Iranian Journal of Biosystems Engineering
Year:2017 | Volume:48 | Issue:3|Papers Count:15

Potato dry rot is one of the most detrimental diseases affecting on potato tubers caused by Fusarium Solani fungus. In order to prevent the expansion of potato dry rot and the losses caused by this disease, the fungi must be detected and destroyed. The common methods for detecting contaminations are time-consuming, expensive and painstaking. In this study, a fast and reliable method has been presented based on active thermography technology. This method was used to detect the healthy tubers from contaminated ones and to classify the different stages of contamination (1 to 9 day after infection). In the active thermography, two heating temperature levels and four cooling time levels were applied on the samples. The results of variance analysis and compare mean of the average temperature differences between the surfaces of the healthy and contaminated tubers indicated that 90oC heating temperature and 40 s cooling time of the samples was the best treatment for detecting healthy and contaminated tubers. For evaluating the classifier performance, statistical indicators such as accuracy, precision, sensitivity and specificity were calculated. The total accuracy of the classifier was 96.67%.

Soil is composed of fine particles that the space between the particles filled by water or air. The suitable combination of soil, water and air is necessary for growing of crops. The freezing and thawing process is one of the natural factors that improve the soil structure by changing the soil physical and mechanical properties. In this study, for investigation of soil shear strength under the freezing and thawing process some experiments on soil samples were performed. For this purpose, the soil shear strength was investigated in -10 °C as a freezing temperature, with two humidity levels (10 and 15%) and three levels of density. The results indicated that the freezing and thawing process decrease the soil shear strength. In the investigated range of soil density, by increasing soil density, the effect of freezing and thawing on soil shear strength was increased.

A split-block experiment of three replications was employed to study the effect of residue management and post-irrigation regimes on wheat yield, water use and cost and benefit of treatments. Three levels of residue management including burning entire crop residue (B), removing part of crop residue and using stalk shredder (R), removing part of crop residue, using stalk shredder and moldboard ploughing (RP), were considered as main plots. Three levels post-irrigation regimes including irrigating 7 days after planting (I7), irrigating 14 days after planting (I14), and irrigating 21 days after planting (I21) were considered as sub plots. Results of economical analysis indicated that proper treatment was RI21 that increased profitability by 1220000 Rial/ha relative to the control treatment.

In this study, a pressurized metering drum was fabricated and evaluated by grease belt. Experiment was conducted with three levels of inner presser drum, 600, 850 and 1050 Pa and three levels planter forward speed, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 m/s, by mechanical separator methods in three replications. The results of a factorial experiment with a completely randomized design was evaluated and data comparison was performed by using LSD test in SAS software. Effect of inner presser drum and planter forward speed on the filling percent, multi-planting, no-Planting, deviation from line of cultivation and seed distribution uniformity were evaluated. Results indicated that the interaction effect between speed and air presser on filling percent, no-Planting and multi-planting was significant at 1% level. The amount of air presser and speed hadn’t effect the amount of deviation from line of cultivation and also uniform distribution of seeds was done better on low air presser.

Oat is becoming popular as part of a healthy diet and new oat products emerge at the functional food market. The aim of this study was to combine valuable nutritional properties of cereal and milk, to Produce functional yogurt product containing oat milk and evaluation of its physicochemical, microbiological and sensory characteristics. In this study, replacment of 0, 10, 15 and 20% (V/V) oat milk with low-fat milk (2.5%) was performed and its effect on physicochemical and sensory characteristics of probiotic yogurt, was evaluated. Results showed that with increasing the percentage of oat milk in yogurt, pH, dry matter and fat content were decreased and acidity, synersis, protein and phenolic compounds content were increased significantly (P<0.05) . On the other hand, with adding oat milk, iron and fiber content were increased and calcium content was decreased.

