INMATEH - Agricultural Engineering

6

Authors: Shvedik M.

In the article the results of analysis of work process of seeding furrows embedding and compaction of soil by the conical roller which is set at the angles α to direction of furrow, and also analytical expressions for definition of resistance force of the roller by moving and lateral force which provides a self-cleaning of soil, which sticks to its surface, are given.

8

Authors: Fechete Tutunaru L. V., Nagy E.M., Coţa C-tin

The geometry of the cutting edge or of the surface contour is of great importance in minimizing the energy required for the mechanical processing operations. The vast majority of the research conducted so far in the soil processing field focuses on macro geometry of the tools without taking into account the geometry of the cutting edge. This paper presents the results of experimental research regarding the influence of the modification by wear of the constructive parameters of the cutting edge corresponding to the tillage tool on the economic indicators in the working process. Thus was established a mathematical model that highlights the correlation between the processed surface and the linear wear of tools, with which the average area that a tool can process until it reaches a wear limit value, can be determined.

8

Authors: Marin E., Pirnă I., Manea D., Matache M., Popa L.

Irrigation and proper fertilization humidity and climate control are key factors in creating an optimal environment for growing vegetable crops in greenhouses. This paper presents the results of experimental research conducted at INMA Bucharest to determine three of the most important indicators of the health of root area of vegetable crops (water content (%), pore water conductivity (CEp) and temperature (°C), while monitoring of temperature and CO2 content inside a greenhouse covered with doubled inflated foil . The results and conclusions of this study are useful in identifying optimal parameters for water supply of vegetable crops in greenhouses permanently and of adequate quality in terms of salts and temperature and also in establishing a controlled environment for uniformity of crop conditions.

8

Authors: Hăbăşescu I., Cerempei V., Balaban N.

This paper presents the obtained results of experimental research from the squeezing juice process from sweet sorghum stems. Mathematical models have allowed to obtain optimized values of functional press with rollers parameters: in the original game from the squeezing force passage of pressing speed rollers.

8

Authors: Trulli E., Torretta V., Rada E.C., Istrate I.A., Papa E.A.

The present paper examines and evaluates the results of a survey carried out to define the criteria for restoring the surface water of the karstic stream “Gravina” (Southern-Italy). The stream runs through a watershed including several agricultural areas. The stream shows an environmental heterogeneity which is of great value to the conservation of biodiversity. The analysis supports a more general water pollution control strategy aimed at safeguarding natural water quality in the urbanized watershed with the aim, also, to reuse partially the water in agriculture. The methodology was based on the surface water sampling, quality parameter analysis and simulation by modelling. The variation and compatibility of wastewater discharge and water stream quality were verified by using a model available in literature in function of biodegradable pollutant load and dissolved oxygen. Several scenarios based on the fixed yield of treatment plants were examined.

8

Authors: Villa D., Gazzola J., Dal Fabbro I.M., Silva M.V.G.

Gears are widely employed in farm machinery transmission units. However, the severe environment imposed to the machine operation generates special problems associated to maintenance, as well as to the expected time life. Machinery which works on field are exposed to excessive dust, moisture, heat, chemicals, uneven mechanical loading and quite frequently the manufacturer recommendations are not adequate or not even available. Based on that, the proposal of new methods for strain and stress distribution analysis on gears under different working conditions is considered necessary. This research paper introduces the application of moiré methods to replace the popular strain gage technique. The proposed method is included in the photomechanical techniques and is considered of easy as well as of low cost application. The moiré family of methods is based on the projection of optical grids onto the object under analysis, generating optical fringes which displace as the object is deformed under mechanical loads. In this research work the tests were carried under different working conditions, as (1) non lubricated clean gears, (2) clean and lubricated, (3) lubricated and contaminated with soil. The comparison of these three situations indicated the influence of soil contamination as well as of the lubrication. The conclusion emphasizes the application of the proposed method to gear transmission design as well as to maintenance.

10

Authors: Ivan Gh., Vlăduţ V.N.

