Hadi Hosseini; Saeid Minaei; Babak Beheshti
Abstract
Sesame oil which is one of the most popular and expensive edible oils, is prone to adulteration. High price of Sesame oil has motivated adulterers to mix the high-quality Sesame oil with low-quality, less expensive vegetable oils. In this study, the fatty-acid profiles of sesame, rapeseed, sunflower ...
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Sesame oil which is one of the most popular and expensive edible oils, is prone to adulteration. High price of Sesame oil has motivated adulterers to mix the high-quality Sesame oil with low-quality, less expensive vegetable oils. In this study, the fatty-acid profiles of sesame, rapeseed, sunflower oil samples as well as their mixtures (0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50% levels) were determined using Gas Chromatography. Also, Machine olfaction system containing 10 MOS sensors was utilized for detection experiments. Sensor response patterns were used for analyzing and recognizing pattern of electronic-nose signals using multivariate data analysis, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analyses (LDA), Partial Least Squares (PLS), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM). Results of the SVM with RFB kernel in C-SVM method had the highest classification accuracy. The accuracy of training and validation were 96.34 and 90.56%, respectively, and next were LDA and KNN models with classification accuracies of 92.30% and 89.94%, respectively. In the light of these results, the proposed models along with the measurement system represent excellent tools for the detection of sesame seed oil adulteration with cheaper vegetable oils.
Majid Davoodi; Saeid Minaei; Ahmad Sharifi
Abstract
This research includes the design, manufacturing, and evaluation of a live mulch planter unit. In order to address the problems of using agricultural machinery in performing live mulch planting in the furrows or simultaneously with the main crop, a prototype planting unit was designed. In this planter, ...
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This research includes the design, manufacturing, and evaluation of a live mulch planter unit. In order to address the problems of using agricultural machinery in performing live mulch planting in the furrows or simultaneously with the main crop, a prototype planting unit was designed. In this planter, a seed-drop plate was used to convey the seeds from the metering device to the ground. The result of this project was a prototype of a planter with the ability to plant 19.6 to 163.2 grams per minute of live mulch (hairy vetch) with a tolerance of 0.54 grams along the entire width of a 75 cm furrow. Laboratory and field experiments were conducted to evaluate its performance in actual field conditions, based on planting accuracy and field efficiency. The Laboratory test was performed according to ASAE S341.2 DEC92 standard for Grain Drill evaluation. Results of the initial evaluation of the planter showed that changing the rotational speed of the metering device significantly affected seed output on the drop plate in terms of seeding rate. The position of the outlets did not differ significantly in terms of seed damage. Increasing rotational speed of the metering device significantly increased the tendency of metering mechanism to damage seeds. Increasing rotational speed of the metering device significantly decreased index of non-uniformity in all outlets.Results of the initial evaluation of the planter showed that changing the rotational speed of the metering device significantly affected seed output on the drop plate in terms of seeding rate. The position of the outlets did not differ significantly in terms of seed damage. Increasing rotational speed of the metering device significantly increased the tendency of metering mechanism to damage seeds. Increasing rotational speed of the metering device significantly decreased index of non-uniformity in all outlets.
Behzad Behzadi; Ali Mohammad Borghei; Arjang Javadi; Saeid Minaei; Morteza Almassi
Abstract
Study on biometric parameters of trout species in the traditional method (based on human and non-automatic factors) are low-efficient due to serious problems such as disease transmission, stress-induced death, inaccuracy, & time-consuming. To overcome the problems of traditional method, an image-based ...
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Study on biometric parameters of trout species in the traditional method (based on human and non-automatic factors) are low-efficient due to serious problems such as disease transmission, stress-induced death, inaccuracy, & time-consuming. To overcome the problems of traditional method, an image-based vision system, including imaging and lighting chambers, was developed in this research. The fish biometric parameters were measured using fish movement videography during passage from the dark chamber. Then the selected images from the video were processed. The length, surface area, weight, amount of food consumed, & growth rate of trout were measured under fully controlled conditions and used as comparison criteria (control). Six mathematical models were used to estimate fish weight through measured parameters and among them the weight/length model was used as the best model for estimating fish weight. The accuracy of the system in estimating fish biometric parameters was above than 90% and the system’s capability to estimate the fish required food during the growth process was 98%.
