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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Modeling Net Energy Balance Of Ethanol Production From Native Warm Season Grasses, Prabodh Illukpitiya, Chandra Reddy, Ankit Bansal Apr 2017

Modeling Net Energy Balance Of Ethanol Production From Native Warm Season Grasses, Prabodh Illukpitiya, Chandra Reddy, Ankit Bansal

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

There has been an increasing interest in the use of perennial grasses as potential feedstock for ethanol production. The characteristics which make perennial grasses attractive for bioenergy feedstock development initiative are their high yield potential and the high contents of lignin and cellulose. The objective of the study is to model energy input and output and simulate Net Energy Value (NEV) of producing ethanol from native warm season grasses. According to simulated results, the mean NEV of ethanol production from native warm season grasses considered in the analysis was positive. Mean NEV for switchgrass and eastern gammagrass was higher compared …


Using The Vehicle Routing Problem To Reduce Field Completion Times With Multiple Machines, Hasan Seyyedhasani, Joseph S. Dvorak Mar 2017

Using The Vehicle Routing Problem To Reduce Field Completion Times With Multiple Machines, Hasan Seyyedhasani, Joseph S. Dvorak

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

The Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) is a powerful tool used to express many logistics problems, yet unlike other vehicle routing challenges, agricultural field work consists of machine paths that completely cover a field. In this work, the allocation and ordering of field paths among a number of available machines has been transformed into a VRP that enables optimization of completion time for the entire field. A basic heuristic algorithm (a modified form of the common Clarke-Wright algorithm) and a meta-heuristic algorithm, Tabu Search, were employed for optimization. Both techniques were evaluated through computer simulations in two fields: a hypothetical basic …