The working capacity of conventional cereal harvesting combines is mainly determined by the working capacity of tangential threshing system. This depends on the technical and functional characteristics of the threshing system itself and the biological characteristics of the harvested vegetal mass. Portion of material driven by one bar of threshing cylinder is laminated in to the threshing space and under the action of the friction and centrifugal forces it is produced the combing of material and the seeds separation. The paper presents the kinematic study of threshing process along threshing space and the conditions for optimization of process.

10

Authors: Lijia Xu, Yu Feng, Zhangkun Fan, Dingchun Yun

Kiwi fruit grading is a key link of fruit treatment after picking. In respect that low sorting rate and grading rate of kiwi fruits affect commodity value in China, the paper acquires the volumetric characteristic of kiwi fruit through the 3D reconstruction of its three views, and fits volumetric pixel with actual weight to get a mathematical model between the two parameters, and identifies the area characteristic of the surface defect of kiwi fruit by iterative method. Volumetric characteristic and the characteristic of the surface defect are inputted into Support Vector Machine (SVM), and then suitable kernel function and kernel parameters are selected, finally the kiwi fruit grading accuracy of 97.73% is gotten. Compared with the grading accuracy of BP network with 92.11%, it can be seen that the grading effect of SVM is better than that of BP network and its grading performance is stable. The experimental results show that the SVM grading method based on kiwi fruit volume and its surface defect is feasible and can be used for online inspection of appearance quality of kiwi fruits.

10

Authors: Wang Hongliang, Shi Weidong, Wang Chuan

Currently, the Greenhouse Effect has caused great influence on the development of industry and agriculture. Considering the research development request of new-type agricultural deep well pump, the test research was taken to increase the efficiency of well pump using hydraulic design of impeller, the modern numerical CFD technology and the orthogonal test method based on quadratic regression. The experiment was carried out with two geometric factors including outlet angle and outlet width. Then ten impellers were designed as per the orthogonal testing schemes based on quadratic regression. The full flow field of the two-stage agricultural well pump including impellers and guide vanes under the design condition was simulated by CFD, finally obtaining the rated efficiency of each scheme. The influence mechanism of outlet angle and outlet width on efficiency was investigated through the orthogonal testing method. According to the calculation results, constrained quadratic regression equation of the efficiency was put forward. The result showed that it would be instructive to increase the hydraulic efficiency of the new-type deep well centrifugal pump for agriculture engineering by using the impeller maximum - diameter approach.

14

Authors: Hossein Ahmadian, Seyed Reza Hassan-Beygi, Barat Ghobadian

In this paper, a power tiller vibration was investigated at handle position as well as seat position of a trailer pulled by the power tiller. The experiments were conducted at five levels of engine speed, four levels of transmission gear ratio during transportation, and in three directions. Then the weighted 1/3rd octave spectrum was calculated from the narrow band vibration acceleration signals. The amount of vibration damage on operator's body and allowable exposure limits were calculated based on ISO standards. The results showed that the vibration increased with increasing the engine speed for all the gear ratios and directions. The magnitude of vibration was the greatest at vertical direction in all the experiments. The vibration allowable exposure time was in the range of 2.32-5.7 years at the power tiller handle for the different engine speeds and gear ratios. The total equivalent vibration, A (8), at the trailer seat was in the range of 0.5 to 0.87 m/s2 and it exceeded the allowable limits for the reduced comfort boundary, fatigue-decreased boundary and exposure limit for 8 hours/day. So, it is necessary to reduce the vibration transmitted to the operator’s hand and body by designing and developing adequate insulating system.

6

Authors: Nedelcu A., Ciuperca R., Popa L, Voicu E., Zaica A.

Solar radiation is a natural heat source with multiple uses on farms, for example, heating the air used in drying fruit technology and for domestic hot water or artificial drying of forage crops in order to obtain the hay. The paper presents the results of researches performed with a plane solar collector particular type, which is made of common materials and is designed to heat the air within special fodder ventilating installations for obtaining high quality hay and reducing conventional energy consumption. During this research, it has been measured and continuously monitored the following parameters: meteorological parameters (solar radiation, temperature, humidity), the temperature in the panel at various times of the day, TPS, air velocity in the panel, VPS, temperature variation during the panel ventilation,  T solar collector efficiency, η.

