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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Sustainable Biofuels and Co-products Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #180915
Title: ESTIMATION OF OPERATIONAL COSTS OF GRAIN STORAGE FACILITIES USING COMPUTER SIMULATION

Author
item DA SILVA, LUIS - UNIV.FED DO ESPIRITO SANT
item DE QUEIROZ, DANIEL - UNIV. FED. DE VICOSA
item Flores, Rolando

Submitted to: Revista Brasileiva de Armazenamento
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/1/2005
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Grain storage facilities are built to receive and store crops as soon as they are harvested. Operational costs of these facilities depend on the volume of crops processed by the facility. A computer simulation model, based on an actual facility currently in operation in the State of Parana, Brazil, was developed to estimate the operational costs. The results of this evaluation proved the effectiveness of the simulation model. This simulation shows the potential of its utilization by engineers in designing grain storage facilities and for grain operators to determine their operational costs as a function of the size of the crop to harvest.

Technical Abstract: A methodology was developed to calculate operational costs of grain storage facilities. This methodology involves: (i) the employment of Grain Facility library, developed using ExtendTM software, that is employed for modeling grain storage facilities; and (ii) the use of a spreadsheet for calculating costs using the following model reports: firewood and electric energy monthly uses; and monthly quantities of received, processed, stored and dispatched grains. A representative grain storage facility of the Paraná state in Brazil was considered for the development of the simulation model. During 1999, this facility received 73,473 t of product: 7,376 t of corn – first harvest, 53,179 t of soybean, 7,800 t of corn – second harvest, and 5,118 t of wheat. This study determined the following operational costs: (i) corn – first harvest: R$17.01/t; (ii) soybean: R$15.58/t; (iii) wheat: R$16.81/t, and (iv) corn– second harvest: R$17.46/t. Thus, the total annual operational cost was R$1.144 million.