26 



BULLETIN 927, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



If the wet seed is to be dried at one central drying plant it would 

 still be necessary to install at each pulping plant seed-separating 

 cyclones. This wet seed after arriving at the drying center would 

 be subjected to the operation of washing, expelling the moisture, 

 and drying, the latter operation being conducted in rotary driers. 

 Such a plant would operate 24 hours a day, handling the peak pro- 

 duction of 50 tons of wet seed a day over a season of about 60 days. 



The following equipment would be necessary for a plant of this 

 kind : 



Estimated 

 cost. 



Conveyor to holding tank 



Tank and stirrer 



Piping to cyclones 



10 cyclones or tank and conveyor 



Conveyor to expellers 



4 moisture expellers 



Conveyor to driers 



5 driers $60,000 



Conveyor to bagging machine 



Bagging machine 



Piping, shafting, etc : 



Boiler and engine 



Freight and incidentals 



Pump, traps, valves, etc 



Drilling well, etc 



70 cyclones at pulping stations, at $200 each $14, 000 



70 pumps, at $50 each 3. 500 



Piping, freight, etc 10,000 



Incidentals 1_ 5, 000 



32, 500 



Total cost of equipment for drying the seed at a central 

 drying plant 92, 500 



The cost of operation is estimated as follows: 



Labor (loading wet seed into cars) $1,600 



Depreciation of plant, at 10 per cent 9, 250 



Labor, per day, $159.20 (approximate cost), for a season 



of 60 days 9.552 



Management (manager at $3,500, clerk at $1,200), three 



months 1, 175 



Power (500 tons of coal at $8 per ton)__ 4, 000 



Total 25,500 



A summary of the costs of assembling and drying the seed at a 

 central drying plant and at the several pulping plants is given in 

 Table IX. 



After separating, assembling, and drying, the seed is ready for 

 the extraction of the oil. The cost of this procedure will depend 

 on the method of extraction employed, whether it be the expeller or 

 the solvent method. 



