Application of Hilin Mini Diaphragm Pumps in Grain Condition Monitoring

Background Introduction

China is a populous country with nearly 1.4 billion people. Grain serves as the foundation of the national economy and a primary source of human sustenance, playing a critical role in both economic development and the stability of people’s livelihoods.

Therefore, ensuring food security is of utmost importance. Safe and eco-friendly grain storage is a vital approach to improving grain quality and reducing losses. Grain condition monitoring is one of the key technologies for ensuring secure grain storage, as it directly or indirectly reflects the state of stored grain. Accurately and swiftly detecting grain parameters—such as temperature, humidity, moisture content, and gas concentrations within the grain pile—and promptly relaying these parameters to the control system allows for timely decision-making and operational adjustments, thereby minimizing grain losses during storage.

Working Principle

Given the significant impact of grain storage on national economic development, maintaining specific gas concentration levels in grain piles is essential for assessing whether the stored grain is in a normal state (normal, potential pest infestation, or mold). Traditional manual inspections—where dedicated inspectors periodically check grain conditions using manual probes—suffer from low efficiency, poor accuracy, and high randomness, often failing to objectively reflect true grain conditions.

To address this, a network of Mini Diaphragm Pumps and sensors can be deployed as nodes to extract gas samples, connecting to a central system for real-time monitoring.

Solution for Mini Diaphragm Pumps

Due to the large scale and extensive coverage of grain storage facilities, Hilin Tech’s Mini Diaphragm Pumps, when applied in smart grain storage systems, often require remote control and collaboration with various sensors (e.g., pressure sensors). Under the coordination of a central control system, these pumps operate based on sensor feedback while their performance is monitored and alerted in real time.

By supporting the Modbus communication protocol, Hilin Tech’s Mini Diaphragm Pumps can be seamlessly integrated with various industrial instruments and control systems. Key benefits of using Modbus-controlled pumps in grain condition monitoring include:

1.Long Control Distance
Modbus Mini Diaphragm Pumps based on the RS485 industrial bus protocol can achieve a typical control range of 1,000 meters, extendable to 5 kilometers with proper grounding and impedance matching, significantly expanding system coverage.

2.Simple Wiring
Modbus requires only 2 or 3 wires and can use low-cost twisted-pair cables (e.g., Ethernet/telephone wires). Alternatively, wireless Modbus gateways with 4G/5G support further reduce wiring complexity.

3.Easy Integration
As a universal industrial protocol, Modbus is widely supported by devices such as touchscreens, sensors, PLCs, and drives, enabling effortless integration. Communication between devices is streamlined via a single bus, with commands sent to specific device addresses for control and monitoring.

4.Controlled Start/Stop
In smart grain storage systems, sampling Mini Diaphragm Pumps need not run continuously. Instead, they can be activated or stopped on demand by the central control system via Modbus, enabling timed sampling with precision.

5.Adjustable Pumping Speed
Sensor and control system requirements may necessitate adjustments to pumping speed. Modbus allows for automatic speed control, increasing or decreasing flow rates as needed.

6.Pump Status Monitoring
Without real-time monitoring, pump failures may go undetected, complicating troubleshooting and requiring manual inspections. Modbus enables remote status tracking (e.g., operational status, end-of-life alerts), simplifying maintenance.

Currently, our product offerings include the Hilintec C50 Series (Top configuration type), D50 Series (Top configuration type), and C60 Series (Top configuration type), which can be customized to support Modbus functionality. We also provide fully customized solutions. Customers can select the most suitable model based on their specific application requirements or contact our pre-sales team for further details.