Using the intelligent pruning machine can be reduces the labor required for pruning. It was attempted in this study to develop an algorithm that uses stereo vision techniques to identify which parts of the grapevine should be cut. Photos were taken from gardens of the Research center for Agriculture and Natural Resources of Fars province. At first plants were segmented from the background then the main trunk and one year old branches were identified and pruned based on the criteria for pruning. Then the main skeleton of grapevine was determined. Using this skeleton, the attaching points of the branches were obtained as well as on the trunk. Distance between the branches was maintained. Then the algorithm has been evaluated, the evaluation results of algorithm showed that the proposed algorithm had acceptable performance and pruning point of the grapevines were correctly detected. The accuracy of the developed algorithm was 96.8 percent.

One of the strategies in decision making by using quantity data such as multi criterion decision making. It helps the manager by considering different factors, which some of them are Conflict, to make a decision rationally. The purpose of this research is presenting a plan to approximate a decision making discrete space by using optimization models in order to reach an Ultimate criterion to compare and analyze performance of conventional strategies of multi criterion decision making. The mentioned method, which is a compilation quality and quantity Approaches. In a case study and to rank the effective parameters in agility of distribution chain of Fars province combine owners has purposed and implemented. These parameters used three conventional methods, such as Weighty and Topsis and electrical to rank. Outcome results in three methods were different and have integrated by means of Triple integration. Module ranking of parameters such as sensitivity, response to market and customer, Speed in doing of circumstance and introduction new products were placed in first rate respectively. After that, right planning, expenditure reduction, using IT, process and task integration, customer satisfaction, Flexibility, quality of service providence, and develop of staffs place in second to ninth ranks respectively.

Several studies have been conducted on equipping conventional fluidized bed with some technologies to increase drying efficiency and its performance. The objective of the study was to investigate the influence of high power ultrasound on fluidized bed drying of corn in terms of drying kinetics and quality characteristics of corn in three levels of ultrasound power density (11.1, 14.6 and 18.7 kW m-3), three levels of drying air temperature (30, 40, and 50oC) and four levels of frequency (20, 25, 28, and 30 kHz) in which the moisture content reduced from 32±0.5 (%d.b.) to 17±0.5 (%d.b.). Results revealed that the frequency of 25 kHz was the most efficient in terms of drying time. The frequency of 25 kHz and power density 14.6 kw m-3 was the most efficient frequency and caused reduction of the drying time by 43% in comparison with no ultrasound condition (control). The sponge effect caused by ultrasound application led to reduction of failure strength and toughness of the dried samples. According to the results, toughness compared to the failure strength was an appropriate index of the grain hardness.

In this study, optimization of fermentation conditions for pullulan production by Aureobasidium pullulans (KY767023) from pomegranate waste was investigated. Response surface methodology was used to evaluate the effects of three factors (initial pH, inoculum size and ratio of liquid to solid) on pullulan yield in solid-state fermentation (SSF). Results of these experiments indicated that maximum pullulan concentration (50.5 ± 0.35 g/kg) was obtained at the optimum levels of process variables (initial pH 7.75, inoculum size 5% v/v, ratio of liquid to solid 1:2.5). Furthermore, physicochemical characteristics of the obtained pullulan at the optimum conditions were studied. The emulsifying activity of extracted pullulan was 63% .The emulsion stability was 60.5% at 4oC and 58.5% at 25oC after 30 days of storage. The results of viscosity curves at different concentration demonstrated that the solutions of pullulan at low concentrations (0.1-0.5 % w/v) showed nearly Newtonian flow behavior, and as the concentration of pullulan solution increased, the behavior changes from Newtonian to pseudoplastic flow. FT-IR of the pullulan produced from pomegranate by-products revealed the presence of a (1®6) linked maltotriose units.

Production of Biopolymers by different microorganisms for industrial applications has been considered in recent years. Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens bacterium produces exopolysaccharid exists in kefir grains called kefiran. The objective of this study was optimization of environmental conditions to produce kefiran polysaccharide in a synthetic media based on whey substrate by using response surface methodology (RSM). Therefore, different combinations of factors including pH (4.7-6.3), temperature (23-37oC) and agitation rate (70-170 rpm) on production of kefiran (g/L) were studied. According to the results, the optimum condition for production of kefiran included pH equal to 5.7, 31oC and agitation rate of 127 rpm which led to producing 1.14 g/L kefiran after five days incubation period. Furthermore, the molecular weight of produced kefiran in pure culture of L.kefiranofaciens measured by gel filtration chromatography was 1.1× 106 Da.

