Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons^™

Design And Development Of A Novel Test Method To Measure The Slipper / Swashplate Interface Fluid Film In A Positive Displacement Machine, Natalie A. Spencer

Open Access Theses

Although robust models of fluid film behavior between the slipper / swashplate lubricating interface in positive displacement machines have been developed, measuring this same fluid film thickness to a highly accurate degree inside a relatively unaltered axial piston unit has never been accomplished until now. A test method was created to close this gap in available data by measuring fluid film thickness between the slipper and swashplate in a 130cc axial piston pump. Precise knowledge of the gap height between the slipper and swashplate at various shaft angle locations during operation provides critical insight into machine behavior. The design, validation, …

Solvent System Selection For Xylooligosaccharides Separation By Centrifugal Partition Chromatography Using Conductor-Like Screening Model For Real Solvents, He Zhang

Open Access Theses

The production of value-added, bio-based industrial commodity chemicals is an important area in science right now and this study provides an initial step in the recovery of bio-based chemicals from hemicellulose. Hemicellulose is a long chain polymer mostly consisting of xylose, which is a five-carbon sugar, and a variety of other compounds that are ubiquitous in plant life. The hemicellulose polymer chain can be depolymerized into smaller components, called xylooligosaccharides (XOS) with different chain lengths of xylose linked by beta-1-4 glycosidic bonds, using either hot water, or dilute sulfuric acid. The xylooligosaccharides can then be purified from one another from …

A Farm Management Information System With Task-Specific, Collaborative Mobile Apps And Cloud Storage Services, Jonathan Tyler Welte

Open Access Theses

Modern production agriculture is beginning to advance beyond deterministic, scheduled operations between relatively few people to larger scale, information-driven efficiency in order to respond to the challenges of field variability and meet the needs of a growing population. Since no two farms are the same with respect to information and management structure, a specialized farm management information system (FMIS) which is tailored to the realities on the ground of individual farms is likely to be more effective than generalized FMIS available today.

This thesis presents the design of a FMIS using proven user-centered design principles. This approach resulted in the …

Developing An Unstructured Model To Investigate The Effect Of Ethanol On Product Yields For Glucose And Xylose Cofermentation In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae 424a (Lnh-St), Shane D. Clingenpeel

Open Access Theses

Production of bio-ethanol from lignocellulose requires the efficient fermentation of glucose and xylose, even in the presence of inhibitors. The desired product, ethanol itself, will inhibit the fermentation. A further understanding of how ethanol affects the organism is critical to overcoming its inhibition.

This thesis evaluated the effect of ethanol on the cofermentation of glucose and xylose in two different cases. The first case had an unstructured model created for Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A (LNH-ST), a genetically modified strain of yeast capable of cofermenting glucose and xylose. The differential equations were based around sugar consumption, and the product yields were investigated …

Quality Changes In Hermetically Stored Corn Caused By Fungi And Sitophilus Zeamais, Nda-Agyima Addae-Mensah K

Open Access Theses

Hermetic storage has been shown to be effective in controlling insect pests and maintaining grain quality of dry grains at 13% moisture and below. However, the feasibility and use of hermetic storage for grains at intermediate mid-moisture levels under the influence of the sub-Saharan African weather conditions is relatively unknown. Hermetic storage experiments were conducted on grade 1 "6297 and 6333 VT RIB" hybrid corn under controlled temperature conditions at 10 degrees centigrade and 25 degrees centigrade at target approximate moisture content levels of 11, 15, 18 and 21% wet basis for a total storage period of 6 months. Corn …

Agricultural And Water Harvesting Opportunities In Kenya, Via A Crowd-Sourced, Citizen Science Hybrid Paradigm, Benjamin D. Branch, James Tindall, Rosemary Moki, Peter N. Baker, Jai Xu, Elisa Bertino

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This is potential joint collaborative research between the Purdue University and citizens of Kenya via the Global Engineering Program in the areas of agriculture in water harvesting. Specifically, in the rural part of Kenya, outside of Nairobi, lives can be greatly impacted. Libraries of tomorrow will have global capacity and responsibility to serve all aspects of global citizenry. Herein is one possible Kenyan example.

In partnership with the Tinmore Institute, an International Food, Water, and Energy Security team of experts, such international collaboration with Purdue's Global Engineering program could be quite successful within the areas of agricultural and water security …

A Cris Data Science Investigation Of Scientific Workflows Of Agriculture Big Data And Its Data Curation Elements, Benjamin D. Branch, Peter N. Baker, Jai Xu, Elisa Bertino

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This joint collaboration between the Purdue Libraries and Cyber Center demonstrates the next generation of computational platforms supporting interdisciplinary collaborative research. Such platforms are necessary for rapid advancements of technology, industry demand and scholarly congruence towards open data, open access, big data and cyber-infrastructure data science training. Our approach will utilize a Discovery Undergraduate Research Investigation effort as a preliminary research means to further joint library and computer science data curation research, tool development and refinement.

