Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons^™

Spray-Dried Cellulose Nanofibril-Reinforced Polypropylene Composites For Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing, Lu Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Compared to conventional manufacturing process, additive manufacturing (AM) offers free-form design, lighter and more ergonomic products, short lead time and less waste. Extrusion-based AM can be used to print thermoplastics. However, extrusion-based AM has processing challenges in printing semi-crystalline thermoplastics, for instance, polypropylene (PP). Cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) are one type of cellulose nanofibers that are produced from pulp fibers. CNF has extraordinary properties which make it an ideal candidate to reinforce polymers. Spray-dried CNF (SDCNF) is able to be incorporated into thermoplastic matrices without modifying conventional processing procedures.

The mechanical properties of 3D printed plastic parts have been considered significantly …

Evaluation Of Foldable Tractor Roll-Over Protective Structures (Rops) Clearance, Luke Martin

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Tractor rollovers are a leading cause of death in the agricultural industry. While rollovers continue to happen, Roll-Over Protective Structures (ROPS) have shown great ability to prevent or reduce the casualties and injuries associated with rollover events. Foldable ROPS provide a practical solution to various issues faced by tractor operators. However, a ROPS is not meant to be used in the folded down position, as they are commonly used.

This study determined the operator protection provided by ROPS in the extended and the folded positions relative to the applicable engineering standards. To accomplish this, six different sized tractors with different …

High Throughput Phenotyping Of Sorghum For The Study Of Growth Rate, Water Use Efficiency, And Chemical Composition, Piyush Pandey

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Plant phenotyping using digital images has increased the throughput of the trait measurement process, and it is considered to be a potential solution to the problem of the phenotyping bottleneck. In this study, RGB images were used to study relative growth rate (RGR) and water use efficiency (WUE) of a diverse panel of 300 sorghum plants of 30 genotypes, and hyperspectral images were used for chemical analysis of macronutrients and cell wall composition. Half of the plants from each genotype were subjected to drought stress, while the other half were left unstressed. Quadratic models were used to estimate the shoot …

A Risk-Based Method For Estimating The Carbon Sequestration Budget For A Mixed Hardwood Forest, Erin Cooper

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) levels in the atmosphere have risen from approximately 310 ppm in the 1950’s to over 400 ppm as of 2015. This rise in CO₂ has likely resulted in the observed warming trend of the earth’s atmosphere in the same time frame, causing significant concern in the scientific community. Several mitigation strategies have arisen to combat the upward trend of CO₂ emissions in recent decades, among them being carbon sequestration- the process of capturing CO₂ from the atmosphere and holding it for an extended period of time. This study used the U.S. Forest …

Use Of Long Term Weather Data And Spatially Delineated Field Attributes To Predict Water And Energy Conservation From Variable Rate Irrigation, Sahil Sharma

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The declining levels of the Ogallala aquifer calls for more judicious use of water. Studies have shown that VRI has the potential for water savings. But adoption of VRI is still very low. The major reason is lack of information on the returns from the VRI systems and its feasibility in different fields. Also, a quantification of the required reduction in prices of VRI is necessary. So, an economic return analysis of VRI strategies was done to compare it to uniform irrigation management (UIM) using a water balance model based on long term weather data and field properties for a …

Thermodynamic Limitations To Agricultural Productivity And Food Security: Livestock In Sub-Saharan Africa, Calvin Harman

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

By 2050, to feed a nearly tripling and more urbanized population in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will require significant increases in crop productivity throughout the region’s agricultural systems, if a greater reliance on imports is to be avoided. Increases in crop yields to maximum potential productivity (closure of crop yield gaps) can produce more calories and protein, but may be insufficient to sustain the burgeoning human population according to recent analysis (van Ittersum et al., 2016). In this thesis, alternative management options (i.e. crop allocation and crop substitutions) are found to increase total energy productivity and the thermodynamic efficiency of food …

Performance Assessment Of Electromagnetic Soil Water Sensors In Different Soil Textural, Temperature, And Salinity Conditions, Jasreman Singh

