Influence of storage capacity on energy consumption and cost during refrigerated soybean storage in metal silos: A case study in Western Paraná State, Brazil

The study evaluated the influence of scale, represented by storage capacity, on the specific energy consumption and cost associated with cooling and maintaining the temperature during soybean storage. The first stage, lasting approximately seven months, was experimental and employed a 3-ton silo coupled with a prototype of an autonomous grain cooling system, from which the parameters required for the subsequent stage—estimation for larger silos—were obtained. The results indicated that both specific energy consumption and energy cost decrease with increasing storage capacity due to the smaller specific surface area and greater thermal ballast of large silos. For the largest silo evaluated, with a capacity of 19,272 tons, the specific energy consumption was measured at 3.99 kWh per ton of soybeans, and the specific cost was US$ 0.31 per ton of soybeans.