainable future in the industry.

In November 2017, after visiting the UK, Nathan Douglas from Lions Den Farms made the decision to purchase a Perry S610 continuous mixed flow drier. The drier is located in Lions Den next to the GMB silos. There is an agreement with GMB to dry grain for farmers who bring maize to the silos.

The drier is rated to dry at 20tph when drying maize from 18% to 13% moisture content using 110 degrees Celcius hot air temperature. It has a total electrical demand of 46kW and is fitted with three fans and two burners which are capable of burning diesel or kerosene.

Perry hosted a very successful open day at Lions Den on the 10th May 2018 and during the days preceding this the drier was drying soya beans effectively and efficiently. During and after the open day the drier was drying maize from moisture contents as high as 21.5% down to 12.5%. Nathan Douglas from Lions Den Farms is happy to invite people to visit and see the drier at any time.

By utilising the curved conveyors on Perry’s range of equipment it is possible to install the drier system on a simple concrete flat pad, keeping civil costs to the minimum.

The PLC control panel is designed and programmed in house by Perry of Oakley Ltd. engineers and provides the operator with a very easy to use interface to operate the drier. A permanent internet connection provided to the drier will enable a computer and mobile phone app to connect to the drier to monitor and control the drier remotely.

Another key feature of the PLC panel is the crop set up page, which enables the operator to simply select the crop type, moisture content at the inlet and moisture content required, and the PLC will set the correct drying temperatures, discharge speed and fan speed for the crop. However, the hot air temperature can also be adjusted by selecting a new drying temperature on the PLC panel. It can be reduced low enough to safely dry seed crops and milling or malting quality crops.
The drier will operate using diesel, kerosene, gas and, as a new option for the African market, a coal fired heat source.
Pneumatic shutter discharge ensures the consistent discharge of the grain evenly across the surface of the drier.

As standard the drier is capable of drying all combinable crops including light crops such as oil seed rape and all seed crops.
Inverter controlled fans for ease of control when drying light crops and for possible energy saving.

The grain column has a completely ledge free design to reduce dust and chaff residue. Tapered air ducts promote even flow and uniform drying across the whole grain column.

Perry equipment in Zimbabwe is sold through Agristructures in Harare; all Perry driers sold are fully supported by a spares package held locally which covers most hard to replace parts including the PLC, electrical components, sensors, burner spares, and connecting links, flights, chain and buckets for the handling system.

Agristructres’ engineers will be able to offer servicing and breakdown support and in exceptional circumstances our engineers from the UK are only an overnight flight away.

For more information you can also call Agristructures on 00263712 833687.