Managing Seed Storage Humidity Needs with Munters Desiccant Dehumidification

Storing seeds at low relative humidity (RH) conserves energy, extends seed life, prevents storage losses and saves thousands of dollars every year. Munters dehumidifiers keep the air dry around the seeds so they do not absorb excess moisture that leads to fungus growth and can protect your seeds at any temperature without freeze-up problems or loss of efficiency.

Seed storage facilities protect a very large investment. The cost of seeds are high and in research applications, seeds may be irreplaceable at any price. Thousands of dollars and hours of costly effort can be lost when too much moisture in the seeds combines with warm temperatures, providing an ideal environment for microbiological growth that destroys your investment.

Conventional Systems

Large seed storage facilities are often built without climate control because of the cost of air conditioning. Small facilities are often air conditioned, but seldom humidity-controlled beyond the limited capacity of air conditioning. In both cases, seeds can readily absorb moisture from the air, which shortens seed life. One method of minimizing the problem is to package seeds in vapor-proof bags. This can work effectively in some situations, but has some limitations.

Bagging the seeds limits moisture absorption, but if the seeds have not been uniformly dried before packaging, sealing them in bags can accelerate deterioration. This is especially true in unheated storage structures. The excess moisture will condense on the inside of the bag when it is exposed to low temperatures. This provides liquid water to the seed grains near the bag wall, which rapidly begin to grow fungus. Bag sealing is also expensive, and it limits flexibility.

 Limitations of humidity control through air conditioning include first cost, operating cost and the degree of dryness which can be achieved.

An air conditioning system must be substantially oversized, and must include expensive reheat energy to become an effective dehumidifier for low humidity environments. It is quite costly to install and operate. During winter, the building must be heated for humidity control, which is unnecessarily costly. Air conditioning systems cannot reach the beneficial low humidity levels required for seed storage. At low temperatures and RH levels, cooling coils freeze up.

Munters dehumidifiers deal with the problem directly by absorbing the moisture from the air as a vapor. There are no cooling coils to freeze, no condensate to drain and the desiccant that absorbs the moisture becomes even more efficient in cold weather. This means you can specify the level of RH you need to protect your investment. Munters dehumidifiers will maintain the relative humidity from 60% to as low as 1% RH, if that is what your product requires. Since Munters dehumidifiers will not freeze, they work as effectively in winter as in summer to protect stored seeds. You can eliminate heat from the building entirely, with no concern about high humidity in the storage area. This means you can save costly insulation when you build a new building, and save winter fuel bills on both new and older buildings. Heating and cooling equipment can be used for its primary purpose: temperature control, and Munters equipment can insure a reliable, efficient, low humidity environment.

Distinctive Benefits

Tel: (800) 843-5360 | E-mail: dhinfo@munters.com