B22—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 5,1981
Penn State solves silo fire problem
UNIVERSITY PARK —. In a “The problem: such fires begin
discovery of major importance to somewhere below the surface of
farmers, Pennsylvania State the silage. They spread slowly
University researchers have causing hot spots throughout the
learned how to extinguish silo silage.
fires, reports James T. Knight, “We needed some way of pm
president of the International Silo pointing the hot spots, and of
Association, with headquarters in getting water m there.
Des Moines, lowa. “By trial and error-and,
"Before William Arble and perhaps, an extraordinary run of
Dennis Murphy demonstrated it tuck we learned what to do. Our
could be done, we really didn’t is ridiculously simple,
know how to put out sdo fires,” We don’t know why someone didn’t
says Knight. “In most cases, it was try it sooner.”
only possible to protect nearby Their innovation: a combination
structures and animals, and allow heat probe/water sprinkler.
the silage to burn itself out. narrow one-and-one-half-mch
“Since we described their tong perforated metal point is
technique last March in our Silo attached to a three-inch connector.
Operators Manual, it’s been used This is attached to one or more
at least five times to extinguish silo sections of long, thin pipe. An
fires. Previously, there would have electronic temperature sensing
been but a remote possibility of device, wired to an external digital
dousing such fires. ’ ’ .indicator, is slipped down the pipe
The technique was developed to the tip.
over the last four years by Arble, a "The gadgets, several feet long,
fire technology specialist, and 18 thrust repeatedly into different
Murphy, an Extension safety parts of the silage, and tem
specialist and assistant professor perature readings are recorded,”
of agricultural engineering. say B Murphy. "You keep probing,
"Silo fires are self-igniting,” searching for temperatures above
says Mr. Arble. “They result from t4O degrees Fahrenheit. That
heat build-up during fermentation appears to be the danger point.”
of the silage. Unlike most fires, When suspicious spots are
those in silos burn slowly. The located, the temperature probe is
silage—chopped corn or hay used s hd U P the P*PC- A hose is attached
as livestock feed —is packed fir- to the outermost end of the pipe,
mly, leaving little air to fuel the Sometimes, even a garden hose
fjj-e can be used, since little water
HAVING SOIL PROBLEMS? ffpk
Here’s A Timely Tip... 111
Apply lime on frozen ground "
Lime can be applied almost anytime, however
winter months are ideal, because the ground is
firm and the freezing and thawing action helps to
disseminate the lime in the soil '/,*
(Martini W
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pressure is needed. Flowing from
the perforated tip buried deep in
the silage, water extinguishes
localized fires in a few minutes.
The procedure is repeated until ail
suspicious areas have been found
and fires extinguished.
"Thus far,” concludes Mr.
Arble, “we’ve had a 100 percent
success rate. Many of the fires we
extinguished ourselves. For
others, however, we gave direc
tions over the telephone, and local
firemen were able to put them
out.”
Sheypuk
(Continued from Page B 20)
a modern dairy operation, which
proved to be quite interesting.
However, Dee says she became
infuriated when watching a TV
commercial which depicted a
milkman promoting a non-dairy
creamer. It almost seems that for
every forward step dairy
promotion takes, phony-food ad
vertising sets it back another two.
But the Sheypuks George, Dee
and their two girls, Paul, Diane
and their two boys keep ad
vancing the DHIA record speaks
for itself. And although the number
13 might be unlucky for some, it’s a
safe bet the Sheypuks won’t be
avoidmg black cats or broken
mirrors as they strive for the
number one spot next year.
For 10' or 8' Cage Sections
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LEBANON - The Cedar Crest
FFA participated in the Lebanon
County FFA Com Contest held
November 19 at Cedar Crest High
School. Those who participated
from Cedar Crest were Bob
Bomberger with fifth in yield and
second in quality, Steve Wenger
with third in yield and fourth in
quality and Mark Patches with
second in yield and seventh in
quality.
The judge for the contest was
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Rudy wins com contest
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or
David Heagey, an area seed
salesman and farmer. When
Heagy judged the ten ears of corn
from each entry, he was looking
for the following characteristics
bright yellow color, uniformity of
ears, straight rows, large size
freedom from mold and other
marks and full ears.
Jim Rudy of Northern Lebanon
High finished first in yield with
170.5 bushels per acre, and in
quality, too.
ITE
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