Ali Farahmandi; Mojtaba Naderi-Boldaji; Maral Ajamian; Mahdi Ghasemi-Varnamkhasti; Saman Abdanan
Abstract
Sugarcane is an important crop in sugar production in the country widely produced in Khuzestan province. After harvesting the sugarcane in the field and when delivered to the sugar factory, the cane is shredded. In this study, the dielectric spectroscopy technique in the frequency range of 0-100 MHz ...
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Sugarcane is an important crop in sugar production in the country widely produced in Khuzestan province. After harvesting the sugarcane in the field and when delivered to the sugar factory, the cane is shredded. In this study, the dielectric spectroscopy technique in the frequency range of 0-100 MHz was evaluated for measurement of sucrose concentration in shredded cane using a cylindrical parallel-plate sensor with compaction of the shredded cane. Fifty five samples of shredded cane were taken from the sugar production line of Salman Farsi factory during the harvesting season of 2021-2022 and their reference properties including sugar concentration with three indicators of Brix using refractometry method, Pol using simple polarimetry method and the sucrose measured using double polarimetry were measured. The samples were subjected to dielectric spectroscopy using the capacitance sensor and the dielectric spectra were analyzed for sugar concentration prediction. Multivariate regression analyses of partial least-sugare regresseion (PLSR), principal component regression (PCR) and support vector regression were applied for development of prediction models of sugar concentration variables. Validation of the prediction model of PLSR showed a stronger prediction of sucrose (R2= 0.79, RMSE= 0.89, RPD= 2.22) measured using the double-polarimetry as compared to Pol (R2= 0.76, RMSE= 0.8, RPD= 2.07) and Brix (R2= 0.77, RMSE= 0.89, RPD= 2). This result was explained with higher number of OH groups of sucrose molecule as compared to the other sugars existing in the sugarcane juice and the dominant effect of sucrose on the dielectric characteristics of the juice.
Azam Asadi; Mojtaba Naderi; Amin Lotfalian; Mahdi Ghasemi-Varnamkhasti; Saman Abdanan
Abstract
Determination of sugar concentration of sugar beet in sugar factories is of great importance and is a basis for valuation of the sugar beet as well as assessment of the sugar production process in the factory. In this study with the aim of development of a non-destructive method for measurement of the ...
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Determination of sugar concentration of sugar beet in sugar factories is of great importance and is a basis for valuation of the sugar beet as well as assessment of the sugar production process in the factory. In this study with the aim of development of a non-destructive method for measurement of the sugar concentration of sugar beet in terms of Brix, a proximal dielectric sensor was developed and evaluated. This sensor is an open-end coaxial probe consisting of two metallic concentric ring electrodes which is connected to function generator and spectrum analyzer through coaxial cables. One hundred random samples of sugar beet were selected and measured by the dielectric sensor. Dielectric spectra i.e. amplitude as a function of frequency were obtained in the frequency range of 0-150 MHz. The reference Brix was measured with extracting juice from the points of dielectric measurement using a refractometer. The results showed that in the ranges of 30-50 and 120-140 MHz, the dielectric spectra varied noticeably in relation with variations in sugar beet Brix so that the amplitude decreased with increasing the Brix. The partial least square regression (PLSR) method could model the Brix as a function of the dielectric spectra variables with R2= 0.81 and RMSE of 0.72 Brix. The results of the study indicated that the dielectric sensor and measurement method was a simple and reliable method for non-destructive measuring of sugar beet Brix.
Mohammad Ahmadpour omouei; Sajad Kiani; Mahdi Ghasemi Varnamkhasti; Zahra Izadi
Abstract
This study aimed to design, perform static and dynamic analysis, manufacture, and evaluate an oleaster mill machine. It was designed from a crusher, anti-crusher, tray, body, chassis, inlet, and outlet. After the 3D design, static and dynamic analyses were performed to confirm the strength of the crusher. ...
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This study aimed to design, perform static and dynamic analysis, manufacture, and evaluate an oleaster mill machine. It was designed from a crusher, anti-crusher, tray, body, chassis, inlet, and outlet. After the 3D design, static and dynamic analyses were performed to confirm the strength of the crusher. Then, the technical knowledge (drawings) was extracted and used to manufacture the machine through sheet metal and welding (body and its accessories) as well as casting-machining methods (crusher and anti-crusher parts). An electric motor (2.206 kW) was utilized to rotate the crusher. The manufactured machine was evaluated by measuring the amount of pulverization of oleaster fruit (particles smaller than 250 microns) at various moisture content of the fruit (close to 0% or no change in the moisture content of the sample at 70 ֯C, 5%, and 10%), different speeds of the crusher (750, 1000, 1250, 1500 rpm) and different sizes of tray meshes (0.5, 0.75 and 1 mm) in the form of a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design in three replications. Statistical analysis showed that the maximum amount of pulverization (80.16) was achieved at the highest rotating speed of the crusher, with the size of tray meshes of 0.75 mm, and samples at moisture content close to zero. By a similar setup, the pulverization was calculated at 79.33% and 55.12% at 5% and 10% moisture content of the samples, respectively. For the manufactured machine and samples at 5% moisture content, which is recommended, the total capacity was calculated at 30 kg/h.
maryam lotfalian; mohammad dehghan; Sajjad Rostami; Bahram Hosseeinzadeh samani; Mahdi Ghasemi Varnamkhasti
Abstract
The area under cultivation of watermelon in Iran is 1.2 percent of total area of agricultural land or 42.3 percent of the total area under cultivation of different species of cucurbits in this country. Unfortunately, the share of mechanical devices in watermelon cultivation, particularly in harvesting ...
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The area under cultivation of watermelon in Iran is 1.2 percent of total area of agricultural land or 42.3 percent of the total area under cultivation of different species of cucurbits in this country. Unfortunately, the share of mechanical devices in watermelon cultivation, particularly in harvesting period, is low. Harvesting of watermelon, especially in loading stage, is extremely costly and time-consuming because of absence of appropriate machines. Based on what have been derived from questionnaire completed by some farmers of Fars province, of total manpower required to harvest watermelon, 70% goes for loading of this product. The aim of this study is designing and testing the deployment of the watermelon harvesting machine to improve harvesting efficiency. Farm experiments were carried out with different ways of machine working, including: harvesting and loading watermelon at the same time, loading pre-harvested products, different belt speeds (0.25, 0.4 and 0.55 m/s), and different number of labors for loading (putting harvested watermelon on conveyor belt) and for unloading (receiving watermelon from moving belt to fill up trailer). Loading capacity and losses of products (during loading and unloading) were also calculated. The highest rate of loading capacity (13.2 tons per hour) was in loading pre-harvested products with 7 labors and belt speed of 0.55 m/s. The highest losses (0.38%) was also in this case. The lowest rate of farm capacity (6.15 tons per hour) has been found when harvesting and loading of watermelon were done at the same time (three labors, 0.25 m/s belt speed). No losses could be found when 5 or 7 labors were involved in harvesting and loading and speed of belt limited to 0.25 and 0.4 m/s. Results indicated that combination of 7 labors and the speed of belt equal to 0.4 m/s was the best way of harvesting the products in terms of maximum field capacity and minimum losses. In this method, the manpower needed to pick up and to load one ton of watermelon reduced to 0.61 labor-hr. compared with 1.14 labor-hr. in traditional way of harvesting.
