When the wheat is taken from storage in the silo it passes through the "screen room" - the wheat cleaning plant. Here machines remove the dirt and impurities.

There are several machines which do this job:

The Separator

The Stoner

The Scourer

THE SEPARATOR

The first stage of cleaning the wheat is a machine called a "separator". This machine removes the rubbish from the wheat: any bits of stalk and any bits of the wheat which are not needed for milling.

This process is called "winnowing" - separating the wheat from the chaff (rubbish). Air streams are used to separate the rubbish from the heavier wheat grains.

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THE STONER

When the rubbish has been removed the grain is then taken by elevator up a floor to the Stoner.

This is a sloping table which vibrates and the heavier stones are shook out and collected to be thrown away. Magnets are used to remove bits of iron and steel.

THE SCOURER

The wheat is then taken to a machine called a Scourer. This loosens the skin of the wheat and removes the "beard" - the hairy bit at the top of the grain.