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Determination of accurate and continuous measurements of volumetric water content (θ_v) is extremely valuable for irrigation management and other agronomic decisions. Lately, electromagnetic (EM) sensors are being widely used to monitor θ_v continuously which also offer the benefits of ease of installation, fewer regulatory and safety concerns, and cost effectiveness. However, the accuracy of parameters [soil temperature, electrical conductivity (EC_a), dielectric permittivity (ε_ra), and θ_v] reported by EM sensors need to be evaluated for them to be utilized for agricultural water management. In the current study, the accuracy of a wide …

Cultivation Of Chlorella Sorokiniana Using Beef Feedlot Runoff Holding Pond Effluent, Mitchell Klaus Goedeken

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A study was conducted to test the suitability of utilizing beef feedlot runoff holding pond effluent for cultivating algae. The algae strain used, Chlorella sorokiniana, was previously identified as a potential energy feedstock for cattle. The previous research was initiated in pursuit of a goal to develop a cycle of utilizing nutrients from beef manure to cultivate algae and then utilizing dewatered algae as a feed supplement for beef cattle.

Runoff holding pond effluent samples were collected from commercial beef production operations in Nebraska during spring 2016. Equal portions of samples from each cooperating farm were composited and then aliquoted …

Setback Distance Requirements For Removal Of Swine Slurry Constituents In Runoff, John E. Gilley, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Kent M. Eskridge, Xu Li, Amy M. Schmidt, Daniel D. Snow

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

The use of setback distances for manure application on cropland areas adjacent to surface water bodies could serve a function similar to vegetative filter strips. However, little information currently exists to identify the setback distances necessary to effectively reduce the transport of contaminants in runoff. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of setback distance and runoff rate on concentrations of selected constituents in runoff following land application of swine slurry to a no-till cropland area in southeast Nebraska. The study site had a residue cover of 7.73 Mg ha-1 and a slope gradient of 4.9%. The …

Quantifying Effectiveness Of Streambank Stabilization Practices On Cedar River, Nebraska, Naisargi Dave, Aaron R. Mittelstet

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Excessive sediment is a major pollutant to surface waters worldwide. In some watersheds, streambanks are a significant source of this sediment, leading to the expenditure of billions of dollars in stabilization projects. Although costly streambank stabilization projects have been implemented worldwide, long-term monitoring to quantify their success is lacking. There is a critical need to document the long-term success of streambank restoration projects. The objectives of this research were to (1) quantify streambank retreat before and after the stabilization of 18 streambanks on the Cedar River in North Central Nebraska, USA; (2) assess the impact of a large flood event; …

Morphological, Thermal And Oxygen Barrier Properties Plasticized Film Polylactic Acid, Kurniawan Yuniarto, Bruce A. Welt, Foliatini -, Hanafi -, Candra Irawan

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Introducing plasticizer poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG400) was applied into poly(lactic acid) (PLA) to produce film matrix packaging by direct casting. Non mechanical properties were carried out plasticized PLA including morphology, crystallinity structure and degree, thermal properties and oxygen barrier properties. Plasticized PLA revealed improving surface structure of PLA film matrix form fractures and homogenous film were achieved at 5% PEG 400. Chromatogram PLA and plasticized PLA were categorized crystal structure an α-form crystal. Intercalated and exfoliated structure did not occur significantly due to dispersion PEG 400 in the matrix but indicated dispersion structure. Thermal properties did not improve plasticized PLA significantly …

Both Adhe And A Separate Nadph-Dependent Alcohol Dehydrogenase Gene, Adha, Are Necessary For High Ethanol Production In Thermoanaerobacterium Saccharolyticum, Tianyong Zheng, Daniel G. Olson, Sean J. Murphy, Xiongjun Shao, Liang Tian, Lee Lynd

