The initial moisture contents and impurities in the grain mass can interfere with the drying operation in a stationary dryer. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of drying air movement in the rice mass as a function of initial moisture contents (19, 18, 17, and 16% w.b.) and impurities (1.5, 2.5, 2.0, and 3.0%) on the physicochemical properties and morphological rice quality. The moisture and impurity contents provided alterations in the movement and distribution of the drying air in the upper layers of the stationary dryers. Consequently, the physicochemical properties and morphological quality of rice were altered. In addition, the reduction in the starch and fat contents was correlated to higher percentages of crude protein, mainly upper grain layers. Thus, the rice mass at moisture content of 17% (w.b.) and impurity at 2.5% allowed major uniformity and greater drying versatility in the stationary dryer for rice quality. Practical applications The rice drying in the stationary dryer is an excellent option to reduce drying and storage infrastructure and achieve satisfactory grain quality, as long as there is an adequate control and management of the batches of grain received in terms of moisture uniformity and impurity contents. For proper rice management in the stationary dryer, it is recommended to pre‐cleaning the grain mass to 2% of impurities, while the initial grain moisture content for drying must be below 18% (w.b.). The standardization of batches in terms of initial moisture content and impurities allows for an adequate flow and distribution of air in the grain mass to obtain efficiency in drying at low temperatures and maintaining grain quality. From a commercial point of view, the grains can remain in the drying process and stored in silo‐dryers for the harvest period until the time they can be sold at better market prices.

A garantia da padronização e qualidade dos grãos de arroz se devem às boas práticas de pós-colheita. Assim, o objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho operacional e a qualidade de grãos de arroz armazenados em silos secadores. O trabalho foi realizado numa unidade armazenadora composta por cinco silos secadores. Na primeira etapa, foram armazenados grãos de arroz em casca, com diferentes massas e alturas, analisando a movimentação de ar e a temperatura. Na sequência, avaliou-se a movimentação do ar no interior da massa de grãos para diferentes processos de peneiramento. Logo, realizou-se a coleta das amostras de arroz em onze diferentes pontos, para análise física dos grãos. Assim, as variações das alturas e a forma de processamento da massa de grãos influenciaram na pressão estática e no desempenho silos secador, reduzindo a capacidade de trabalho e interferindo na qualidade dos grãos. A eficiência da secagem dos grãos de arroz foi inversamente proporcional ao aumento da pressão estática, evidenciando secagem incompleta nas camadas superiores. A operação de peneiramento contribuiu na redução de impurezas e melhorou a distribuição da pressão estática das camadas de grãos, favorecendo a movimentação do ar. Os lotes de grãos de arroz não repeneirados apresentaram a formação de corredores de passagem de ar, prejudicando a secagem e a qualidade dos grãos. Concluiu-se, para que o sistema silo secador tenha eficiência operacional é fundamental homogeneizar os teores de água dos grãos, eliminar totalmente as impurezas e matérias estranhas através de rotinas de peneiramento.

The objective of this current paper is to evaluate, in real production scale, the management of soybean batches in the storage unit of harvested grains that are submitted to drying processes with different technologies, such an evaluation can contribute to minimizing energy and qualitative losses, and to ensuring the grain quality and sustainability of the postharvest system. The experiment was realized in full-scale production and the treatments utilized were lots moist soybean crop (SUL), RR dry soybean (SSLRR), RR2 dry soybean (SSLRR2), dried soybean in continuous dryer (SSS1) (11.0%), dried soybean silo-dryer (SSS2) (12.5%), dried soybean in silo aerator (SSS3) (14.0%). Energy losses and grain quality as a function of drying management ranged from 2.5 to 16.4% in energy, from 0.23 to 3.26% in crude protein and 0.15 to 3.05% in oil—the maximum yield of wet soybeans harvested from the crop (SUL) at 17% (w.b.). Considering the annual Brazilian soybean production, energy losses reach up to 162,282.50 m³ of firewood, approximately 2,116,963,470 kg of crude protein and 810,616,800 liters of crude oil. This would ensure lower losses and higher grain quality, including better yield of protein and crude oil, specifically reducing energy impacts by increasing the efficiency of the drying system. The current study concluded that the SSS1 drying system reduces energy-environmental impacts by 80.23%, reduces crude protein losses by 94.73%, and crude oil by 95.08%.