6

Authors: Safta V.V., Dilea M., Constantin G.A.

This paper presents the algorithm used to perform computations related to processing of results obtained in laboratory experiments for determining the characteristic parameters of filtering process in incompressible layer of granular material in a quick and convenient way.

8

Authors: Sorică E., Pirnă I., Sorică C., David L.

The paper presents the kinematic analysis of mechanism which drives the eccentric separator comprised by the technical equipment of harvesting Miscanthus rhizomes, where the positions, speed and accelerations of component elements, are determined. The kinematic analysis of the mechanism which drives the eccentric separator allows to identify the functional and constructive parameters which have to be operated for improving the mechanism structure and performance.

8

Authors: Căsăndroiu T., Buciuman F.V.

The thesis presents the main theoretical elements related to the air flow going through granular bed under vibrating motion. It draws the hypothesis of analogy between the vibrating granular layer and the stationary layer, having in view that the seeds speed on the machine table are relatively low and consequently their influence upon air flow through layer can be neglected. It is emphasized that in this case can be utilized with good results, the Ergun equation as a link between pressure downfall (-ΔP) on the thickness of the seed layer and air speed for a global laminar turbulent way through layer. On this basis have been presented theoretical studies for two different machines used in the concrete work practice for wheat and barley seeds. Experimental results obtained regarding the pressure downfall (-ΔP) subject to the fans air flow of these machines have been compared to those evaluated by calculation and there is reasonable difference (errors ±5%).

8

Authors: Matache M., Persu I., Voicu Gh., Manea I., Biriş S.Şt.

In the paper there are presented experimental researches regarding testing in simulated and accelerated regime of bogie frame type resistance structures. Starting from the loads at which the structure is exposed in daily exploitation , there was developed a testing programme in simulated and accelerated regime in order to verify its structural integrity and estimate its span of.

10

Authors: Sfîru R., Constantin N., Ludig M., Cârdei P., Muraru V.

This study comprises two structural analyses applications, having as subject the same structure, very common for agricultural machinery designed to tillage, namely a beam, [5], [7]. The two applications are made in well known CAD1 programs, each including its own structural analysis module: SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor. The study aims to demonstrate the easiness with which the analysis is performed in either of the two programs, but especially, the way in which the results of the two analyses converge. The converged results are able to show, that the use of one or other of the programs is irrelevant, of course, in terms of the analysis modules, that both programs have. In this study it compares the performances in terms of linear static analysis (check the resistance) and the modal analysis (analysis in frequencies or calculating of a number of structure natural frequencies). It can be said that, the results obtained without doing an additional study of convergence and stability on meshing are satisfactory, possibly good enough in the case of the maximum equivalent stress in the structure.

10

Authors: Peng Zhang, Jian Song, Shenglei Gong, Bo Jiang, Muham, D. Polar

Eggplant picking robot is a type of complex optical-mechanical-electrical equipment in greenhouse environment. Its structure and control are more exigent than traditional industrial robot. Optimization design method was utilized for the design of the eggplant picking robot body structure parameters in accordance with the eggplant growth and distribution space. In order to determine the spatial position relationship between the eggplant picking robot components and the end effector, the theoretical model of robot was established by virtue of Denavit-Hartenberg approach and the positive solution of the kinematic equation is obtained. Premultiplication decoupling of and matrix were adopted to solve inverse kinematic solution with the help of Matlab software. Pro/E software was used to establish 3-D simulation model, and ADAMS (Automatic Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems) simulation software was imported for the kinematics simulation analysis. It was indicated by the simulation results that the kinematic model established by D-H approach reflects the real motion conditions of the robot, and both the positive and inverse kinematic solutions are correct. Structure of four degrees freedom eggplant picking robot was reasonable, it could meet the requirements of eggplant picking in the greenhouse cultivation pattern.