Dartmouth Scholarship

Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum has been engineered to produce ethanol at ∼90% theoretical yield and titer of 70 g/L. Its ethanol-producing ability has drawn attention to its metabolic pathways, which could potentially be transferred to other organisms of interest. Here we report that the iron-containing AdhA is important for ethanol production in the high-ethanol strain of T. saccharolyticum (LL1049). A single-gene deletion of adhA in LL1049 reduced ethanol production by ∼50%, whereas multiple gene deletions of all annotated alcohol dehydrogenases except adhA and adhE did not affect ethanol production. Deletion of adhA in wild-type T. saccharolyticum reduced NADPH-linked ADH activity (acetaldehyde-reducing) by …

Performance Results Of Using Waste Vegetable Oil Based Biodiesel Fuel In A Turboshaft Gas Turbine Engine, Donald Bartlett 5218591, Blaine M. Heisner

ASA Multidisciplinary Research Symposium

The purpose of this research is to record and compare the operating parameters of a turboshaft gas turbine engine using two different blends of biodiesel fuel and the standard Jet A fuel.

Techno-Economic Implications Of Fed-Batch Enzymatic Hydrolysis, Ellen Emanuel

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As ethanol production continues to increase in the United States, cellulosic ethanol continues to gain traction as a viable option for meeting ethanol demands. In this work, a literature review of techno-economic analyses for cellulosic ethanol was conducted. It was found that pretreatment methods greatly affect the ethanol production costs. There is a lack of techno-economic data comparing a batch enzymatic hydrolysis to a fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis for a separate hydrolysis and fermentation production process. Consequently, a techno-economic analysis comparing cellulosic ethanol production using batch versus fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis was conducted. SuperPro Designer software (Intelligen, Scotch Plains, New Jersey), a …

An Optimal Milk Production Model Selection And Configuration System For Dairy Cows, Fan Zhang

PhDs

Milk production forecasting in the dairy industry has been an independent research topic since the early 20th century. The accurate prediction of milk yield can benefit both the processor (creameries) and the producer (dairy farmer) through developing short-term production schedules, planning long-term road maps, facilitating trade and investment in the dairy industry, improving business operations, optimising the existing infrastructure of the dairy industry, and reducing operating costs. Additionally, due to the innate characteristics of the milk production process, the accurate prediction of milk yield has been a challenging issue in the dairy industry. With the abolishment of EU milk quotas …

Development Of Cardiac Atrial Kick Shear Wave Elastography To Assess Myocardial Stiffness, Aaron J. Engel

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Increased myocardial stiffness, which is characteristic of many cardiovascular diseases, leads to a loss of diastolic function and is a cause of diastolic heart failure. Current methods to estimate myocardial stiffness rely on pressure-volume relationships derived from invasive cardiac catheter measurements. Noninvasive methods to estimate myocardial stiffness include ultrasound-based and magnetic resonance-based shear wave elastography, where the stiffness of the tissue is related to the propagation speed of a shear wave. Currently, ultrasound-based cardiac shear wave elastography includes acoustic radiation force based methods; however, the in vivo generation and detection of the shear waves in myocardium is significantly degraded due …

Economic Aspect Of The Electricity Production In Subsidiary Mpc Oslomej, Imer Zenku

UBT International Conference

The need to increase the production of electricity in the Subsidiary MPC Oslomej (Mining Power Complex-Oslomej), which operates as part of JSC ELEM (Macedonian Power Plants), 100% state owned company, represents a significant economic activity.

Therefore, the analysis in this paper focuses and aims at the economic aspect of the current electricity production, that is, the impact of the expenditures of the Subsidiary on the price of electricity produced by ELEM JSC, a price also regulated by the Energy Regulatory Commission of the Republic of Macedonia (ERC).

This shall draw attention to the necessity to timely prepare and adjust the …

Monitoring Of Air Quality In The Urban And Industrial Areas In Kosovo, Besa Veseli, Sami Gashi, Shkumbin Shala

UBT International Conference

Environmental pollution has a direct or indirect effect, and is mainly caused by human activity or environmental processes that have harmful effects in the environment and human life.In Kosovo the air pollution in Kosovo is quite evident in the industrial areas. The power plant of KEK (TCA and TCB), from the Cement Factory and ferronickel etc.

