Land levelling is one of the most energy-demanding steps in soil preparation. There are many limiting factors for a specific land levelling operation, such as fertile topsoil conservation, limited allowed slope, specific cut to fill ratio, etc. These limitations make optimisation problems of land levelling even more complicated. In this research, three computational and evolutionary methods including ICA, PSO, GA along with MLS were utilised as optimisation methods to minimise the soil cut and fill volumes and to determine the preferred levelling plane. The results indicated that ICA had the most efficient solution for the energy optimisation in the land levelling among the other investigated methods by saving 29% (17 GJ) of the total energy consumption compared with MLS. This study deals with optimising the energy consumption during land levelling projects using new computer-based techniques and compares them to the MLS method as a benchmark. All in all, ICA, PSO, and GA performed much better than MLS by saving 29, 17, and 10% of the total energy consumption in their best model (number 1 models), respectively. Nonetheless, with these great capacities for saving energy in developing countries, unfortunately, the lack of education and excess subsidies on fossil fuels nullify these potentials.
{"title":"Using new computer based techniques to optimise energy consumption in agricultural land levelling","authors":"S. Almaliki, N. Monjezi","doi":"10.17221/20/2021-rae","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17221/20/2021-rae","url":null,"abstract":"Land levelling is one of the most energy-demanding steps in soil preparation. There are many limiting factors for a specific land levelling operation, such as fertile topsoil conservation, limited allowed slope, specific cut to fill ratio, etc. These limitations make optimisation problems of land levelling even more complicated. In this research, three computational and evolutionary methods including ICA, PSO, GA along with MLS were utilised as optimisation methods to minimise the soil cut and fill volumes and to determine the preferred levelling plane. The results indicated that ICA had the most efficient solution for the energy optimisation in the land levelling among the other investigated methods by saving 29% (17 GJ) of the total energy consumption compared with MLS. This study deals with optimising the energy consumption during land levelling projects using new computer-based techniques and compares them to the MLS method as a benchmark. All in all, ICA, PSO, and GA performed much better than MLS by saving 29, 17, and 10% of the total energy consumption in their best model (number 1 models), respectively. Nonetheless, with these great capacities for saving energy in developing countries, unfortunately, the lack of education and excess subsidies on fossil fuels nullify these potentials.","PeriodicalId":20906,"journal":{"name":"Research in Agricultural Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44362545","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jannatul Ferdows Nipa, Md. Hasan Tarek Mondal, Md. Atikul Islam
A straw chopper is a mechanical device used to uniformly chop fodder into small pieces to mix it together with other grass and then feed it to livestock. The objective of this research was to design and develop an animal fodder chopping machine to be utilised by dairy farmers within their purchase range. The drawing of these machine parts was undertaken in AutoCAD software and the construction was performed in a local workshop. After development of this machine, performance tests were carried out on a farm. The chopping machine tests were carried out with commonly grown fodder (namely: straw, grass, and maize) in Bangladesh. The performance evaluation of the developed machine was carried out in terms of the chopping efficiency, machine productivity, and energy consumption. The economic analysis of the straw chopping machine was assessed by indicating the cost effectiveness to the poor farmers. Analysis of the data in regard to chopping efficiency and machine productivity varied from 93 to 96% and from 192 to 600 kg×h–1, respectively. The energy consumption during the chopping process ranged between 0.0025 and 0.01 kWh for the different types of fodder. The break-even point of the fodder chopping machine was 3 793 kg of cut straw and the payback period was within one year depending on the use.
