Comparison among numerical approximations in the simulation of the grain mass aeration process

Resumo

In technological development and in the high scale of agricultural production, in the specific case of

grains, efficient structures and ways are required to store the product. One widespread form is aeration, which con-
sists of the forced passage of air through a mass of stored grains. The high cost of acquisition and maintenance of

this technology is a factor that may inhibit its dissemination and acceptance, especially to a large number of small
grain producers. There are several mathematical and numerical models in order to solve this type of problem. This
work aims to solve numerically the model proposed by Thorpe of the aeration of the grain mass, using the finite

difference technique and employing the spatial approximations UDS, CDS and UDS with deferred correction. Ad-
ditionally, the explicit, implicit and Crank-Nicolson time formulations are used. The results obtained numerically

were compared with experimental data taken from the literature, so the difference between the experimental data
and the numerical solution for each approximation used can be observed. Thus, it was found that using the spatial
approximation UDS with deferred correction and the Crank-Nicolson time approximation obtained the smallest
difference to the experimental data.