The high operating costs of producing grain continuously drives the search for improved efficiency and new methods of productivity gains.

Ponte de Pedra Farm, located in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, achieved an energy saving of up to 80% thanks to an energy efficiency project for the aeration of grain storage silos developed by WEG, in conjunction with its dealer Maratec and the technology company Agroindustrial Rezende.

The solution consisted of using a WEG Wmagnet Motor driven by a CFW11 frequency inverter, interconnected to an EF-ENERGY Aeration Control. This system allows the selection of grain type in each silo, identifies its temperature level and sends a signal to the inverter controlling the flow of the Motor/Fan set. The saving comes from the supply of proper ventilation for each product (soybean, corn and sorghum). The combination of this product mix, together with the application of the permanent magnet motor and invertor coupled with WEG’s experience in similar solutions, allowed a much more impressive gain than the average of 60% savings achieved in previous projects of this type.

With a return on investment of 10 months, the results for the Farm were effective not only in energy saving, but also in quality improvement of the product due to the automation of the system, which provided higher accuracy and consistency of temperature and humidity in the silos. “We are very satisfied with the use of the WEG WMagnet motor integrated into the automatic aeration system and weather station. The motors only run if necessary and vary the speed according to the product and filling level of the silo,” says the Manager of the Farm, João Rafael Deiss.

With 700 hectares, Ponte de Pedra Farm has two silos, a pre-cleaning machine and grain dryer. It produces during harvest and interim-harvest and has an annual volume of approximately five thousand tons of grain.

RESULTS IN ENERGY SAVING OBTAINED ON PONTE DE PEDRA FARM:
SAVING OF 81% STORING SOYBEAN
SAVING OF 78% STORING CORN
SAVING OF 56% STORING SORGHUM

“OUR NEED WAS TO HAVE GREATER CONTROL AND EFFICIENCY IN THE DRYING OF THE PRODUCT BY BLOWING, ALONG WITH IMPROVED ENERGY SAVING. THE RESULTS EXCEED OUR EXPECTATIONS.”

João Rafael Deiss, Manager of Ponte de Pedra Farm.