{"title":"Design, development and performance evaluation of small-scale fodder chopping machine for farmers","authors":"Jannatul Ferdows Nipa, Md. Hasan Tarek Mondal, Md. Atikul Islam","doi":"10.17221/52/2020-rae","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17221/52/2020-rae","url":null,"abstract":"A straw chopper is a mechanical device used to uniformly chop fodder into small pieces to mix it together with other grass and then feed it to livestock. The objective of this research was to design and develop an animal fodder chopping machine to be utilised by dairy farmers within their purchase range. The drawing of these machine parts was undertaken in AutoCAD software and the construction was performed in a local workshop. After development of this machine, performance tests were carried out on a farm. The chopping machine tests were carried out with commonly grown fodder (namely: straw, grass, and maize) in Bangladesh. The performance evaluation of the developed machine was carried out in terms of the chopping efficiency, machine productivity, and energy consumption. The economic analysis of the straw chopping machine was assessed by indicating the cost effectiveness to the poor farmers. Analysis of the data in regard to chopping efficiency and machine productivity varied from 93 to 96% and from 192 to 600 kg×h–1, respectively. The energy consumption during the chopping process ranged between 0.0025 and 0.01 kWh for the different types of fodder. The break-even point of the fodder chopping machine was 3 793 kg of cut straw and the payback period was within one year depending on the use.","PeriodicalId":20906,"journal":{"name":"Research in Agricultural Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43524453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Soufiani, M. Bensalah, H. Zahir, Hajar Koubali, Mostafa El Louali, H. Latrache
The maturation process is an important determining factor to initiate the fermentation process in olive fruit. Level of maturation classically determined by the color of the olive fruit. In this study, we aim to develop a measurable criterion based on physicochemical properties and surface roughness of two important olive varieties grown in Morocco. The hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties and the electron donor-acceptor character of the olives were calculated. The obtained results showed a very clear change in the electron donor character and the surface roughness of the two studied varieties. This change depended on the degree of maturity and the nature of the cultivar. The electron donor character decreased (two times) with an increasing degree of maturity for the Arbequina, contrary to the Picholine variety, which showed a significant increase (4 times). Surface roughness increased 10 times for the Arbequina and decreased 5 times for the Picholine as maturity progressed from the green to the black stage. These findings may be useful in the management/prediction of the process of table olive fermentation.
{"title":"A newly developed method based on surface physicochemical proprieties, for measuring the maturation level of olive fruit","authors":"S. Soufiani, M. Bensalah, H. Zahir, Hajar Koubali, Mostafa El Louali, H. Latrache","doi":"10.17221/38/2020-rae","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17221/38/2020-rae","url":null,"abstract":"The maturation process is an important determining factor to initiate the fermentation process in olive fruit. Level of maturation classically determined by the color of the olive fruit. In this study, we aim to develop a measurable criterion based on physicochemical properties and surface roughness of two important olive varieties grown in Morocco. The hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties and the electron donor-acceptor character of the olives were calculated. The obtained results showed a very clear change in the electron donor character and the surface roughness of the two studied varieties. This change depended on the degree of maturity and the nature of the cultivar. The electron donor character decreased (two times) with an increasing degree of maturity for the Arbequina, contrary to the Picholine variety, which showed a significant increase (4 times). Surface roughness increased 10 times for the Arbequina and decreased 5 times for the Picholine as maturity progressed from the green to the black stage. These findings may be useful in the management/prediction of the process of table olive fermentation.","PeriodicalId":20906,"journal":{"name":"Research in Agricultural Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48415228","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
T. Bako, Ezekiel Ambo Mamai, Istifanus Akila Bardey
Based on the hypothesis that soil properties and productivity components should be affected by different tillage methods, field and laboratory experiments were conducted to study the effects of zero tillage (ZT), one pass of disc plough tillage (P), one pass of disc plough plus one pass of disc harrow tillage (PH) and one pass of disc plough plus two passes of disc harrow tillage (PHH) on the distribution of the bulk density, available water capacity, pH, organic matter, available phosphorus, iron oxide and aluminium oxide at different soil depths, and their effects on the soil productivity. The available water capacity, pH, organic matter and available phosphorus were found to increase with the degree of tillage, while the bulk density, iron oxide and aluminium oxide were found to decrease with the degree of tillage. The results show that the soil productivity index was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected by the tillage methods and found to increase with the degree of tillage.