10

Authors: Żelaziński T., Ekielski A., Zdanowska P., Florczak I.

This study attempted to understand the influence of ultrasound pretreatment on quality of extrudates. The maize and buckwheat seeds were subjected to low power ultrasound at 40kHz frequency. The pretreated material was processed using extrusion cooking technology. The effect of the ultrasound waves on quality of extrudates produced from pretreated seeds and its grinds were investigated. Typical quality standard parameters like sectional expansion, volumetric expansion indices, water solubility index and water absorption index of extrudates were investigated by using central composition design. For all extrudates samples inner cells structure was also determined. The inner texture of extrudate as structure and configuration of pores were described using mean size of pores, their number on cross section unit, geometric orientation of pores. The extrudates produced from pretreatment materials were compared with extrudates obtained from non-treated material. Extrudates made from pretreated material showed different texture properties than produced from ultrasound untreated ones.

12

Authors: Feng Y., Zhou J., Wang Z., Zhang W., Yu.D.

At present, irrigation in Ziziphus Jujuba orchards around Tarim basin in Xinjiang Province, China, is mainly surface irrigation. Due to outdated irrigation technology and low irrigation efficiency, the fruit yields are low, which seriously affects sound development of local special forest fruit industry in Xinjiang. Infiltrating irrigation technology has favorable water-saving effects and studying its impact on the physiological and yield variation of Jujube trees would therefore greatly assist the development of the Jujube industry in Xinjiang China. Several ten-year-old Jujube trees were selected in Akesu area of Xinjiang to investigate the effects of different water-saving irrigation methods on their physiology and yield. Diurnal variation of photosynthetic capacity in Jujube leaves during florescence, young fruit and fruit expanding stages and Jujube yield were measured under 6000 m3/ha of alternate partial root-zone irrigation and conventional infiltrating irrigation. The results indicated that: (1) the diurnal variation of net photosynthetic rate in Jujube leaves presented a bimodal curve with a midday depression phenomenon. The diurnal variation of transpiration rate appeared to single peak type. The diurnal variation of water use efficiency was a single-valley curve. The stomatal conductance varied during the growth season; (2) under conventional irrigation, the net photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate increased with increased irrigation volume; and (3) with the same irrigation volume, the root-divided alternative irrigation, compared with conventional irrigation, reduced leaf transpiration rate and increased leaf net photosynthesis rate and water use efficiency, resulting in an increase of Jujube yield by 11% per hectare. The study showed that root-divided alternative irrigation could save water consumption and increase Jujube yield

14

Authors: Tao Tian, Xiaochun Xu, Pengling Liu, Chung-chia Lee

Rural informatization is an inevitable requirement of agricultural development. In the paper a two-phase model with DEA-Tobit was adopted to analyze the developmental efficiency and the influencing factors of rural informatization in China during 2007-2010. The results showed that, on the whole, the overall developmental efficiency of rural informatization in the Middle and Northwest China was lower than that in other regions of China. In addition, the decisive influencing factors on developmental efficiency of rural informatization were resulted from the nation’s macro policy and the global construction of rural informatization projects. The level difference in regional economic development was the main reason for the variation in developmental efficiency. Moreover, the structure and level of consumption by rural residents was an important source that had affected the developmental efficiency. Furthermore, the age of rural population and the education level had a significant influence on the developmental efficiency of rural informatization

6

Authors: Cujbescu D, Voicu Gh, Bolintineanu Gh, Persu C, Kabaş Ö, Bungescu S, Biriş S.

Romania's strategic objective of EU integration imposes, among others, policies that ensure the implementation of community requirements on the free movement of products, which is based on an open market economy, based on competition and economic and social cohesion. Agricultural productivity (main economic branch through its impact on the society and environment) is influenced by technological level of applied work, sowing work occupying a very important place in these technologies. This paper presents a method for testing the hoeing plants sowing machines with the help of a stand equipped with laser sensors that measure the time interval between the fall of two seeds which it transforms in space and which it compares to the reference area calculated by a specialized software after entering the input data (density, distance between rows, number of holes on the disk, speed)

6

Authors: Gevko R.B, Klendiy O.M.

