Performance Evaluation of an Automatic Monitoring Device Developed for Grain Storage

Grains are rich sources of carbohydrates, proteins, fibres and oil. These components form daily constituents man in human diets and animal feed. Nigeria is one of the largest producers of grain crops in Africa, though, more than 60% of this is lost due to postharvest processing, whereas inadequate storage structures and inappropriate storage techniques cause about 45% damage to the produce. In Nigeria, huge losses occur in grains during storage based on traditional and intermediate methods being use, and the few modern structures used by the public sector are poorly managed. In order to reduce these losses, this study developed an automatic grain storage device which would monitor internal temperature and relative humidity of stored grains. The components of the storage monitoring device (SMD) including; temperature and humidity sensors, buck converters, Node MCU, Arduino IDE, H-bridge and fan were soldered and connected to perform the expected function. Readings from the SMD revealed that during storage, average temperature and relative humidity measured 34.4 oC and 63% respectively. A total weight loss of 4.1 kg (3.2%) at average moisture content of 13% was experienced. 2.3 kg and 1.8 kg of the entire weight loss were loss due to drop in moisture content and insect infestation respectively. The device was found to be effective because the slightest variations in parameters measured were indicative of the sensitivity and efficiency of the device.Keywords: Grain, storage, temperature, moisture content, automatic device