Abstract: Abstract: In order to explore the characteristics of energy consumption for drying grain, the moisture migration potential and its characteristic function in grain were determined by the method of irreversible thermodynamics. Analytical models of moisture binding energy were established by considering the moisture migration as a certain amount of energy transfer. Analytical methods of drying force and quantitative evalution of energy consumption in grain drying were applied to analyze changes of moisture binding energy with temperature and moisture. The result showed that evaporation from grains with high moisture content was little affected by grain features, and moisture could be mostly dried in normal air. Moisture binding energy of grains with low moisture content was significantly decreased with increasing temperature. It indicated that low moisture grain dried at high temperature was inexpensive, on the contrary, increasing the temperature of grain did not improve energy consumption for moisture evaporation in high moisture grain. This study provided valuable information for analyzing the two-stage drying process and drying temperature in grain drying, revealed the driving mechanism of drying mass and the exergy, established exergy transfer model of high moisture grain, analyzed the change laws of exergy value, and proposed a scientific evaluation standard for energy efficiency and the reasonable design of drying system.