The article presents the design of a safety device with slipping and axial shifting regimes, which are separated in time and are used in order to recondition the working capacity of a conveyer. Also, power analysis of the operation of a safety mechanism is conducted, which gives the opportunity to estimate the change in the moment of rotation of a driven half-clutch and a screw T depending on the change in the angle of the relative turning of half-clutches . Based on the results of the static experimental investigation of the safety device, it was determined that the given static analytical dependences can be used in the engineering design of different standard sizes of a safety device

6

Authors: Fodorean G, Cioica N, Nagy M, Atanasov At, Covaliu C.

Bioplastics (defined either as bio-based or biodegradable), automotive industry and agriculture are closely connected. On one side, renewable resources from agriculture are basic feedstock for bioplastics manufacturing. On the other side, products made from bioplastic materials have many applications in agriculture, in packaging for food industry, in construction and in automotive industry. If bioplastics are biodegradable, the life cycle can be closed by degrading them in industrial or home composters. The purpose of the work was to explore the relationship between the composition of a ternary bioplastic blends and its mechanical properties. Three polymers were used, PLA, PBAT and PA. PLA (polylactide) is a bio-based polymer produced by Nature Works, designed for injection moulding applications. PBAT (ecoflex F BX 7011) is an oil-based, biodegradable polymer designed for film extrusion and extrusion coating, produced by BASF. PA (platamid HX 2656) is a bio-based polymer produced by ARKEMA, designed to be used in textile industry, for adhesives and coatings. Relationship between blend composition, morphology and impact strength will be given.

8

Authors: Marin E, Bolintineanu Gh, Sorică C, Manea D, Herak D, Croitoru Ş, Grigore I.

This paper presents the results of experimental researches of sowing body, endowed with a pneumatic distribution apparatus equipped with vertical distributing discs and different sized holes, body which is the main component of a modern technical equipment performed by INMA Bucharest in partenership with S.C. MAT SA Craiova. The output obtained following the experimental researches allows to improve the technology of establishing the hoeing plant crops, so that the agricultural machinery market should benefit of a state-of-the art technical equipment in compliance with high quality requirements

8

Authors: Bogdanof G, Păun A, Ertekin C, Neagoe V.

The paper presents the theoretical and practical researches on the achievement and testing of a trailed windrover for fodder harvesting which carries out the operations of mowing, crushing and placing in continous and uniform swath of grassy fodder plants on the ground for natural drying,by a single passing. On the windrover were tested two types of conditioning devices for forages aiming the reduction of harvesting losses for different types of crops

8

Authors: Ludig M, Cârdei P, Muraru V, Mihailov N.

This paper presents some possibilities to optimize the use of electromagnetic waves, microwaves for the being moment, in agriculture and food industry. Concerns on this issue have arisen from some research topics about heating systems for agricultural products in their manufacturing processes. Obviously, at a later time, other interesting applications were suggested. For the present moment, the applications are limited to the drying process of herbs, fruits and vegetables or materials that must be preheated for processing (sawdust for pellets). For future applications, microwaves and other electromagnetic waves can extend their use in complex treatment for stored fruits and vegetables processing, treatment against pests existing in agricultural fields or in other areas. A mathematical model of a microwave oven from specialized literature is used in this paper in order to obtain a better positioning of organic matter inside the oven or a more favorable thermal field inside the oven

