Engineering Commons^™

Laboratory Scale Concept Validation And Evaluation Of Compromising Plant Nodal Integrity As A Means To Increase Bale Density, Aaron P. Turner

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Transportation costs represent a significant role in the economics of packaged hay and biomass crops. The material’s low bulk density limits transportation efficiency. Density is currently limited by the ability of the baling twine to withstand the expansion forces generated by the baled material shortly after it is ejected from the bale chamber. It was hypothesized that compromising the structure of the plant, particularly the plant nodes could reduce the amount of energy stored in the material as it is compressed and thereby reduce the material’s elastic response to compression. Literature pertinent to the biomass material’s behavior in compression was …

Low Cost Flow Sensing For Field Sprayers, Yue Zhang

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Precisely measuring the flow rate in sprayers is a key technology to precision agriculture. With the development of advanced technologies, the demand for the ability to measure flow rate of individual nozzle has become more important and urgent.

This paper investigates the possibility of developing a low-cost flow rate measurement technique. The technique is based on analyzing the acoustic signal from a microphone placed near the nozzle tip. A comparison between acoustic signal and vibration signal was made to study the relations between them. Then several possible locations of the microphone for measuring flow rate were tested and compared, and …

Assessment Of Corn Stover Torrefaction On-Farm Biochar Production, Christina M. Gerometta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Torrefaction is a thermochemical pretreatment process that is typically achieved by slowly heating biomass (<50°C/min) within the temperature range of 200 – 300°C under an inert atmosphere. This process yields a storable solid product with enhanced fuel characteristics that are influenced by the ligno-cellulosic composition of the original feedstock and the imposed torrefaction conditions (time and temperature). This study is an assessment of corn stover properties that are relevant for designing an on-farm torrefaction system. The first portion of this study compared the thermal decomposition behaviors of corn stover fractions (leaf, stalk, cob) to the respective ligno-cellulosic composition using thermo-gravimetric analysis. It was found that the thermal decomposition pattern correlates to the structure and ratio of ligno-cellulosic polymers and provides design guidelines for an on-farm torrefaction system capable of handling large quantities of mixed fraction stover. The second part of this study investigated the effects of torrefaction time and temperature on the mass and energy yield of mixed fraction corn stover using a 46.3 L batch style reactor. It was found that longer reaction times and higher temperatures were required to obtain mass and energy yields similar to those found using lab-scale reactors and finely milled samples. Non-uniform torrefaction occurred between fractions due to chemical composition of each fraction and proximity to the heating elements.

Modeling The H2s Concentrations Affected By Shelterbelts Downwind From A Swine Facility, Brett D. Pettigrew

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Odor from swine facilities can be a nuisance to the nearby residences and communities. Shelterbelts have been shown to positively impact the downwind air quality, but the impacts are dependent on wind speed and direction, and shelterbelt configuration. The first objective of this research was to develop an empirical model of shelterbelt-induced hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentration reductions as a function of horizontal distance beyond a swine facility, based on data from a previous study by Hofer (2009). The Hofer (2009) study measured H2S concentrations at a swine facility at four discrete distances beyond the barn (55, 246, 510, and 805 …

Flash Hydrolysis Of Microalgae Biomass For Biofuels Intermediates Production, Protein Extraction, And Nutrients Recycle, Jose Luis Garcia Moscoso

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Microalgae have shown much higher growth rates and productivity when compared to conventional agricultural crops, aquatic plants and tree species, requiring much less land area than other biodiesel feedstock. To harness that potential the hydrothermal liquefaction of algae biomass was studied and a new process called "Flash Hydrolysis" was developed to use water under subcritical conditions, this process capitalizes on the difference in reaction kinetics of algae polymeric components and fractionates proteins in liquid phase in seconds of residence time.

The main objectives for this study are: Analyze the effect of temperature in FH process to maximize the extraction of …