{"title":"Determination of the effects of tillage on the productivity of a sandy loam soil using soil productivity models","authors":"T. Bako, Ezekiel Ambo Mamai, Istifanus Akila Bardey","doi":"10.17221/46/2020-rae","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17221/46/2020-rae","url":null,"abstract":"Based on the hypothesis that soil properties and productivity components should be affected by different tillage methods, field and laboratory experiments were conducted to study the effects of zero tillage (ZT), one pass of disc plough tillage (P), one pass of disc plough plus one pass of disc harrow tillage (PH) and one pass of disc plough plus two passes of disc harrow tillage (PHH) on the distribution of the bulk density, available water capacity, pH, organic matter, available phosphorus, iron oxide and aluminium oxide at different soil depths, and their effects on the soil productivity. The available water capacity, pH, organic matter and available phosphorus were found to increase with the degree of tillage, while the bulk density, iron oxide and aluminium oxide were found to decrease with the degree of tillage. The results show that the soil productivity index was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected by the tillage methods and found to increase with the degree of tillage.","PeriodicalId":20906,"journal":{"name":"Research in Agricultural Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45330263","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
B. Oyefeso, A. Akintola, Monisola Grace Afolabi, C. Ogunlade, O. Fadele, O. M. Odeniyi
This study investigated the influence of the moisture content and speed on the cutting force and energy of tannia cormels using the response surface methodology (RSM). The moisture content and cutting speed were varied over five levels each [95.79, 113.68, 136.68, 168.42, 242.11% moisture content (dry basis) and 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 mm×min–1, respectively]. The highest and lowest cutting forces were 114.09 and 63.99 N at the corresponding moisture contents of 168.42 and 113.68% and at cutting speeds of 10 and 20 mm×min–1, respectively. The highest and lowest cutting energies of 0.92 and 0.49 J were both obtained at a 136.68% moisture content, at the 10 and 20 mm×min–1 cutting speeds, respectively. The regression models for predicting the cutting force and energy as a function of the cutting speed and moisture content showed that there was no linear relationship between the investigated properties and the independent variables considered which could be attributed to the non-homogeneous nature of tannia cormels. The optimum cutting force and energy were 72.89 N and 0.60 J, respectively, at a 95.79% moisture content and a 22.33 mm×min–1 speed with a desirability of 0.80. These findings could serve as a guide for the development of chipping and cutting machines for tannia cormels.
{"title":"Influence of the moisture content and speed on the cutting force and energy of tannia cormels","authors":"B. Oyefeso, A. Akintola, Monisola Grace Afolabi, C. Ogunlade, O. Fadele, O. M. Odeniyi","doi":"10.17221/79/2020-rae","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17221/79/2020-rae","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigated the influence of the moisture content and speed on the cutting force and energy of tannia cormels using the response surface methodology (RSM). The moisture content and cutting speed were varied over five levels each [95.79, 113.68, 136.68, 168.42, 242.11% moisture content (dry basis) and 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 mm×min–1, respectively]. The highest and lowest cutting forces were 114.09 and 63.99 N at the corresponding moisture contents of 168.42 and 113.68% and at cutting speeds of 10 and 20 mm×min–1, respectively. The highest and lowest cutting energies of 0.92 and 0.49 J were both obtained at a 136.68% moisture content, at the 10 and 20 mm×min–1 cutting speeds, respectively. The regression models for predicting the cutting force and energy as a function of the cutting speed and moisture content showed that there was no linear relationship between the investigated properties and the independent variables considered which could be attributed to the non-homogeneous nature of tannia cormels. The optimum cutting force and energy were 72.89 N and 0.60 J, respectively, at a 95.79% moisture content and a 22.33 mm×min–1 speed with a desirability of 0.80. These findings could serve as a guide for the development of chipping and cutting machines for tannia cormels.","PeriodicalId":20906,"journal":{"name":"Research in Agricultural Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43801432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
O. Fadele, T. Amusan, Ademola Afolabi, C. Ogunlade
Waste from a forest environment constitutes an enormous quantity of renewable energy resources. In this study undesirable forest materials, such as jatropha seed shells (JSSs) and Eucalyptus camaldulensis wood shavings (EcWSs) were used in the production of briquettes with Acacia senegal as the binder using mixing proportions of 0 : 100, 25 : 75, 50 : 50, 75 : 25 and 100 : 0 while the binder was varied from 50, 60, 70, 80 to 90 g. Some physical properties, such as the density, moisture content, water resistance and shatter index, were optimised using the response surface methodology at these mixing proportions. The outcome of the production showed the briquettes to have mean values of 0.66 kg·m–3, 11.51, 91.12 and 99.7 % for the density, moisture content, water resistance and shatter index, respectively. The optimum mixing ratio and binder quantity of 75 : 25 and 60 g, respectively, would result in a briquette having a 0.70 kg·m–3, 10.88, 98.11 and 99.86% density, moisture content, water resistance and shatter index, respectively. It has been revealed that the JSS and EcWS are potential organic wastes which could be used as a feedstock for the production of briquettes. It could be concluded that the variation in the mixing proportion of the JSSs, EcWSs and A. senegal significantly affected the properties of the produced briquettes.
