Paulo Marcos de Barros Monteiro

Bio: Paulo Marcos de Barros Monteiro is an academic researcher from Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto. The author has contributed to research in topics: Capacitive sensing & Water content. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 35 publications receiving 199 citations.

Aeration strategy for controlling grain storage based on simulation and on real data acquisition

Abstract: In this work a new control strategy for grain aeration systems was proposed. This strategy was implemented in a software package called AERO and relates four conditions which depend on real time data acquisition and on the process simulation. The main advantage of AERO controller is that it can be used in different geographic regions, during different seasons and with different aeration systems, automatically adjusting its set points. The objectives of AERO controller are to equalize the temperatures inside the bin, to cool the grain mass whenever is possible and to maintain the moisture content under safe conditions. The results showed that the proposed strategy is efficient to achieve these objectives. Moreover, significant energy saving has been achieved with the AERO controller.

Aeration simulation of stored grain under variable air ambient conditions

Abstract: A simulation model for stored grain aeration was implemented and compared with experimental data. The software, called AERO, is capable of simulating the aeration process in stored grain, with hot spots, using time variant ambient data. Some modifications to the original model proposed by Thorpe [Thorpe, G.R., 1997. Modelling ecosystems in ventilated conical bottomed farm grain silos. Ecol. Modell. 94, 255–286] have been presented. The modified model is simpler, less computer-intensive and maintains the accuracy of the results. Comparing the model with data collected between January and August 2005, it was observed that the simulation results agreed well with real conditions, indicating that this software can reliably predict the aeration process for different world regions.

Simulation of Distributed Generation with Photovoltaic Microgrids—Case Study in Brazil

Abstract: Elevated prices and lack of proper legislation and government incentives have been the main barriers in the development of the photovoltaic market in Brazil. In an attempt to overcome those barriers, a microgrid model was proposed and simulated. In the proposed microgrids, residential consumers are connected to each other to maximize the investment return by trading the surplus of generated energy among them. Different topologies and scenarios were studied from electrical energy and economic standpoints. Stochastic data of solar radiation were simulated for the city of Vicosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, for the period of one year, considering the statistical behavior of a series over 20 years. The system output power and energy balance were calculated considering a model for photovoltaic generators and the radiation simulated data. By determining the generated energy and electrical needs of the microgrid members, the cash flow and economic feasibility were calculated. Sensitivity analyses were performed by varying economic parameters to determine situations where investment becomes feasible. This paper shows that microgrid contributes to improve the economics and the initial investments. The number of participants in a microgrid, the electricity and the equipment costs are important parameters to speed up the economic and technical feasibility process.

A Novel Low-Cost Instrumentation System for Measuring the Water Content and Apparent Electrical Conductivity of Soils

Abstract: The scarcity of drinking water affects various regions of the planet. Although climate change is responsible for the water availability, humanity plays an important role in preserving this precious natural resource. In case of negligence, the likely trend is to increase the demand and the depletion of water resources due to the increasing world population. This paper addresses the development, design and construction of a low cost system for measuring soil volumetric water content (θ), electrical conductivity (σ) and temperature (T), in order to optimize the use of water, energy and fertilizer in food production. Different from the existing measurement instruments commonly deployed in these applications, the proposed system uses an auto-balancing bridge circuit as measurement method. The proposed models to estimate θ and σ and correct them in function of T are compared to the ones reported in literature. The final prototype corresponds to a simple circuit connected to a pair of electrode probes, and presents high accuracy, high signal to noise ratio, fast response, and immunity to stray capacitance. The instrument calibration is based on salt solutions with known dielectric constant and electrical conductivity as reference. Experiments measuring clay and sandy soils demonstrate the satisfactory performance of the instrument.

Management of stored maize by AERO controller in five Brazilian locations: a simulation study

Abstract: A simulation model was used to quantify the effect of the AERO controller on dry matter loss, moisture content, grain temperature and required aeration time for five Brazilian States during one year. The application focused on maize because it is the dominant crop in the regions studied, but the analyses can be applied to other grains and locations as well. Decision making of the AERO controller is based on simulation of the aeration process and on real time data acquisition. It proved to be an effective strategy and showed its significant potential as a non-chemical preventative practice for safe storage.

Modelling and Control of Robot Manipulators

Abstract: Feel lonely? What about reading books? Book is one of the greatest friends to accompany while in your lonely time. When you have no friends and activities somewhere and sometimes, reading book can be a great choice. This is not only for spending the time, it will increase the knowledge. Of course the b=benefits to take will relate to what kind of book that you are reading. And now, we will concern you to try reading modelling and control of robot manipulators as one of the reading material to finish quickly.

