Evaluating the Effectiveness of Five Nozzles in Breaking Out-of-Condition Grain Clumps

Grain entrapment is an agricultural injury in which a person enters a grain bin or silo to dislodge a blockage caused by out-of-condition grain and becomes partially or fully entrapped or engulfed in grain. Each year in the US, approximately 33 grain entrapments occur, where roughly 50% of the entrapped people die. In 2022, at least 42 individuals were entrapped with grain, the largest number of incidents since 2010, when 60 incidents were reported. The persistence of this issue despite substantial investment in training programs highlights the urgent unmet need for testing alternative prevention solutions to reduce grain entrapments. This study aims to test and validate the effectiveness and safety of using high-powered air compressors as tools to break apart out-of-condition grain blockages. A small-scale experiment was conducted with an air compressor and five different nozzles. The effectiveness of each nozzle was measured against hardness, moisture content, and percent grains in each clump. The ½ inch open nozzle and ½ inch crimped nozzle were found the most effective nozzles in reducing the size of grain clumps. Both nozzle results were highly correlated with the hardness of the clump. Results indicate that compressed air could be an effective solution to address grain clumping and blocking auger sumps.