{"title":"Characterisation of briquettes from forest wastes: Optimisation approach","authors":"O. Fadele, T. Amusan, Ademola Afolabi, C. Ogunlade","doi":"10.17221/6/2021-rae","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17221/6/2021-rae","url":null,"abstract":"Waste from a forest environment constitutes an enormous quantity of renewable energy resources. In this study undesirable forest materials, such as jatropha seed shells (JSSs) and Eucalyptus camaldulensis wood shavings (EcWSs) were used in the production of briquettes with Acacia senegal as the binder using mixing proportions of 0 : 100, 25 : 75, 50 : 50, 75 : 25 and 100 : 0 while the binder was varied from 50, 60, 70, 80 to 90 g. Some physical properties, such as the density, moisture content, water resistance and shatter index, were optimised using the response surface methodology at these mixing proportions. The outcome of the production showed the briquettes to have mean values of 0.66 kg·m–3, 11.51, 91.12 and 99.7 % for the density, moisture content, water resistance and shatter index, respectively. The optimum mixing ratio and binder quantity of 75 : 25 and 60 g, respectively, would result in a briquette having a 0.70 kg·m–3, 10.88, 98.11 and 99.86% density, moisture content, water resistance and shatter index, respectively. It has been revealed that the JSS and EcWS are potential organic wastes which could be used as a feedstock for the production of briquettes. It could be concluded that the variation in the mixing proportion of the JSSs, EcWSs and A. senegal significantly affected the properties of the produced briquettes. ","PeriodicalId":20906,"journal":{"name":"Research in Agricultural Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49649703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Abbaszadeh, P. Nai, M. Fattahi, Hamidreza Ghomi Marzdashti
Irrigation water treatment using plasma technology is a new approach to improve productivity. In this study the generation of plasma-activated water (PAW) as a novel subject in agriculture is investigated. Three water treatment systems were designed and evaluated: 1st PAW generation from vapor and injection into the water, 2nd PAW generation using electrical discharge on the water surface and 3rd PAW generation in the aeration path into the water. The lettuce seeds were irrigated with PAW. The germination rate and mean germination time were measured after 6 days. The seedlings weight and the number of seedlings with a length of more than 3 cm were also recorded after 8 days. The results showed that PAW had a significant effect on the germination rate and length of seedlings. Electrical discharge on the water surface had the best results. Germination rate and the number of seedlings with a length of more than 3 cm increased by 11 and 36% respectively. While injection of plasma-treated air into the water significantly reduced the number of seedlings longer than 3 cm, compared to the control. In conclusion, the PAW application can improve some attributes of lettuce germination depending on the PAW system.