In this study an electronic control system was developed for a aviculture. To determine the best location for sensors to achieve the least temperature and RH gradient in the aviculture, 60 points in different directions were considered and the effect of length, width and height of sensor installing location on temperature, RH and energy consumption were conducted using a set of factorial test. The results showed that locating the control system on the longitudinal, latitudinal and altitudinal distances of respectively 23.5, 1.6 and 0.75 m led to closest average aviculture temperature and RH to the set point. Meanwhile, it was concluded that the minimum electricity consumption was obtained when locating the control system on the longitudinal, latitudinal and altitudinal distances of respectively 1, 3.2 and 0.5 m.

Drying seeds, will increase storage time. Drying seeds of crops, the process is very critical because it damages embryos in the process of drying the seeds, their germination is lost. The results showed that damage to the embryo inside the seed, immediately after drying operation itself does not appear. In this research factors affecting drying corn seeds (the Single Cross 704) to maintain viability, in a fluidized bed dryer were studied. For experiment was dried with three drying air temperature (33, 37 and 43oC), three drying air velocity (0.5, 1 and 1.5m/s) and 20% humidity at two different times (immediately after the drying process and after 6 months). After drying the seeds (reaching 13% moisture) and after 6 months of storage, germination tests were performed. The results showed that all of the tests, the effect of drying temperature on germination rate is significant at 1%, but the impact of air velocity dryer, even not significant at the 5% level. The highest percentage of germination is at 33oC and 0.5m/s drying air velocity.

In Bam city Ommatissus binotatus is the most dangerous insect that attacks the date palm trees and the date growers suffer from the losses it forces to the yield every year. The ground and air spraying methods are not effective and each has their own weaknesses. The proposed method is spaying the tree from a height of one meter over the crown by a small sprayer on the tree. The sprayer is triggered by a remote control system. The sprayer was made and tested during this research. The sprayer was tested for droplet size and spraying pattern by two micro jet nozzles. The data were collected for three pressure levels and three distances from the sprayer at three replications. The droplet size distribution was measured by water sensitive papers. The data were analyzed by Image 1.38 X, Minitab and SAS software. The results showed that the sprayer equipped with the mini sprinkler micro jet nozzle produces a uniform spring pattern and uniform droplet size at all pressure levels. The sprayer is a promising devise for a sensor networking program.

In this study the production of greenhouse Aloe vera leaves in Khorasan Razavi province was evaluated and analyzed in terms of energy consumption pattern and environmental consequences due to the use of agricultural inputs. According to the results, total energy consumption in production of Aloe vera leaves was evaluated as 102825.19 MJ ton-1. The results of energy analysis showed that the heat supply and greenhouse structures were consumed more than 90 percent of total energy consumption. Based on the results of life cycle assessment, the total amount of environmental impacts for greenhouse production of one ton of Aloe vera leaves was determined as 2331.26 pPt ton-1, in which the contributions of the input production outside the greenhouse and the input consumption inside the greenhouse were 1744.63 and 586.63 pPt ton-1, respectively. The results showed that the impact categories of human toxicity and marine aquatic ecotoxicity with environmental impacts of 621.043 and 608.538 pPt ton-1, respectively, had the highest share in total environmental impact.

In recent years the growing trend of energy consumption has created energy crisis in the world. In our country the use of renewable energy can have a special place due to the growing need for energy and diminishing fossil fuel resources, protect the environment, reduce air pollution, restrictions on electricity and the fuel supply for remote villages. Due to the significant amount of the annual production of biomass sources in Iran the importance of using these resources for biogas production is more specific. The production of biogas using anaerobic digestion technology and its application in CHP plants in Iran can supply part of the required energy and achieve sustainable development. In this study has been done economic calculations for biogas plant as a case study for combined heat and power production. The results show that during the project life (20 years), the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is 19%, the net present value (NPV) is equal to 180,587,908 and the ratio of benefits to costs is equal to 1.032. Financial evaluation of energy production in this system shows it is economical to run.