A compressed air specialist has tackled the problem of grain waste by finding a simple solution to provide better protection for grain stored in silos.
BLUEprotect from Boge Compressed Air Systems is an environmentally-friendly container solution for grain silos, organic products and brewery suppliers.
Granary weevils, parasitic fungi, mice and rats are the cause of a large portion of silo-stored grain wastage worldwide. Grain is also lost to so-called breathing losses with a lack of oxygen the cause.
With BLUEprotect, Boge uses nitrogen from the ambient air via a compressor that produces compressed air close to the silo. The air reaches a membrane filter via a dryer and combined filter, which separates the nitrogen (N2) from the oxygen (O2) and feeds it into a silo, replacing the oxygen so that pests that threaten grain stored in silos cannot survive.
Boge says the nitrogen is completely harmless when it comes into contact with foodstuffs and after use, it is re-absorbed into the ambient air.
“This makes BLUEprotect an attractive method of pest control where the use of chemical agents is not permitted or desirable – for example, in ecological farming or in the supply chain for breweries,” Boge Kompressoren Asia Pacific general manager Nalin Amunugama said.
“Malting plants, for instance, have to ensure that no chemical residues are left behind in the barley; these could later find their way into the beer with the malt when brewing.”
Boge arranges all plant components in a container so BLUEprotect can be placed flexibly, without special prior knowledge, and in different types of silos.