Improving Data Quality For A Dairy Pollutant Emissions Study, Ian K. Hahus, Albert J. Heber

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The National Air Emissions Monitoring Study (NAEMS) was sanctioned by the EPA to determine the characteristics of airborne pollutant emissions from confined broiler, egg, pork, and dairy housing. Fifteen representative monitoring sites were selected around the U.S., at which influent and effluent pollutant concentrations were measured in conjunction with airflow and climatic data. Due to the monumental nature of this study and the potential ramifications of its findings, it is of vital importance that the data collected by the researchers and utilized by the EPA be as complete and accurate as possible. To improve the validity of the data collected …

Detection Of Foodborne Pathogens By Micro-Filtration Using A Continuous Cell Concentrator Device, Klaire E. Jeffries, Eduardo Ximenes, Michael R. Ladisch

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Protecting consumers from foodborne illness is an important health concern facing the food industry today. An important deficiency exposed by foodborne illness is the inability to track contaminated food back to the source in a timely manner. Although there are established methods that detect bacterial pathogen contamination, they are limited in distinguishing viable bacteria reliably and quickly. Currently, food pathogen testing requires lengthy culture steps, which many times are delayed even longer due to the lack of in-house testing labs. Typically, two to three days elapses between when the food is sampled and the test results are available. This study …

Computer Simulation Study Of Slipper Lubrication In Hydraulic Machines, Jordyn B. Miller, Monika Ivantysynova

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Hydraulic pumps and motors are vital components used in many applications today. Specifically, the axial piston pump is important because it is reliable, relatively compact, and has a high horsepower-to-weight ratio. These features make this type of pump very advantageous in hydraulic systems. Maintaining proper lubrication between surfaces in an axial pump, such as the slipper and swashplate, is imperative in order to have smooth operation of the system and prevent metal-to-metal contact. The aim of this research is to find the optimal slipper design and fluid film thickness to simultaneously maintain a balanced pressure and decrease power loss in …

Driftwatch Pollinator Mapping Application, Shreyas G. Sundararaman, Larry Theller, Bernard Engel

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Over 65% percent of food consumed in the United States is pollinated by bees. Unfortunately, due to poor farming practices, pesticides are sprayed in bee sensitive areas unknowingly and as a result, the bee population is dwindling at an alarming rate. With lesser bees to pollinate crops, produce is compromised on a very large scale and this could have disastrous impacts on the nation's needs for food. Apiarists and beehive owners face the major responsibility of ensuring that their hives aren't affected by dangerous insecticides and pesticides from the farming areas that they might visit during their crop pollination cycles …

Design Of A Novel Actuation System For Variable Displacement Gear Machine, Mark W. Mahuren, Andrea Vacca

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

External spur gear pumps are exceedingly useful components in common hydraulic systems. The main issue with external gear pumps is that all current models are limited to only fixed-displacement. This means that for every revolution of the gears inside the pump, a set amount of fluid will always be displaced. Consequently, external gear pumps are limited in their use because they can only operate at full throttle causing inefficiencies when reduced displacement is needed. The successful procurement of a variable displacement gear pump will allow a more efficient use of hydraulic systems, such as in the displacement controlled systems used …

Crane Shaking Platform Design, Bixing Yan, Andrea Vacca

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Most of the control methodology of Mobile hydraulic crane is not as energy efficient as people think or want, and the desire to innovate novel, energy-efficient control strategy is the target of most hydraulic experts. To develop or test the control method under real road and off-road conditions, a platform that could simulate the movement and vibration of the crane truck is desired. To design and build the multi-operation platform, a design process includes brain storming, design selection, FEA (Fundamental Element Analysis), mechanical sizing, hydraulic sizing and Bill of Material is required and preferred. After going through all the steps …

Optimization Of Oil Extraction Of Soy Flour Using Mini Extrusion Technology, Alisha Chess, Martin Okos

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Mini extrusion technology is a relatively new technology that offers fast timing and processing of food products. This technology paired with the advantageous properties and growing demand for soybeans can lead to a larger span of uses for the extruder that have not yet been explored, including NASA space missions and incorporation of soybeans into developing countries. During past research on parameters of operation, it was discovered that a significant amount of oil was being separated from the soy meal at the die of the mini extruder. Maximum removal of this oil allows use of the soy meal and soy …

Estimation Of Two-Stage Ditch Excavation Volume Using Lidar Data Full Paper, Kirsten E. Paff, Jane Frankenberger, Naime Celik