Modeling and simulation of solar water heater: A TRNSYS perspective

Abstract: Product design and optimization is a process of interpolation through iteration. Rating and certification process involves thorough testing of the product in standard test conditions. But real world experiments are full of variations and uncertainties. Moreover it is not feasible to create extreme testing environments in laboratory experiments. In many cases physical experiments are not possible at all due to excessive run duration, trade off and socio-financial implications. In such cases simulation is a promising alternate for performance analysis and design optimization. Professionals and researchers also face similar problems while working on solar energy system. There is a fast growing market of solar water heater worldwide. Solar water heating system is transient in nature and its performance depends on dynamic parameters. TRNSYS is transient system simulation software which provides good agreement within error ranging from 5% to 10%. Critical review of simulation of solar water heating system including early works, comparative analysis of popular simulation tools and their architecture in perspective of TRNSYS is presented. Assumptions, modeling of different components, merits and limitations of simulation are also discussed.

Design and Calibration of a Low-Cost SDI-12 Soil Moisture Sensor

Abstract: Water is the main limiting factor in agricultural production as well as a scarce resource that needs to be optimized. The measurement of soil water with sensors is an efficient way for optimal irrigation management. However, commercial sensors are still too expensive for most farmers. This paper presents the design, development and calibration of a new capacitive low-cost soil moisture sensor that incorporates SDI-12 communication, allowing one to select the calibration equation for different soils. The sensor was calibrated in three different soils and its variability and accuracy were evaluated. Lower but cost-compensated accuracy was observed in comparing it with commercial sensors. Field tests have demonstrated the temperature influence on the sensor and its capability to efficiently detect irrigation and rainfall events.

Correlation feature selection and mutual information theory based quantitative research on meteorological impact factors of module temperature for solar photovoltaic systems

Abstract: The module temperature is the most important parameter influencing the output power of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, aside from solar irradiance. In this paper, we focus on the interdisciplinary research that combines the correlation analysis, mutual information (MI) and heat transfer theory, which aims to figure out the correlative relations between different meteorological impact factors (MIFs) and PV module temperature from both quality and quantitative aspects. The identification and confirmation of primary MIFs of PV module temperature are investigated as the first step of this research from the perspective of physical meaning and mathematical analysis about electrical performance and thermal characteristic of PV modules based on PV effect and heat transfer theory. Furthermore, the quantitative description of the MIFs influence on PV module temperature is mathematically formulated as several indexes using correlation-based feature selection (CFS) and MI theory to explore the specific impact degrees under four different typical weather statuses named general weather classes (GWCs). Case studies for the proposed methods were conducted using actual measurement data of a 500 kW grid-connected solar PV plant in China. The results not only verified the knowledge about the main MIFs of PV module temperatures, more importantly, but also provide the specific ratio of quantitative impact degrees of these three MIFs respectively through CFS and MI based measures under four different GWCs.

Review of soil salinity assessment for agriculture across multiple scales using proximal and/or remote sensors

Abstract: Mapping and monitoring soil spatial variability is particularly problematic for temporally and spatially dynamic properties such as soil salinity. The tools necessary to address this classic problem only reached maturity within the past 2 decades to enable field- to regional-scale salinity assessment of the root zone, including GPS, GIS, geophysical techniques involving proximal and remote sensors, and a greater understanding of apparent soil electrical conductivity (ECa) and multi- and hyper-spectral imagery. The concurrent development and application of these tools have made it possible to map soil salinity across multiple scales, which back in the 1980s was prohibitively expensive and impractical even at field scale. The combination of ECa-directed soil sampling and remote imagery has played a key role in mapping and monitoring soil salinity at large spatial extents with accuracy sufficient for applications ranging from field-scale site-specific management to statewide water allocation management to control salinity within irrigation districts. The objective of this paper is: (i) to present a review of the geophysical and remote imagery techniques used to assess soil salinity variability within the root zone from field to regional scales; (ii) to elucidate gaps in our knowledge and understanding of mapping soil salinity; and (iii) to synthesize existing knowledge to give new insight into the direction soil salinity mapping is heading to benefit policy makers, land resource managers, producers, agriculture consultants, extension specialists, and resource conservation field staff. The review covers the need and justification for mapping and monitoring salinity, basic concepts of soil salinity and its measurement, past geophysical and remote imagery research critical to salinity assessment, current approaches for mapping salinity at different scales, milestones in multi-scale salinity assessment, and future direction of field- to regional-scale salinity assessment.