Milling Journal - Q3 2008 - (Page 32)

Wheat Flour Storage For either mill or bakery, storage is a challenge Preventing condensation in mill and bakery flour storage bins means recognizing the physical conditions that affect condensation and managing the factors within your control. likely to be observed in a Wheat flour storage in a Product Quality shorter time period. flour mill or warehouse is challenging enough for flour Moisture millers. Often, however, we Moisture is a component of are called on to look into the solid portion of flour as well other flour transportation or as the void spaces around the storage issues that are quite biological material, which ina bit different from mill storcludes protein, fat, fiber, starch, age. This is particularly true and mineral, as well as moisture. when dealing with bakery Moisture movement and flour storage bins. moisture energy level are not Many times, bins are inDr. Jeff Gwirtz static. Water molecules are alvolved, and often, they are ways moving depending on exposed to the elements. The their energy level. At low energy, water physics that occurs in mill flour storage forms a crystalline solid we know of as bins is identical to bakery flour storage ice. Even at such a low energy level, the bins. However, the extremes are more water molecules are vibrating, moving and attracted to each other. At an intermediate energy level, water is in a liquid form and flows readily to fill a container such as a pot of water. Water molecules are less attracted to each other and move about freely in the fluid, as well as moving between the water’s surface and the atmosphere above the water. At this intermediate level, the process is known as evaporation. As heat is added to the pot of water, the molecules move about more rapidly. Water molecules on the surface absorb enough energy and are even less attracted to each other. Water molecules fly off as they change state and move into the atmosphere as a gas. Molecules in the gaseous state at the bottom of the pan will coalesce to form larger bubbles, which rise to the top and escape into the atmosphere. At this higher energy level, water is boiling and producing gas or vapor, often called steam. Most mill and bakery storage conditions are at intermediate temperatures Cold weather transferred from the grain storage elevator to the mill for cleaning and processing often causes condensation to form on the transfer screw conveyor or drag conveyor as it passes into the mill. around freezing, 32 degrees, up to maybe 140 to 150 degrees. Water and Biological Materials Water molecules move, and biological materials such as flour tend to give up or take on water to achieve equilibrium with their environment. Remember the concept of evaporation in the previous section? The rate or amount of evaporation in a given period of time is influenced by product moisture, air temperature surrounding the product, and the moisture content of the air. When moisture content of the air is low, and the temperature 32 Third Quarter 2008 Response No. 321 MILLING JOURNAL http://www.diamondbacktechnology.com http://www.diamondbacktechnology.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Milling Journal - Q3 2008

Milling Journal - Q3 2008 Contents Milling News Far West Rice Generates Own Power New IAOM-KSU Resident Courses Theodore "Ted" Korolchuk: Miller of the Year IAOM News New IGP Wheat/Flour Web Site Wheat Tempering and Surfactants New ADM Milling Center 2008-09 IAOM Officers Controlling Condensation International IAOM Meetings Pest Management/Subramanyam 2008 Wheat Crop Quality Report Product Quality/Gwirtz Buhler 2009 Resident Courses Northern U.S. Wheat/Backman Horizon Milling to Close ON Mill 2nd Quarter Milling Production Chilled Rolls Belting Product Reviews Milling News Enrichments Phil Weisenberger Obituary Material Handling Pneumatic Systems Mixers Roller Mills Roll Corrugation Product Reviews Storage Transportation Equipment Product/Service Directory Ad Index

Milling Journal - Q3 2008

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