8

Authors: Jie Zhang, Zhenzhen Ma, Dengming Wu

This paper studied the non-point source pollution type of Meijiadu Village, Gaocheng Town, Yixing City, Taihu Basin, analyzed the process of rainfall-runoff producing- pollution producing of two main runoff pollution sources in the rural area, calculated the mean concentrations of the different rainfall events. Based on local living conditions and poultry farming methods, the runoff pollution characteristics and the influencing factors were analyzed. Besides, a biological detention pond technology suitable for treating runoff pollution under rural conditions was proposed. The results show: The event mean concentrations of these two polluted areas differed significantly; within the same rainfall, the runoff peak occurred 0.6-1.1 h later than rainfall intensity did, and the concentration was also changed along with the runoff process. However, at different rainfall intensities, the loss law of the pollutants was similar. The concentration of runoff pollution reached the peak within the first 10 min, but the water quality became stable after the stabilization of the runoff. Therefore, the concentration of runoff pollution was affected by rainfall intensity, rainfall duration, poultry scale, human activities, surrounding soil properties and many other factors.

8

Authors: Mărdărescu V.Gh., Ispas N., Năstăsoiu M.

When designing a cylinder head for two families of stationary Diesel air cooled, engines, with direct injection, we have to consider the BMEP, which is limited to these engines to values of 3.8-5.2 bar. To optimize gases exchange process and obtain a desired swirl number, different solutions are studied: geometry galleries, speed location of valves and gas fields concentrations developed in the combustion process for each proposed solution. The paper presents the optimal solution found in the functional analysis made for a program FLUENT single cylinder engine and one engine family bi-cylinder, looking at for each case of cooling air flow. Another aspect to be taken into account when designing the cylinder heads is to determine the thermal regimes of the cylinder head, piston, cylinder, valves and nozzle, in order to define the development of heat per work engine cycle. From our experience in designing and testing stationary air cooled engines and developing of injectors and new combustion chambers, a combustion code, written in C++, simulates the heat release rate per cycle, also serving to define data used to determine required heat transfer. The objectives of this paper are to define optimum construction solutions for a cylinder head for air-cooled Diesel engine with direct injection, having the stroke of 65 and 82 mm bore.

10

Authors: Yaojun Bo, Qingke Zhu, Weijun Zhao

This study was aimed to identify optimal indicators for microtopography-oriented soil quality assessment. Twenty-two soil physicochemical and biological parameters were investigated at 93 sampling points in five different microtopographic units in semiarid regions of the Loess Plateau, where the principal functions of eroded agriculture soils are related to productivity and anti-erosion ability. The selection of soil quality indicators was accomplished using a combination of sensitivity analysis, principal component analysis, and stepwise regression. The indicators used for microtopography-oriented soil quality assessment were found to be moderately sensitive with no high sensitivity. Moderately sensitive soil quality indicators including the levels of sucrase activity (SA), available phosphorus (AP), total nitrogen (TN), soil organic matter (SOM), and urease (UA) are the major objectives of soil quality restoration and regulation in the study area. The 22 soil physicochemical and biological parameters indicative of soil quality were grouped into seven soil quality factors; SOM, water-holding capacity, total phosphorous (TP), total potassium (TK), soil water content, capillary porosity, and AP. Optimal indicators for microtopography-oriented soil quality assessment in the study area were identified as; SOM, TN, SA, UA, AP, TP, CaCO3, APA, and TK. Among these, the SOM level was the key indicator for characterizing soil quality in relation to microtopography in the semiarid loess region. This study provides reference information for the conservation of agricultural soils and improvement of low-yield farmlands in semiarid regions of the Loess Plateau. This will enable better agricultural decisions by the residents and aid decision making by the government according to local conditions.

14

Authors: Nutu N.C., Pana C., Dobre A., Negurescu N., Cernat A.

The need of fresh air breading, especially in congested places and fuel price increasing led to new solutions for Diesel engine fuelling. The alternative fuels are a very good choice regarding pollutant emissions and price decreasing. This paper objective is to highlight comparative aspects between results obtained in the case of fuelling a Diesel engine with Diesel fuel and, respectively Diesel fuel and LPG,in order to be also used at agricultural tractors, either experimentally on test bed, or by thermodynamic processes modeling. The computer software used in this work is AVL Boost, a friendly and powerful environment, built by AVL Austria. The created model simulates a dual mode fuelling of a Diesel engine with Diesel fuel and LPG.