In the vast majority of cases, the pollution is caused by the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2), azotes (NOx), ozone, lead and other heavy metals, such as carbon monoxide (CO), dust, PM10,PM2,5 and steamy organic components.

The aim of this inquiry is to study …

Evaluation Of Physical - Chemical Contaminants In Lumbardhi River In Prizren For The Period May - June 2017, Gashi Sami, Bajmaku Ymerr, Besar Veseli, Drini Petrit

UBT International Conference

This paper covers the monitoring of water pollution in the river basin from the source to the White Drin flow monitoring the river flow both in the rural and urban areas of water quality. The biggest problem in environmental protection is the quality of surface water. The results from the analysis of the study will serve to know the pollution from these physical-chemical parameters and at the same time to manage the eco-status in order to prevent negative trends and create a desirable balancing of so important the ecosystem as it is the system consist of Lumbardhi River, with biodiversity …

Improving Efficiency, Reduction Of Pollution And Co2 Emission From Power Plant Kosovo, Afrim Syla

UBT International Conference

In recent years, global warming has been a major issue due to continuous growth of greenhouse gas emissions from different sources. Earth’s atmosphere is composed of a variety of chemical compounds that act as greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is of primary concern due to growing global emissions in recent history. Since the expansion of coal use during the industrial revolution and the expansion of petroleum use during the 20th century, CO2 emissions have risen steadily.

The major factor in Kosovo’s political, social, and economic life today is the development and social sustainability. The biggest challenge for Kosovo remains the …

Evaluation Of The Ereniku River Waters In The Locations Where The Lukac River Flows, Faton Maloku, Luan Daija, Xhelal Këpuska

UBT International Conference

The fate and transport of many anthropogenic pollutants have an impact not only on hydrological cycles, but also on physico-chemical processes.Water resource monitoring will assess the quality of water, identify its depreciation, and help policymakers make decisions that will preserve not only natural areas but also improve quality of life.Therefore the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the physical and chemical parameters of the locations where the river Lukac flows into the Erenik river. Erenik is a river in the western part of Kosovo.The water quality of the Ereniku river comes from anthropogenic activities, mainly from sewage discharges, from …

An Overview Of Zero Energy Buildings With An Emphasis On Energy Savings, Lazaros Aygeris, Peter P. Groumpos

UBT International Conference

The indiscriminate exploitation of the planet's energy sources has nowadays led to an uncontrolled form of climate change, with negative consequences for both humankind and the environment. In an effort to curb this situation, energy savings in both the building sector and other sectors of activity (industry, transport, etc.) is a primary objective and an indispensable component of any energy policy been planned today all around the world. As the building sector consumes 40% of the energy required at European level, the European Union (EU) has made considerable efforts to significantly reduce these consumption levels. In recent years, the European …

Applying A Revised Approach Of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps On A Hybrid Electrical Energy System, Ekavi Antoniou, Eleni S. Vergini, Peter P. Groumpos

UBT International Conference

Complex systems modeling is a rapidly developing research field which incorporates various scientific sectors from bio medicine and energy to economic and social sciences. However, as the systems’ complexity increases pure mathematical modeling techniques prove to be a rather laborious task which demands wasting many resources and in many occasions, could not lead to the desired system response. This realization led researchers turn their attention into the field of computational intelligence; Neural Networks and Fuzzy Logic etc. In this way scientists were able to provide a model of a system which is strongly characterized by fuzziness and uncertainties. Fuzzy Cognitive …

Smart Grid Operation: A Survey, Kozeta Sevrani, Romina Muka

UBT International Conference

Creation of Smart Grid meets the energy requirements of the 21stcentury in a high-tech manner with real time approach by providing asignificant improvement in power reliability and services, and integrating thelatest digital communications in the current power grid. This grid improves theability of consumers and utilities to monitor, control, and predict the use ofenergy. Up to the present time, Smart Grid has involved numerous researchersfrom different viewpoints. This paper provides an extensive literature review ofSmart Grid technologies and its characteristics. There are a lot of problems andchallenges in the field of Smart Grid. Therefore, this paper can help to find …

