Showing papers in "Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research in 1993"

TL;DR: In this paper, the dependence of physical properties of soybeans on moisture content was determined, in which the length of grain increased from 6·32 to 6·75 mm, width from 5·23 to 5·55 mm, thickness from 3·99 to 4·45 mm, geometric mean diameter, sphericity from 0·806 to 0·816, surface area, volume of grain, and thousand grain mass decreased.

TL;DR: In this article, the physical properties of pumpkin seeds and kernels were evaluated as functions of moisture content, and the results showed that the average length, width, thickness and unit mass of the seed were 16·91 mm, 8·67 mm, 3·00 mm and 0·203 g respectively.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed the work carried out during the past 10 years in several countries, in developing a robot for picking fruit, focusing on the technological progress made so far, point out the problems still to be solved, and outline the conditions, technological and socio-economic, under which the robotic method will be accepted.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors summarized the results of an attempt to clarify the limits of different models and assumptions and used the heat and mass transfer Biot numbers to give the ranges where simplified models or assumptions can be used without any significant error to predict the drying time and drying curve.

TL;DR: In this article, quasi-static compression tests were carried out on roasted cashew nuts to study the effect of moisture content, predamage type and direction of loading on failure force, failure deformation and energy absorbed to the point of failure.

TL;DR: In this paper, a model for predicting odour concentration from areal sources is developed, the main features of which are an improved representation of the source and an ability to accommodate a non-axial wind direction.

TL;DR: In this article, a surface-coil NMR probe was used to obtain the oil/water resonance peak ratio of the signal from a region of an intact avocado fruit, which has desirable features for high speed sorting.

TL;DR: In this article, the effects on spray drift of nozzle size, angle and operating pressure for boom-mounted hydraulic nozzles operating over a range of meteorological and crop conditions, was investigated using computer simulation.

TL;DR: In this article, a relationship between odour concentration and odour intensity for odour emissions following land spreading of pig slurry and emissions from broiler houses was derived using a dynamic dilution olfactometer with a forced-choice type presentation to a panel of people.

TL;DR: In this article, a mathematical model for oxygen flow, heat transfer, and yeast growth at the exposed face of bunker silos is presented, which predicts a rapid influx of oxygen early in aerobic exposure followed by a decrease in oxygen levels deep within the silage.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used the acoustic impulse response technique for non-destructive measurements of apple firmness based on the relationship between Young's modulus and the resonant frequency of the various spherical mode shapes of vibrating apples.

TL;DR: In this paper, a mathematical model of a counter-flow drying bed predicted a depression of both air and grain temperatures below their inlet values and crossover i.e. a change of sign of the grain-to-air temperature difference.

TL;DR: In this paper, a micrometeorological method is presented of estimating ammonia emission from soil following manure spreading by means of the stirred dynamic chamber technique in combination with passive diffusion sampling.

TL;DR: In this paper, a thin-layer dryer was used to dry fresh Laird lentils to various moisture contents at temperatures from 30 to 70°C and relative humidities from 4 to 40%.

TL;DR: In this paper, the use of jointed manipulators in handling biological materials within the horticultural industry is reviewed by looking at previous research work and the scope for future development based on economic as well as technical considerations.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a model predictive control for greenhouse operation, which means that a new optimal control problem is solved each time the weather prediction is updated, and the optimization criterion is to minimize the heating cost.

TL;DR: In this article, the Halsey equation was used to determine the heat of sorption of alfalfa pellets and found that the heat decreased exponentially with moisture content and approached that of free water at about 16% moisture content.

TL;DR: In this article, a dynamometer was designed to measure the forces and moments acting on a tillage implement for use both in a soil bin and in the field, where the dynamometer employs two extended orthogonal rings mounted with their axes at right angles and a torque tube.

TL;DR: Automatic weighing of cows proved to be feasible as an additional real-time on-line parameter and was used with a commercial herd to record cow weights three times a day, without interference to normal procedures.

TL;DR: In this article, the effects of various bulking agents on the efficiency of composting the fibrous solids obtained from swine manure after a liquid/solids separation process were examined.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors applied the principle of yield mapping to whole crop harvesting corn silage, using a continuous recording of the material flowrate through harvesting machine, the machine driving speed and the machine location in the field.

TL;DR: In this paper, a comprehensive program of triaxial compression tests was carried out on unsaturated samples of a sand, a loam soil and a clay and the results demonstrate that the brittle behaviour of unsaturated soils and their tendency to dilate at failure are both controlled by four main factors: soil texture, cementation processes in the microstructure, moisture content and ambient confining stress.

TL;DR: The results indicated that the overall performance of a straight flat blade was the best; the field efficiency was highest, physical damage to crops was the least and weed removal per unit area was the greatest as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: An expert evaluation system (named ARENAL) has been developed using a knowledge-based approach that allows estimation of the relative vulnerability of soil and groundwater to diffuse agrochemical contamination.

TL;DR: In this paper, a semi-empirical model was developed for predicting the distortion by wind of raingun application patterns, which can be calibrated from three full-circle wetting pattern field tests and used to predict wetting patterns at any intermediate wind speed and for any sector angle.

TL;DR: In this paper, a set voltage water bath stunner for poultry processing is described, which can deliver and maintain a preset, constant current to each individual bird provided there is no significant current pathway between adjacent birds.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used a commercially available Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT to simulate an air jet from one of the most simple forms of air-assisted sprayer, a vehicle-mounted mistblower.

TL;DR: In this paper, an independent measure for assessing the sensitivity of non-destructive methods for measuring fruit firmness is proposed, by taking two time-spaced firmness readings on a fruit sample, at the same locations on each fruit.

TL;DR: In this paper, a cost effective approach for automation is proposed, whereby tissue culture plantlets are chopped into approximately uniformly sized segments, on a conveying production line while using colour computer vision for identifying and locating the number and positions of propagation organs, in images of the plantlet segments.

TL;DR: In this article, an experimental active-passive tillage machine that combines active, rotary-powered tillage elements with conventional passive chisel tines was field tested to investigate the effects of velocity ratio (ratio of rotor tip velocity to forward velocity), forward speed and active/passive depth ratio on machine performance.