1. Aeration in-silo dryer for grain and seed
Patent Support Request Presentation
Vitaliy G. Danchenko, Larysa P. Potapovych, Ronald T. Noyes
Elevator Limited Company
Dniepropetrovsk

2. Outline Proprietary statement Market need
Technology description & Advantages
Experimental results
Stage of development, Next steps & Costs
Targeted market segment
Competition & Competitive matrix
Improvements achieved
Patent support request
Action Plan for licensing

3. Proprietary information statement
The technology material presented is available for licensing or joint product development.

4. Problem Description & Market Need
40% from 40 millions tons of grain growing at Ukraine is harvested in moist state. Due to lack of drying equipment at a reasonable price and effective grain drying technologies 6 millions tons of grain is lost because of spoilage. It costs $0.8 billions for Ukrainian economics.
According to statistics only 30% of grain enterprises are provided with drying capacity. Conventional drying equipment is not available for most of small and middle farms at Ukraine and others countries because of its high cost and power inputs during operation. Farmers need inexpensive and effective dryers.
The potential market of the dryers at a reasonable price and operation costs with possibility to cover its cost quickly is practically unlimited in Ukraine as 6…8 millions of harvesting grain are not provided with drying equipment.

5. Technical Merits
The proposed aeration in-silo dryer has the following advantages in comparison with thermal dryers afforded at the market:
obtainable price (approximately half as much as thermal dryers prices);
high quality of drying for grain and seed;
possibility of earlier harvesting on 1…2 weeks;
replacing expensive and faulty fuel energy carrier with economically priced fan power;
environmentally appropriate and fire safety drying conditions;
carefule grain finish drying after imperfect thermal drying;
ease of assembling and handling;
not high operation cost;
quick payback (during one year) due to the obtainable price and low (10 times less in comparison with the thermal dryers) power inputs.

6. Description of dryer design and operations
The proposed aeration dryer is designed as conventional grain silo. Its bottom can be conical or flat. A perforated multi-sectional air distributor is installed on the bottom. Ducts of gas jetting system feed the air distributor.
The gas is purged through the air distributor sectional layerwise. Having processed grain the gas is removed outside the dryer through a slot gap between the roof and sidewall sheet.
The dryer construction provide enriching the air feeding grain bulk with ozone which has properties of both disinfector and drying agent. To improve the air drying properties there are systems for its drying and heating.
To simplify dryer assembling and operation processes it is provided with collapsible prefabrication sectional bottom.

7. Technological peculiarities of the offered aeration dryer in comparison with analogues
Horizontal, shorter in size in comparison with vertical and less power-intensive way of gas movement using anisotropic properties of grain body resistance to air flow.
Providing of moistened air removing from the dryer without its repeated contact with dry grain.
The dryer design provides its rigidity both to internal loading from the grain weight ant to environmental stress that allows applying dryers with the height much more than the diameter.
Opportunity of feeding any height of grain bulk with gas of identical initial characteristics with providing level-by-level adjustable on speed purge of the bulk;
Exception of an opportunity for reproduction and further development of pests in moist grain and maintenance of its qualitative parameters both during drying and the subsequent storage in a dry condition.
Reduction of time and labor input of bottom assembly due to use of factory manufactured section elements without application of building equipment and concrete works.

8. Experimental results
Researches of the preparatory grain fumigation with the ozonized air are fulfilled with the positive results.
Processes of the gas moving inside the aeration dryer and moisture removing are studied with help of developed calculation model.
Two aeration dryer imitators of 200 kg capacity are manufactured. Equipment for creation and monitoring of necessity medium inside the dryer as well as drying equipment is prepared. The tests will be begun in November of 2006.
Engineering documentation for manufacture of field aeration dryer prototype of 18 ton capacity is issued. The prototype will be manufactured and prepared for the field test in February of 2007.