Using Of Hvdc Technology In Super Grids, Ines Bula, Valmira Hoxha, Edin Bula

UBT International Conference

This paper describes the HVDC system, its organization, as well as advantages over the AC system. Implementation of this system will help to make Europe sustainable energy independent which will require a renewable generation portfolio where much of this portfolio will be fueled by wind and will be developed offshore as it is presented in this paper. To deliver this energy to European consumers will require the development of a high capacity transmission system the so called Supergrid, which will be capable of delivering this energy to Europe's load centers. In this paper also is presented, a DC connection of …

Wind Turbine Technology Enables Sustainable Development Of Electricity In Kosovo, Vehebi Sofiu

UBT International Conference

The requirements of the EU directives for the renewable energy market, in particular wind turbines, enable sustainable development to meet the requirements for electricity generation. Global changes and environmental disasters resulting from industrial pollution do not allow a sustainable development of alternative natural resource exploitation. Balkan states and Kosovo are obliged to increase energy efficiency, to increase the discipline related to flow of fossil fuel emissions, which means less CO2 and greenhouse gases, and to advance the renewable energies by 20% up to 2020. Wind generation turbines are used to transform energy from a rotational mechanical action to generate electricity. …

Spatial And Temporal Variation In Precipitation In Togo, Koffi Djaman, Vivek Sharma, Daran Rudnick, Komlan Koudahe, Suat Irkmak, Kokou Adambounou Amouzou, Jean Mianikpo Sogbedji

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Precipitation is one of the important variables in hydrological cycle and has important application in both irrigated and rainfed agricultural crop production. Better understanding of spatio-temporal variability of precipitation across Togo is important and useful for water users and most agricultural activities. Thus, the objective this study was to analyze the spatial and temporal variation in monthly and annual precipitation across Togo for the period of 1961-2001. Monthly precipitation data was provided by the national direction of meteorology. The performed analysis revealed a decline in annual total precipitation across almost all agro-ecological zones in Togo with the Maritime Region revealed …

Case Study: Modernization Of The Walker River Irrigation District, Stuart Styles, Robert C. Bryan, Sierra Layous

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

The Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) and Walker River Irrigation District (WRID) collaborated on the modernization of WRID with support from the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of Interior in Carson City, Nevada. This paper presents an update to the USCID case study that was presented in 2014 on the initial proposed plan for improving water gauges throughout WRID. There has been phased implementation of the initial proposed plan as well as modification and expansion of that plan. The initial scope of work for system improvements was developed by ITRC in 2009 following field investigations and engineering analyses of …

Holistic Approach In Microalgae Conversion To Bioproducts And Biofuels Through Flash Hydrolysis, Ali Teymouri

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, the demand for renewable energy, mainly biomass has increased. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that more than 13.3% of the total energy production in the first seven months of 2017 was produced from a biomass source. Among all biomass resources, microalgae has brought a lot of attention due to their numerous advantages such as higher growth rate and productivity compared with the conventional energy crops, higher energy conversion efficiency by photosynthesis, and less water requirement than terrestrial crops. However, its development is far behind industrial production. Several research efforts across the globe have been concerned with …

Event And Time-Triggered Control Module Layers For Individual Robot Control Architectures Of Unmanned Agricultural Ground Vehicles, Tyler Troyer

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Automation in the agriculture sector has increased to an extent where the accompanying methods for unmanned field management are becoming more economically viable. This manifests in the industry’s recent presentation of conceptual cab-less machines that perform all field operations under the high-level task control of a single remote operator. A dramatic change in the overall workflow for field tasks that historically assumed the presence of a human in the immediate vicinity of the work is predicted. This shift in the entire approach to farm machinery work provides producers increased control and productivity over high-level tasks and less distraction from operating …