| Grain
Flow Weigher DC3 – Compact weighing system for
recording of quantities and flow rate of grain
The company FRIEDRICH electronic developed the new weighing system Flow Weigher DC3. It is applied to
continuously measure flow capacity and total weight of flowable bulk.
he Flow Weigher DC3 is the
successor model for the long-
standing model type Vertical
Pipe Weigher DCG. Several
advantages and developments
have been implemented, which
are introduced below.
By an optimized product conveyance inside
the weighing unit, the bulk is lead into the
sensing pipe more accurately and carefully. The
system has a wider tolerance against different
product types, so the effort to calibrate is
reduced. Weighing results and reproducibility
with varying product specifications are
improved.
Furthermore the suspension of the deflection
plate has a new design, which strongly
stabilizes the zero point behavior. It increases
the robustness against exterior influences.
Additionally the device was constructed
maintenance-friendly, e.g. exchange of load cell
is substantially simplified.
Another advantage of the new construction
is the enhanced grade purity. The product flows
unresistedly out of the housing, avoiding any
product residues.
Due to its low installation height, the system
can easily be integrated under narrow spatial
conditions. The installation is simple, since the
connections can be assembled with regular
clamping rings. Standard feed is with 45°
inclination, but it can also be implemented
under 0° alignment using special feed
deflectors. Through this arrangement, system
can be installed in vertical conveying pipes.
In case of abrasive bulk or high throughput
T
rates, product conveying parts can easily be
equipped with low-wear protection sheets,
which stretch life cycle time.
The new DC3 weighing system is also
integrated in the Automatic Dampening System
NC8, providing highly reliable measuring
results to calculate water dosing amounts.
All common cereals, animal feed, granules,
pellets, but also bruised grains and various
grinded products can be applied for weighing.
The system is also suited for the application
with seeds and can optionally be supplied in
stainless steel qualities (AISI 304 / AISI 316).
In summary, the Flow Weigher DC3 – being
considered as successor model to the Vertical
Pipe Weigher – comes with many
improvements which derive from
practical field experiences of
recent years. These
improvements enhance the
system to provide practicable,
accurate, reliable, robust and
easy-to-handle services. The
Flow Weigher DC3 marks an
important milestone for the
weighing equipment of the
company FRIEDRICH
electronic and comes as an
essential element of product
modernization in the company
portfolio. Further innovations will
follow in the near future.
For further information please visit our
website www.friedrich-electronic.com
Pests in grain stores
Martin Cobbald of Dealey Fumigation and Step Pest Control (Suffolk).
s soon as you start to
accumulate large amounts of
food in one place, pests will
always become a problem.
As one client recently remarked
to me when I arrived on his site
after harvest- "I hope you know what you're
doing, I'm storing 2000 tonnes of rat food!" and
he was right!
Pest controllers who 'take on' farms are very
different to a pest controllers who do your day
to day rat and mouse work in houses and
offices. They have to really know their onions.
With so many food alternatives to bait, you
have to think like a rat to win the rodent war.
As always, excluding pests from the grain
store is the first line of defence. A good
professional won't just bait up around the farm,
he/she will also do some 'proofing' work to
keep grain stores pest proof. This might be a
simple as sticking a bit of wire wool in a gap or
applying some mouse-proof mastic (rather
inventively called Mouse-Stop). Some people
might think this a big task but doing a little
improvement on every visit, you soon end up
A
with rodent-hostile surroundings.
Then there is the question of visit frequency.
Different companies follow different
procedures.
Some still follow the traditional agricultural
pest calendar: Eight visits in the year, clustering
around the cold months and you won't see
them much in the summer. This is a little
archaic now. In 2011 The Environment Agency
successfully argued in the law courts that this
'traditional' schedule of visits is environmentally
irresponsible
Some will visit every six weeks and throw in
extra visits if there is a problem, but even this is
becoming dated. The new CRRU (Campaign
for Responsible Rodenticide Use) rules
stipulate that if bait is put down then it should
only be in response to a live infestation and if
you have to resort to bait, it should only stay
down for 28 days. Anything more and you are
causing undue risk of harm to the surrounding
environment.
Naturally this pushes us towards monthly
visits as a minimum and, especially, a heavy
focus on proofing and habitat management.
32 | Farming Monthly | September 2018
After the introduction of the Biocides
Products Regulation (BPR) in Europe,
rodenticides were one of the first groups of
chemicals to be analysed for safety. The result
was clear, rodenticides do harm the
environment when misused and we are only
allowed to hang onto them because there is no
viable alternative. But levels of bait residue in
the wild food chain are being closely monitored
and it won't take much to change the minds of
the regulators.
It is up to us to ensure pest control is being
carried out professionally on our farms and that
includes hiring audited professionals trained to
a high standard and belonging to a
professional association such as the British
Pest Control Association (BPCA).
The world is changing around us, LEAF, Red
Tractor, CRRU and BPR are all pulling in the
same direction. Environmental responsibility is
key in the modern landscape. The days of
gamekeepers and farm hands doing the rat
baiting are moving into history. Be warned.
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