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Drainage ditches are a major pathway for sediment, nutrients, and pesticides to enter stream systems, which threaten environmental and human health. Unlike trapezoidal ditches, two-stage ditches have a vegetated bench that acts as a floodplain, which helps to prevent erosion and to increase the processing of nutrients to improve water quality. Converting a trapezoidal ditch to a two-stage ditch is expensive, due to the large volumes of soil that need to be excavated. Since ditch geometries vary significantly and surveying each potential site by hand would be time consuming and expensive, a tool based upon online Light Detection and Ranging …

Adaptive Targeting: Engaging Farmers To Assess Perceptions And Improve Watershed Modeling, Optimization, And Adoption Of Agricultural Conservation Practices, Margaret Mccahon Kalcic

Open Access Dissertations

Targeting agricultural conservation practices to farmland that has the greatest impact on surface water quality has received wide support from scientists and watershed managers. The targeting approach has, however, been politically contentious as many believe farmers will oppose the approach on grounds such as privacy invasion and unfair distribution of government incentives. Targeting conservation practices using complex optimization models has become common in the scientific community, and yet targeted results are underutilized in practice because of difficulties such as knowledge transfer and absence of a political framework for their use. For targeting to be successful, it must be politically supported …

Using X-Ray Imaging Techniques To Determine Density Of Foods, Shivangi Mohan Kelkar

Open Access Dissertations

Density depends on the experimental technique and structural properties of food. True, apparent and bulk are different types of densities. For porous foods such as baked food products and complex food systems, accurate measurement of density is challenging. Empirical correlations dependent on composition and temperature exist to calculate true density. Thus if composition and apparent density are known, porosity can be calculated, porosity = [1 - (apparent density/ true density)]. Various non-destructive diagnostic tools have been employed to study food microstructure. Among these, computed tomography (CT) and digital radiography (DR) utilizing x-ray imaging showed greater capability for evaluation of food …

Ozonation Systems As A Non-Chemical Alternative For Stored Grain Protection, Carlos A. Campabadal

Open Access Dissertations

The use of ozone as a non-chemical alternative in stored grain protection was studied by conducting scale-up demonstrations using a fixed bed ozonation system and developing a semi-continuous counterflow and a continuous flow ozonation treatment system. The objectives of this research were to determine the efficacy of ozonation to control insect pests without affecting end-use quality; to prove the concept of the semi-continuous counterflow ozonation system to ozonate grain at a faster rate and quantify its effect on mold growth reduction; to evaluate the efficacy of a modified screw conveyor for pest control by treating grain in a continuous-flow ozonation …

Advanced Control Strategies For Mobile Hydraulic Applications, Davide Cristofori

Open Access Dissertations

Mobile hydraulic machines are affected by numerous undesired dynamics, mainly discontinuous motion and vibrations. Over the years, many methods have been developed to limit the extent of those undesired dynamics and improve controllability and safety of operation of the machine. However, in most of the cases, today's methods do not significantly differ from those developed in a time when electronic controllers were slower and less reliable than they are today.

This dissertation addresses this aspect and presents a unique control method designed to be applicable to all mobile hydraulic machines controlled by proportional directional valves. In particular, the proposed control …

Direct And Indirect Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Biomass Storage: Implications For Life Cycle Assessment Of Biofuels, Isaac Robert Emery

Open Access Dissertations

Ethanol and other biofuels from cellulosic feedstocks are currently the most promising candidates to replace a large fraction of gasoline consumption in the United States and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Gaps in current approaches to estimating the net greenhouse gas emissions from second-generation biofuels may lead to underestimation of the carbon intensity of these fuels. Current life cycle assessment models of biofuels do not sufficiently account for biomass losses and emissions associated with the harvest and storage of biomass feedstocks, which can require additional fuel and materials use on the farm as well as reducing the effective yield of a …

Design And Use Of An Adjustable Clearance Flailing Knife Biomass Shredder To Mechanically Increase Particle Surface Area, Shawn Gregory Ehlers

Open Access Theses

A flailing knife shredder was designed and tested as an alternative to a hammermill for processing biomass. The machine was comprised of two cylinders with four rungs, each with five free-swinging blades. Each of the two cylinders had adjustable clearance hoods and variable speed drives. Energy usage, output characteristics and device capacities were compared with corn stover processed at moisture contents (MC) of 10%, 35% and 50% wet basis (WB). The hammermill produced a more uniform particle size distribution in comparison to the shredder. Accessibility, indicated by conductivity index, to plant constituents, revealed that the method of treatment was not-significant …

Effect Of Anaerobic Dairy Manure Co-Digestion And Effluent Solid Separation On Volatile Fatty Acids During Manure Storage, Laura Page

Open Access Theses

Volatile fatty acids (VFA) are among the most abundant organic compounds found in animal manure and act as important intermediates in the production of methane under anaerobic digestion (AD). However, VFA also contribute to odor emissions from manure. Anaerobic digestion and separation of solids may help to reduce odor pollution during manure storage and subsequent land application by reducing VFA concentrations.

