World Grain - April 2019 - 36

FEATURE: GEAPS EXCHANGE 2019

out of condition grain without bin entry.
If prevention fails, Decker said it's important that
rescue equipment is always stored on a grain facility's
property and that employees are properly trained to execute a grain engulfment rescue, along with local emergency responders.
He said about 30% of the grain entrapment incidents
in the United States occur at commercial facilities
while 70% occur on farms. A few years ago, the ratio
was 50-50, so it appears that commercial grain storage facilities are making some progress in preventing
these incidents.
"The problem is we're still seeing about the same
number of incidents overall," he said.
NEW TECHNOLOGY
With grain entrapment prevention and rescue being a
key theme at the 2019 expo, many exhibitors featured
zero-entry products or products that help prevent grainrelated injuries by utilizing new technology.
Grain Systems Inc. (GSI) of Assumption, Illinois,
U.S., debuted its new GrainViz product that gives
operators advanced insight into the condition of
stored grain.
"It's a completely new way to manage grain masses inside the steel storage bin at this point," said Jeff
Cravens, director of North America Grain Dealer Sales
- East, GSI. "It lets you get down to the individual
bushel level where you will always know the moisture
content for safe storage. It constantly monitors and it
will alert you in many ways if there is ever a change
within that grain mass. You can run a scan of the bin.
Similar to an MRI, you get a physical image of what's
inside that grain mass from a moisture standpoint."
He said GrainViz is an important tool for reducing
grain bin entry.
"One of the problems within bin storage is when the
grain gets out of condition, that generally can cause a
person to enter a bin to clean up unconditioned grain,"
Cravens said. "This hopefully prevents that without the
need for those people in there."
TORNUM recently introduced a new generation of
grain cooler. The Tropical Grain Cooler provides safe
grain storage regardless of ambient conditions.
Per Larsson, managing director at TORNUM, said
there is a strong demand for this new product at grain
facilities in warmer climates.
"It is a higher capacity and can perform in warmer climates," he said. "If you are above 40 degrees
Celsius, you will have problems, but this tropical grain
cooler can go further."
NORD Gear Corp. unveiled the MAXXDRIVE
36

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XT series of industrial gear units (IGUs) at the threeday expo.
The MAXXDRIVE XT series expands NORD's line
of IGU production. The new gear units achieve high
thermal ratings as a result of a new and optimized housing design. Together with the increased surface design
and optimized fan design, MAXXDRIVE XT gear
units are ideal for continuous industrial conveying and
bulk material handling applications. In many cases, additional cooling is not required.
The new generation of IGUs supplement NORD's
application-optimized right-angle gear units, and is especially suitable for conveyor belt systems.
"The gear units are ideal for continuous bulk material handling, mining and conveying aggregates
(coal, copper, lithium, quarried materials)," said Hani
Almoghrabi, product manager for NORD's Large
Industrial Drives.
The optimized housing geometry achieves maximum
thermal ratings and effective fan cooling through an
enhanced fan design and air flow.
"NORD's new MAXXDRIVE XT series is achieving some of the highest thermal ratings in the industry,"
Almoghrabi said.
The three-day expo wrapped up by recognizing and
honoring members for their accomplishments in 2018.
Allan Tedrow of McCormick Construction received
the Corbett award, the highest honor for GEAPS associate members.
Tedrow started in the industry in 1982. He joined
GEAPS in 1999 and is an active member in his chapter.
He first ran for the Associates Board of Directors in
2002 and served on the Associates Board for five years.
"Wow, as a sales guy, it is not very often that I am
speechless, but this award leaves me with few words,"
Tedrow said. "I am truly humbled to receive this
award and am honored to be in a group of very distinguished recipients. I would like to thank my employer,
McCormick Construction, for allowing me to participate on the education committee for so many years.
They have been truly supportive of continuing the education into the industry."
GEAPS noted that throughout his time in the organization, Tedrow has been a tireless recruiter and has a
reputation for not only recruiting new members, but for
also getting them involved in GEAPS so they in turn
become advocates. He also has a reputation for connecting members and solving problems.
The Corbett Award is named in honor of the late John
Corbett, Kansas City Chapter, who served three years
as Associates Board president from 1980 to 1983. He
was the first honoree in 1987.
April 2019 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

4/2/2019 9:18:40 AM

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World Grain - April 2019

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