Hi Joe

The temperature of the grain inside steel bin/silo increments in time due to biological activity, not because of sunlight exposure.

If you measure the temperature inside the silo, it tends to be higher near the center and not near the walls.

Aeration is used to control temperature in steel silos because it is the cheaper way to do it. Another option would be to make the silo hermetic. If you manage to do that, the aerobic activity of the grain consumes the oxygen. In a low oxygen atmosphere, biological activity slows down or even gets completely paralyzed. Insects, worms (larvae), as well as fungi breathe slower and could die in such an environment. The grain itself decreases its activity to save oxygen and falls into a kind of hibernation process.

This happens in concrete silos.

With caulking and insulation material maybe you could manage to make your silo hermetic. ■