The article discusses a two-stage drying method, including high-temperature and low-temperature drying, is widely used in the USA, France, Italy, especially for corn grain. In this case, the cooling zone in high-temperature dryers is transferred to a drying room, and cooling is carried out in special coolers: in active ventilation bins, platforms or in warehouses. To increase the efficiency of this method, the calculation of the supply of heated grain, the number of mobile fans was performed, and the duration of cooling and moisture removal were experimentally determined.

Production and processing of lentil as a valuable leguminous crop with a high content of beneficial nutrients (fiber, protein, minerals and vitamins), a low glycemic index, and a low-calorie content (295 kcal per 100 grams of raw lentils) has great potential for domestic economy. The world market of lentil is analyzed, prospects for increasing the level of its use in domestic markets are identified. An evaluation of the crop processing by an extrusion method is given. The statistical data of the Federal State Statistics Service, the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, information materials of Russian and foreign research organizations and companies are studied. The methods of complex structural-dynamic analysis and the expert-analytical method of data processing are used. It is found that lentils contain the largest amount of protein among the rest of the plants, which is a source of essential amino acids (isoleucine and lysine), and that the use of this crop in feed production along with soya bin is promising and appropriate. Based on the analysis of gross yields of lentil in federal districts of Russia in 2010-2019 and export supplies of the crop revealed that the domestic lentil export market expanded 6.1 times, but the country’s lentil consumption decreased 1.18 times. Thus, in the current economic conditions, the issue of finding the use of lentils as a raw export product and expanding the potential for using lentils in the domestic market is relevant. It is proposed to expand the possibilities of using lentils by extruding it, which will allow to have high quality products with good biological value and consumer properties on the domestic market.

One of the main factors affecting the efficiency of agricultural production, timing and quality of agricultural work is the availability of equipment. Among all the variety of agricultural machines, tractors are of key importance. The measures taken by the state to support technical modernization contribute to the partial renewal of the tractor fleet of agricultural organizations, but do not allow to stop the process of its reduction. The existing volumes of purchasing tractors are not enough to radically change the situation. The fleet of agricultural tractors continues to decrease and along with it, the indicators of tractor availability are decreasing, which negatively affects the quality and timing of agricultural work. In terms of availability of agricultural tractors, Russia lags far behind the majority of both developed and developing countries in the world. The growing load on tractors and their high average age lead to violations of agricultural deadlines, increased downtime of equipment, additional material and technical costs for repairs, increased consumption of fuel and lubricants, seeds, fertilizers, etc. In the domestic tractor industry, a difficult situation also remains. The existing nomenclature and production volumes of domestic tractor-building enterprises do not allow to meet the needs of agriculture. There is practically no production of crawler tractors, specialized tractors for gardening and viticulture. In this regard, there is a high dependence on the supply of imported tractors. Despite the significant decline in machinery output in recent years, the Republic of Belarus remains a leader in the production and import of agricultural tractors to Russia and the CIS countries.

Reverse drying is acknowledged to be widely used in the woodworking industry, and in corn cob drying, but it is hardly used for drying grass and cereal seeds. It can be explained by insufficient research into the matter. It is noted that the reversible dryer operation is characterized by the duration of one-direction blowing and the permissible temperature of the drying agent. It has been found that a temperature increase in the drying agent is crucial for dryers designed for processing small-seed crops, since they operate at lower temperatures compared to those designed for cereals. (Research purpose) To determine the effectiveness of a reversible grain dryer that lies in reduced unit costs and increased productivity, as well as the duration of blowing in one direction and the drying agent allowable temperature. (Materials and methods) The main parameters characterizing the operation of a reverse grain dryer have been determined as follows: the duration and permissible temperature of grain heating, the indicators of the one-direction blowing mode and the permissible temperature of the drying agent. It has been found that the intensification of the reverse drying process can be achieved by an increase in the drying agent temperature compared to drying in the one-direction blowing mode, possible due to a higher permissible temperature of seed heating. (Results and discussion) The economic testing of a reversible dryer proved its efficiency in terms of an increase in productivity, a decrease in the specific heat consumption as well as the seed drying non-uniformity below the norm. It is emphasized that an increase in the maximum permissible grain temperature by about 2 degrees Celsius corresponds to a 4-6-degree rise in the drying agent temperature and a 10-12 percent increase in the dryer productivity. (Conclusions) A reverse dryer is proved to be more efficient compared to a traditional one that lies in a 13-percent increase in productivity and a 10-percent decrease in the specific heat consumption, as well as the seed drying non-uniformity below the norm. It has been found that the duration of one-direction blowing mode in a reversible grain dryer was 0.3 hours. It has been determined that compared to the traditional drying, the maximum temperature of the drying agent in the reverse-mode drying is calculated based on the seed permissible temperature, that is to be 2-3 degrees higher than the maximum permissible one. According to the findings, it is 57 degrees Celsius for ryegrass seeds.

The article considers the results of rapeseed drying, which was carried out by convective method on mine, mounted, bunker, as well as recirculation dryers designed for grain drying. Impulse IR drying allowed to intensify the process while preserving the seed quality. Combined method of IR-drying is more effective, in particular, in a fluidized layer at low intensity of the IR-flow, when irradiation is combined with air heating, including oscillation, alternating the supply of heated and outside air in case of continuous IR-irradiation. The duration of IR-drying is calculated for both constant and oscillating heat supplies. The modes of combined IR-drying are experimentally defined. The object of the study was the technological process of drying of rape seeds in a fluidized layer with intensive mixing of the material. The total power of the IR flow and convectively heated heat-transfer agent did not exceed the limiting seed temperature. The calculation of the combined drying duration was carried out similarly to convective drying, and the effect of IR radiation was estimated by the equivalent temperature of the drying agent. A range of experiments was carried out with the IR flow impact on damped rapeseeds when blowing with external and heated air with formation of a fluidized layer. The thickness of the rapeseed layer was changed from 0.05 m to 0.1 m, the speed of the drying agent was 0.65 m / s. The power of the IR lamp varied from 400 W / m2 to 900 W / m2. Seed germination was determined before and after the experiments. The combined IR-drying duration of rape seeds in a fluidized layer was calculated. Well-known calculation expressions for convective drying were used, which included the heat transfer coefficient, moisture removal, specific heat of moisture evaporation, the temperature difference between the drying agent and the mean of the material, as well as the proportion of heat that was used for moisture evaporation, but with an equivalent temperature of the drying agent. The duration of IR drying was calculated in the same way as for convective drying, taking into account the equivalent temperature of the drying agent. It was established that a rational mode of rapeseed IR-drying requires the power of the IR-flow of 0.65 kW / m2, with a variable 5-minute blowing of a rapeseed layer with a height of 0.1 m heated by 25 ° C and outside air with a temperature of 15 ... 20 ° C.