Meisam Lesani; Saeid Minaei; Jafar Massah; Reza Salehi
Abstract
Today, development of vegetable farming is involved with the development of knowledge and equipment for production of grafted plants. This area is classified in the field of biosystems engineering and mechanics of cutting should be investigated as the first steps in this field. In this research, effects ...
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Today, development of vegetable farming is involved with the development of knowledge and equipment for production of grafted plants. This area is classified in the field of biosystems engineering and mechanics of cutting should be investigated as the first steps in this field. In this research, effects of the type of cutting blade, loading rate, oblique angle, and tilt angle were studied on two important parameters in cutting including cutting energy and maximum cutting force of tomato and eggplant seedlings. The results showed that the maximum specific cutting force and the specific cutting energy were in the range of 0.2-5.5 N per millimeter of stem diameter and 0.2-5 mJ per square millimeter of stem cross section, respectively. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that only blade type and oblique angle significantly affected the cutting parameters. Among prevalent blade types in vegetable grafting operations, razor blade requires the minimum cutting force and increasing the blade oblique angle is useful in making a smooth cut.
Abstract
The present study evaluated the performance of a novel solar heating system. A linear Fresnel lens was used to concentrate the heat in this system. Pre-experimentation tested the performance of the system at 5 alignment angles and 5 slope angles. The data was used to evaluate the performance of the system ...
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The present study evaluated the performance of a novel solar heating system. A linear Fresnel lens was used to concentrate the heat in this system. Pre-experimentation tested the performance of the system at 5 alignment angles and 5 slope angles. The data was used to evaluate the performance of the system in December 2014 at 6 flow rates (100, 200, 300, 400, 600, and 800 ml.min-1). In these experiments, solar radiation, wind velocity, temperature of fluid in collector, ambient temperature, and ambient relative humidity were recorded. The results demonstrated that the best performance of the system was at a 300 ml.min-1 flow rate, due south orientation, and with monthly adjustment of the slope of the lens. The correlation between the parameters indicated that at different flow rates, the effect of solar radiation on the temperature of the ambient air, heat-absorber pipe, output fluid, and input fluid were 0.91, 0.895, 0.86 and 0.84, respectively.
Abstract
The current study developed and tested machine vision and automatic control systems to improve performance and reduce rice loss during paddy husking. This system was optimally adjusted for paddy type, moisture content of paddy, roller spacing and rotational speed of the motor. The percentage of breakage ...
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The current study developed and tested machine vision and automatic control systems to improve performance and reduce rice loss during paddy husking. This system was optimally adjusted for paddy type, moisture content of paddy, roller spacing and rotational speed of the motor. The percentage of breakage of rice kernels was determined using a machine vision system and a singulation device. If rice breakage was greater than a set point, the husker device was adjusted as necessary. The variables of paddy moisture content, roller spacing, and motor rotational speed were used to determine the working conditions of the husker for two paddy varieties. The dependent variables were husking index and rice kernel breakage percentage. An image processing algorithm was coded and evaluated in MATLAB software to determine the percentage of rice kernel breakage. The results showed that selection of proper treatment for the medium-sized kernel paddy, the average husking index was 82.65% and the average rice breakage was 3.88%. For the long kernel paddy, the average husking index and rice breakage were 51.4% and 27.46%, respectively. Without use of the system and with improper selection of motor rotational speed and roller spacing in the medium-sized kernel paddy produced a husking index of 61.58% and rice breakage of 7.51%. For the long kernel paddy, the husking index was 19.14% and rice breakage was 35.03%. Results from the algorithm showed that its accuracy was 91.81%. Evaluation of the singulation device showed that a suction of -45 to -50 mmHg yielded an appropriate 81.3% separation efficiency. The best combination of the machine parameter levels were programmed into the system, which operated to make the proper adjustments automatically. This resulted in the most appropriate working conditions for husking in accordance with paddy variety, paddy moisture content, roller spacing, and motor rotational speed.