Little information about the characteristics and concentrations of VFA in dairy manure related to AD is available. This thesis presents the results of VFA production during two three-month storage studies of dairy manure collected from four different sources on …

Estimation Of Watershed Nitrate Loads On Drained Agricultural Lands, Yan Jiang

Open Access Theses

Estimation of nutrient load is critical for many applications in water quality management; however, infrequent data monitoring and measurement error could raise considerable uncertainty in the load estimations. The objectives of this study were to quantify the overall uncertainty in annual nitrate-N load estimates, and develop a statistical model to predict nitrate loads based on subsurface drainage characteristics in Indiana watersheds. Nitrate was selected as the study object because of the high loads common in Midwestern streams, and its important influence on hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.

A standard error propagation method was used to quantify the uncertainty from …

Specific Salt Effects On The Formation And Thermal Transitions Among Β-Lactoglobulin And Pectin Electrostatic Complexes, Stacey Ann Hirt

Open Access Theses

Factors of ion specificity and ionic strength (I~0-100) were studied in the electrostatic complex formation and protein particle formation by thermal treatment for a β-lactoglobulin and pectin system. ζ-potential showed β-lactoglobulin and pectin began to interact near pH 5.50 and interactions were strengthened with decrease in pH. Visible light turbidimetry and light scattering at 90° revealed a trend in critical pH transitions for electrostatic complex formation based on both the ionic strength and the anion of the salt species, while effects of the monovalent cation was insignificant. Critical pH values for complex formation and separation (pHc and pHΦ) decreased with …

Rheological Properties Of Gluten Free Dough Systems, Stephany Aurea Tandazo

Open Access Theses

Bread is the one of the oldest processed foods and a major wheat based product. The basic process involves mixing of ingredients until the flour is converted into dough, followed by baking the dough into a loaf. A very important step in breadmaking is to know how to make good quality dough. However, the increasing knowledge of people being diagnosed with celiac disease (gluten intolerance) has encouraged scientists to develop healthier and better quality gluten-free products that would greatly improve the quality of life of celiac patients. The main objective of this study was to create a dough system composed …

Bivariate Drought Analysis Using Entropy Theory, Zengchao Hao, Vijay P. Singh

2011 Symposium on Data-Driven Approaches to Droughts

Drought duration and severity are two properties that are usually needed for drought analysis. To characterize the correlation between the two drought properties, a bivariate distribution is needed. A new method based on entropy theory is proposed for constructing the bivariate distribution that is capable of modeling drought duration and severity with different marginal distributions. Parameters of the joint distribution are estimated with Newton’s method. Monthly streamflow data from Brazos River at Waco, Texas, are employed to illustrate the application of the proposed method to model drought duration and severity for drought analysis.

Drought Regionalization Of Brazos River Basin Using An Entropy Approach, Deepthi Rajsekhar, Ashok Mishra, Vijay P. Singh

2011 Symposium on Data-Driven Approaches to Droughts

Assessment and understanding of past climate is an important step for drought mitigation and water resources planning. In this study, stream flows imulation obtained from the variable infiltration capacity(VIC) model was used for drought characterization, and subsequently regionalization was done based on the annual severity level, for the Brazos basin in Texas over a time span of 1949-2000. It is important to study drought characteristics with in a regional context. Hence, identification of homogenous drought regions is a prerequisite, so that the drought characteristics can be studied with in each of these regions. In this study, the concept of entropy …

A Look At 20th Century Droughts, Vijay P. Singh, Ashok K. Mishra

2011 Symposium on Data-Driven Approaches to Droughts

Droughts exercise a profound effect on the social and economic fabric of nations. Many nations of the world experienced droughts encompassing the full spectrum of severity, areal extent and duration. The result has been that the economic development was hampered and many countries have not yet recouped fully from the ravages of droughts. The first decade of the 21st century has also witnessed varying degrees of droughts across the globe. Therefore, we ask the following questions: (a) Do droughts affect every part of the world? (b) Are there similarities in major droughts around the world? (c) Are climate change and …

Long Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment – Model Builder Approach, Cibin Raj

GIS Day

Climate change has significant impact on hydrology and water quality. A simple Long Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment tool has been developed using model builder in ArcGIS 9.3 to simulate hydrology and water quality. The model developed to read precipitation data from netCDF format to simulate runoff. The tool box developed to simulate hydrology based on the widely used USDA Curve Number method and water quality using EMC (event mean concentration) of pollutant. The model in GIS allows easier management of input and output data and allows critical spatial and visual interpretation. The model developed for Wisconsin State, where the precipitation …