{"title":"The effects of three plasma-activated water generation systems on lettuce seed germination","authors":"R. Abbaszadeh, P. Nai, M. Fattahi, Hamidreza Ghomi Marzdashti","doi":"10.17221/105/2020-rae","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17221/105/2020-rae","url":null,"abstract":"Irrigation water treatment using plasma technology is a new approach to improve productivity. In this study the generation of plasma-activated water (PAW) as a novel subject in agriculture is investigated. Three water treatment systems were designed and evaluated: 1st PAW generation from vapor and injection into the water, 2nd PAW generation using electrical discharge on the water surface and 3rd PAW generation in the aeration path into the water. The lettuce seeds were irrigated with PAW. The germination rate and mean germination time were measured after 6 days. The seedlings weight and the number of seedlings with a length of more than 3 cm were also recorded after 8 days. The results showed that PAW had a significant effect on the germination rate and length of seedlings. Electrical discharge on the water surface had the best results. Germination rate and the number of seedlings with a length of more than 3 cm increased by 11 and 36% respectively. While injection of plasma-treated air into the water significantly reduced the number of seedlings longer than 3 cm, compared to the control. In conclusion, the PAW application can improve some attributes of lettuce germination depending on the PAW system. ","PeriodicalId":20906,"journal":{"name":"Research in Agricultural Engineering","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47598005","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Esehaghbeygi, Arash Hajisadeghian, Masih Nasri Nasrabadi
Grey mould disease caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea Pers is widely distributed on strawberries as the dominant postharvest disease. Therefore, fruits have been treated using a pin-to-plate corona electrical field at a high voltage electric field (HVEF) intensity of 3.61, 4.56, and 5.13 kV·cm–1 for 60 minutes. The result revealed that the corona discharge demolished the B. cinerea growth using 20 kV·cm–1 for 10 min in the Petri dishes. In addition, the treated strawberries at 4.56 kV·cm–1 had an average infection rate of 23.33% compared with non-treated samples rate of 45.33%. The HVEF-treated samples showed significantly lower mass losses. The analysis of variance showed that the HVEF did not significantly affect the total soluble solids content, pH, titratable acidity, and softness; however, the lower acidity affected the Botrytis cinerea growth. No significant differences were observed among the mean values in the colour change parameters and colour difference for 4.56 kV·cm–1 compared with the control, while the lightness was significantly higher. The result show that the corona electrical field was able to demolish the B. cinerea growth, and an electric field intensity at 4.56 kV·cm–1 was found to extend the strawberries’ cold storage and to lead to a lower mass loss.
{"title":"Role of a corona field application in the physicochemical properties of stored strawberries","authors":"A. Esehaghbeygi, Arash Hajisadeghian, Masih Nasri Nasrabadi","doi":"10.17221/50/2020-RAE","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17221/50/2020-RAE","url":null,"abstract":"Grey mould disease caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea Pers is widely distributed on strawberries as the dominant postharvest disease. Therefore, fruits have been treated using a pin-to-plate corona electrical field at a high voltage electric field (HVEF) intensity of 3.61, 4.56, and 5.13 kV·cm–1 for 60 minutes. The result revealed that the corona discharge demolished the B. cinerea growth using 20 kV·cm–1 for 10 min in the Petri dishes. In addition, the treated strawberries at 4.56 kV·cm–1 had an average infection rate of 23.33% compared with non-treated samples rate of 45.33%. The HVEF-treated samples showed significantly lower mass losses. The analysis of variance showed that the HVEF did not significantly affect the total soluble solids content, pH, titratable acidity, and softness; however, the lower acidity affected the Botrytis cinerea growth. No significant differences were observed among the mean values in the colour change parameters and colour difference for 4.56 kV·cm–1 compared with the control, while the lightness was significantly higher. The result show that the corona electrical field was able to demolish the B. cinerea growth, and an electric field intensity at 4.56 kV·cm–1 was found to extend the strawberries’ cold storage and to lead to a lower mass loss.","PeriodicalId":20906,"journal":{"name":"Research in Agricultural Engineering","volume":"67 1","pages":"58-64"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44377617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Performance of a tractor mounted solar-biomass hybrid dryer which utilise combined energy of solar and biomass was investigated. Drying behaviour of maize grains in the dryer was also investigated using 10 thin-layer mathematical models. The models were compared based on coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) values between experimental and predicted moisture ratios. Moisture content (MC) of grains in the dryer reduced from 19 ± 0.86% to 13 ± 0.4% (w.b.) in 5 h, compared to grains dried in open-sun which reached same MC in 15 hours. This resulted in average drying rate of 1.2 %·h–1 compared to 0.4 %·h–1 for grains dried in the open-sun leading to net savings in drying time of 67%. Overall mean temperature, 41.93 ± 2.7 °C in the dryer was 15.3 °C higher than the ambient temperature. Midilli Kucuk model was best to describe the thin-layer drying kinetics of maize in the dryer. It showed a good fit between the predicted and experimental data. The effective moisture diffusivity of grains dried in the dryer ranged between 1.45 × 10–11–3.10 × 10–11 m2·s–1. An activation energy of 96.83 kJ·mol–1 was determined based on the Arrhenius-type equation.