9. The stage of development and the international patenting
Dryers’ design and grain drying technologies have been studied by patent and subject literature;
16 technical solutions the closest to the proposed dryer have been selected to use as analogs and prototypes;
Application materials on the invention (drawings of the dryer design, the description of its operation and the patent formula) have been prepared;
The application materials on invention have been discussed preliminary with a patent agent for their completion according to the international patenting requirements and submitting to the State patent association of Ukraine.

10. Next Steps for Development
Manufacturing the aeration dryer, its exploratory finalizing, engineering follow up, correcting make-ready and certification
Presentation of the dryer full-scale prototype to managers of Ukrainian enterprises at training center of Agricultural Department in Mayskoye village, Dniepropetrovsk region, and obtaining official appreciation of the dryer for market penetration
Development of presentation materials, Web-site
Development of the business plan to get budgetary (innovation) financing for preproduction and dryers manufacturing by the way of componentry manufacturing at various producing plants and next assembling by Elevator Ltd staff
International Patent application to take out the Patent in USA, Canada, Ukraine
Cooperation with Companies which interested in the aeration dryers (GSI International, USA, Westeel, Canada, etc) to issue the license and organize joint business
Exposition of the aeration dryer at Agro 2007 Exhibition (Kyev, Ukraine), Agricultural Show in Hanover (Germany) and Brno (Czechia). Making of contract for dryers manufacturing and delivery
Creation of dealer system for advertising and sealing

11. Development Costs analytical research;
Development of the aeration dryer prototype consists of the following work stages:
analytical research;
laboratory experiment preparing;
laboratory experiment to option the aeration technology parameters;
issuing of design and engineering documentation;
preproduction work for new details and assembly unit;
manufacturing of the prototype and purchasing equipment for the field tests;
field tests of the aeration dryer;
refinement of the dryer design by the test results.
Total development cost for the aeration dryer prototype of 100…150 ton capacity amounts approximately 0.9 million of USD.

12. Commercial potential
Aeration dryer has all opportunities to win at the trade market owing to high technical and economic characteristics, parameters of quality and ecological compatibility as well as replacement of expensive energy carriers in technological process of grain and seeds drying such as natural gas and mineral oil by inexpensive energy of the fan.

13. Targeted Market Segment
The aeration dryer may be widely adopted at:
Seed-farming enterprises for:
carefully and pollution-free seed drying with ambient air;
germinating power stimulation and increasing the crop capacity (conceivably on 10…15%) due to seed processing with ozone.
Small and middle farms for:economical
drying small grain batch;
Economical drying (without applying of expensive fuel).
Large grain enterprises for:
Finish drying after incomplete thermal drying to abate power inputs;
Providing possibility to begin harvesting 1…2 weeks earlier with furthering grain ripening during drying process.

14. Competition My competitors are manufacturers of thermal dryers GSI, MFS (USA), Westeel (Canada), Arai (Poland), Meri (Finland). Apparently from the resulted table, of eleven basic characteristics for a choice of the dryer, offered aeration one has ten superlative characteristics of higher, except for one – the speed of drying.
Thermal dryers
Aeration dryer
High cost
Price of the equipment is 3 times below than thermal dryers
High power inputs
Power inputs are more than 2 times below, than at thermal drying
Cracking and damages of grain, caused by internal pressure
Use of sparing drying and after-dying excludes damage of grain
Are not economic enough at drying grain and seeds of small parties
Economic at drying small parties of grain and seeds
Not high quality of seeds drying
High quality of grain and seeds drying
Possibility of ignition at drying of olive cultures
Ignition-safe conditions of drying
Environmental contamination by products of energy combustion
Ecological safety of drying
Insufficient efficiency of drying grain after pre cleaning, for 1 – 2 weeks
Efficiency of drying after pre cleaning for 1-2 weeks
Complexity of installation and operation
Simplicity of installation and operation
High speed of drying due to high-temperature heating
Speed of drying is slower than in thermal dryers
Use of expensive energy resources - natural gas or diesel fuel
Low-cost energy of the fan

