Abstract
A Low-temperature storage system for rice in which grain temperature is maintained below 15℃ during storage has been commercially used for brown rice storage in Japan. The low-temperature storage system requires an electric cooling system and electric energy to cool rice in summer. The objective of this study was to determine whether snow removed from streets can be used to replace the electric cooling system and electric energy for cooling a rice low-temperature storehouse. About 27% of the electric energy for cooling the rice storehouse could be replaced by using snow piles removed from downtown streets. The quality of rice stored in the storehouse was preserved at a level almost similar to that of freshly harvested rice. The results of this study indicate that a snow pile can be utilized for cooling a rice storehouse as a high-quality rice storage system without electric energy consumption.