{"title":"Thin layer mathematical modelling of white maize in a mobile solar-biomass hybrid dryer","authors":"J. Akowuah, A. Bart-Plange, K. Dzisi","doi":"10.17221/56/2020-RAE","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17221/56/2020-RAE","url":null,"abstract":"Performance of a tractor mounted solar-biomass hybrid dryer which utilise combined energy of solar and biomass was investigated. Drying behaviour of maize grains in the dryer was also investigated using 10 thin-layer mathematical models. The models were compared based on coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) values between experimental and predicted moisture ratios. Moisture content (MC) of grains in the dryer reduced from 19 ± 0.86% to 13 ± 0.4% (w.b.) in 5 h, compared to grains dried in open-sun which reached same MC in 15 hours. This resulted in average drying rate of 1.2 %·h–1 compared to 0.4 %·h–1 for grains dried in the open-sun leading to net savings in drying time of 67%. Overall mean temperature, 41.93 ± 2.7 °C in the dryer was 15.3 °C higher than the ambient temperature. Midilli Kucuk model was best to describe the thin-layer drying kinetics of maize in the dryer. It showed a good fit between the predicted and experimental data. The effective moisture diffusivity of grains dried in the dryer ranged between 1.45 × 10–11–3.10 × 10–11 m2·s–1. An activation energy of 96.83 kJ·mol–1 was determined based on the Arrhenius-type equation.","PeriodicalId":20906,"journal":{"name":"Research in Agricultural Engineering","volume":"67 1","pages":"74-83"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47673130","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The physical properties of agricultural products are essential in designing machines, equipment, and systems for efficient processing operations. Two periwinkle varieties, viz Tympanotonus fuscatus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Pachymelania aurita O. F. Müller, 1774, were utilised in this study to investigate and determine their physical properties relevant to the design of efficient processing equipment. The geometric (axial dimensions, mean diameters, surface area, sphericity, aspect ratio) and gravimetric (bulk and true densities, mass, and porosity) properties were measured. The averages for the major diameter, arithmetic mean diameter, geometrical mean diameter, and surface area were highest in the T. fuscatus variety. In contrast, the minor diameter, sphericity, and aspect ratio were highest in the P. aurita variety. The average bulk and true densities, porosity, and average periwinkle weight for T. fuscatus were higher than the P. aurita variety. Tukey's pairwise comparison analysis carried out on all the physical properties of the T. fuscatus, and P. aurita varieties of the periwinkle shells revealed a statistically significant difference at P < 5%.
{"title":"Comparative analysis of the physical properties of two varieties of periwinkle relevant to the design of processing equipment","authors":"I. Ekop, K. Simonyan, U. N. Onwuka","doi":"10.17221/58/2020-RAE","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17221/58/2020-RAE","url":null,"abstract":"The physical properties of agricultural products are essential in designing machines, equipment, and systems for efficient processing operations. Two periwinkle varieties, viz Tympanotonus fuscatus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Pachymelania aurita O. F. Müller, 1774, were utilised in this study to investigate and determine their physical properties relevant to the design of efficient processing equipment. The geometric (axial dimensions, mean diameters, surface area, sphericity, aspect ratio) and gravimetric (bulk and true densities, mass, and porosity) properties were measured. The averages for the major diameter, arithmetic mean diameter, geometrical mean diameter, and surface area were highest in the T. fuscatus variety. In contrast, the minor diameter, sphericity, and aspect ratio were highest in the P. aurita variety. The average bulk and true densities, porosity, and average periwinkle weight for T. fuscatus were higher than the P. aurita variety. Tukey's pairwise comparison analysis carried out on all the physical properties of the T. fuscatus, and P. aurita varieties of the periwinkle shells revealed a statistically significant difference at P < 5%.","PeriodicalId":20906,"journal":{"name":"Research in Agricultural Engineering","volume":"67 1","pages":"45-50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42605199","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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