15. Competitive Matrix of the proposed and known dryers
Important dryer’s characteristics
Proposed aeration dryer
Thermal dryer of column type GSI,MFS (USA), Westeel (Canada), Arai (Poland), Meri (Finland)
Thermal bunker dryer GSI and MFS (USA)
Weight, tons
3.8
10.8
13.0
Dryer’s cost, $ USA
17 000
85 000
58 000
Weight of drying grain batch, tons
(corn – on 15%,
wheat – on 5%)
100
Drying period, hours
Corn 36
Wheat 96
Corn 4.0
Wheat 15.8
Corn 5.0
Wheat 20.5
Cost of gas for drying of one batch, $ USA -
Corn
Wheat 70.5
Corn
Wheat 62.5
diesel oil, $ USA
Corn
Wheat 98.7
electric power,
$ USA
Corn
Wheat 43.3
Corn
Wheat 10.9
Corn
Wheat 9.8
Cost of total spending, $ USA
Corn
Wheat 81.4
Corn
Wheat 72.3

16. Competitive Matrix of the proposed and known dryers (continuation)
Important dryer’s characteristics
Proposed aeration dryer
Thermal dryer of column type GSI,MFS (USA), Westeel (Canada), Arai (Poland), Meri (Finland)
Thermal bunker dryer GSI and MFS (USA)
Grain drying efficiency
Not enough high
High
Drying efficiency for small grain batch
High economy
Not high economy
Seed drying efficiency
Not high productivity
High productivity

17. Competitive Matrix of the proposed and known dryers (continuation)
Important dryer’s characteristics
Proposed aeration dryer
Thermal dryer of column type GSI,MFS (USA), Westeel (Canada), Arai (Poland), Meri (Finland)
Thermal bunker dryer GSI and MFS (USA)
Quality of marketable grain drying
High
Corn - high for < 25% moisture
Wheat - high
Quality of seed drying
Not enough high
Grain quality after drying and ripening
Improves
Doesn’t deteriorate

18. Competitive Matrix of the proposed and known dryers (continuation)
Important dryer’s characteristics
Proposed aeration dryer
Thermal dryer of column type GSI,MFS (USA), Westeel (Canada), Arai (Poland), Meri (Finland)
Thermal bunker dryer GSI and MFS (USA)
Finishing drying of seed and grain after incomplete thermal drying
Economically and rationally
Doesn’t apply
Ecological compatibility
High
Not enough high
Fire safety
High for any grain-crops
Not enough high at drying oil-bearing crops

19. Reached improvements
The proposed aeration dryer design is improved in comparison with the prototype and possesses 15 distinctive attributes (according to the patent formula):
The improvements allow:
To reduce energy expenses more than in 2 times for drying;
To provide natural and ecologically pure ripening of grain and seeds;
To raise operational and functional qualities;
To raise a degree of factory manufacturing;
To reduce the price of the equipment (in 3 … of 5 times in comparison with similar thermal dryers);
To reduce influence of surrounding atmosphere on process of drying;
To provide qualitative drying of the grain not dependent on height of a grain embankment;
To provide use in other brunches, for example, for drying loose materials or crushed wood.

20. The requirement of patent support
The requirement of patent financial support in the sum of $2, USD is necessary for submission of the international application. It is planning the following clauses of expenses:
Patent investigations $350
Drafting of the Patent Formula $150
Drafting of the declaration and drawing - $150
Application submission $50
Duty $1500
Total $ 2 200

21. Action Plan for Licensing
Prepare list of competitors and companies to contact
Find and assemble marketing team
Develop business-plan to obtain investment
Prepare promotional material
Manufacture demonstrational prototype of the aeration dryer
Carry out presentation of the proposed dryer for stakeholders abroad and for representatives of the foreign companies in Ukraine
Prepare Partner project for development of seed aeration dryer together with US and Canadian experts
Negotiate with stakeholders about creation of joint enterprises for manufacturing aeration dryers on licensing basis

22. V.Danchenko, L.Potapovych, +380562-368275 vdan@ua.fm
Contact information
V.Danchenko, L.Potapovych,
Elevator Limited Company
Dniepropetrovsk