Development of a Promising Method of Pre-sowing Grain Processing

Pre-sowing grain treatment is aimed at protecting against diseases and stimulating physiological processes. Analysis of grain treaters made it possible to establish the need to develop equipment for disinfection, grain coating with microelements and biological products, the formation of a protective film on the grain surface. An experimental device for grain treatment with hot mist was developed and included a treatment chamber with inclined shelves and a hot mist generator. To determine the optimal angles of inclined shelves in the treatment chamber, the process of grain movement was investigated. It was established that a decrease in the velocity of grain in the treatment chamber was possible due to a decrease in the angle of shelf inclination along which the grain moves. Studies showed that the most significant factors affecting the velocity of grain movement was the angle of shelf inclination with optimal values ranged 250–350. The efficiency of hot mist treatment depended on exposure time and feed consistency. Pre-sowing grain treatment with hot mist of humates was a promising direction in the development of treaters. Pre-sowing treatment of Bios-1 barley grains with hot humate mist allowed increasing the yield by 13–14% compared with the traditional semi-dry method using PS-10 treater.