INTRODUCTION TO AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING UOM

B.TANDARAYEN

2/1/2017 1 Introduction to Agricultural Engineering

INTRODUCTION TO

AGRICULTURAL

ENGINEERING

Outline of presentation

Agricultural Engineering &

Agricultural engineers

Challenges

Agricultural operations

Agricultural machinery

Resources conservation

Agricultural structures

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Introduction to Agricultural Engineering

2

Agricultural Engineering

The Level of mechanisation of agriculture

determines the development of

agriculture and the development of

human society

Undeveloped agriculture depends on

hand tools Farm activities labour intensive

It takes large team of farmers and field

hands to cultivate small area for farmers

to feed the people

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Introduction to Agricultural Engineering

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Agricultural engineering was recognized

as a discipline in 1907, with the

formation of ASAE which coincided with

rapid advancement of mechanisation

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AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING, CONT…

It is the application of engineering principles to any process associated with producing agriculturally based goods and management of natural resources

It is concerned with the development of: Labour saving farm machines, farm buildings, irrigation and drainage systems

It include processes for preserving and converting agricultural produce to useful Food, Feed, and Fibre products


WHAT IS AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING

Part Agriculture and Part Engineering – Mostly

tipping towards the latter

Agricultural Engineering is a Science on its own

The scope of Agricultural Engineering is wide and

varied

Covering:

1. Farm machinery and Power

2. Agricultural Processes and Agro Machinery

3. Soil and Water Conservation

4. Farm Irrigation, tube well pumping and drainage


AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING

They are broadly and intensively trained professionals who

devise practical and efficient solutions for producing, storing,

transporting, processing and packaging agricultural produce

• More specifically they solve problems related to systems,

processes and machines

• They develop solutions for alternative use of agricultural

products, by -products, wastes and natural resources

• More importantly to ensure protection of people, animals and

the environment

It is good to note the interaction of the Mechanical, Civil,

Electrical and Agricultural Engineers


AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERS

Increase in world population

Decrease in natural resources

Changes in climatic conditions

Increase in demand for quality products

People are in a hurry – more in short period of time

Decrease of agricultural land

Decrease in labour for agriculture

Need to devise means and ways for low cost

production and high quality produce


CHALLENGES

1.Monitor the implementation of new projects and introduction

of new technologies in the field of Agricultural Engineering;

2.Assess the design consideration of locally manufactured/

modified farm machinery and implements from prospective

manufacturers/ individuals;

3.Assist in the preparation of Tender Documents for the

Ministry and other Para-statal Bodies under the aegis of the

Ministry of Agro-Industry & Food Security;

4. Advise Ministries and Government Institutions on matters

related to Agricultural Engineering;

5.Assist in the formulation of Agricultural Engineering policies

and in framing of appropriate Engineering Legislation ;


ACTIVITIES OF AGRICULTURAL

ENGINEERS - MAURITIUS

6.Ensure that repairs and maintenance of vehicles, agricultural machineries and related equipment are carried out properly;

7.Supervise the repairs and maintenance of all civil works undertaken by the Ministry;

8. Ensure the proper design of farm buildings and irrigation network;

9. Trials with, and adaptations to, farm equipment and agricultural support equipment so that they respond better to local conditions;

10. Land preparation including ploughing and furrowing


ACTIVITIES OF AGRICULTURAL

ENGINEERS - MAURITIUS

11. Processing, analyzing and interpreting raw satellite images depending upon the user needs;

12.Generating various thematic maps of natural resources.

13. Identifying potentials and problems of land, water and socio-economic parameters.

14.Production of hard copy maps.

15. Generate action plans for:

Land use change analysis

Land capability and land irrigability analysis

Watershed/water resource development planning

National Agricultural Land Bank

16. Provision of training in the dif ferent trades and in supervision

17. Industrial Training (Pre Reg, MITD etc.)


CONT….

Agricultural power deals with tractors,

equipment and all forms of power in

agriculture.

Harvest and post harvest equipment

Power tiller, Sheller, Lawn mower, Leaf blower


AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY/POWER


POWER TILLER


THRESHER


SHELLER

Labour in Agriculture:

The basic skills in the selection and use of tools and

materials

The employee in agriculture (mechanics, welder,

masons, plumber, fitter etc) must be able to locate

and repair parts for agricultural tools, plant and

equipment

Today, the need for multi-skilled workforce is highly

being felt


LABOUR

The operations on a farm can be classified as:

1. Tractive work such as land preparation, cultivation,

harvesting, and transportation

2. Stationary work: cutting feed, handling & storing,

grinding and lifting of irrigation water

Sources of power:

a. Human and animal

b. Human and machines


AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS

A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to

deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for

the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in

agriculture or construction.

Most commonly, the term is used to describe a farm vehicle

that provides the power and traction to mechanise

agricultural tasks, especially (and originally) til lage, but

nowadays a great variety of tasks. Agricultural implements

may be towed behind or mounted on the tractor, and the

tractor may also provide a source of power if the implement is

mechanised.


TRACTOR

PTO: Power Take-OFF

It is part of the tractor transmission system.

It is provided with a standard splined shaft at rear of the tractor

to operate the PTO operated machines like mowers and

harvesters

Tractor mounted hedge trimmer, below


TRACTOR & PTO

1. Tillage – Basic operation in farming . It is

done to create favourable conditions for

seed placement and plant growth

2. Ploughs

3. Harrows

4. Cultivators


IMPLEMENTS/ATTACHEMENTS


PLOUGH

The diagram shows the basic parts of

the modern plough:

1. beam

2. hitch or hake

3. vertical regulator

4. coulter (knife coulter pictured,

but disk coulter common)

5. chisel (foreshare)

6. share (mainshare)

7. mouldboard


FOUR FURROW REVERSIBLE PLOUGH


CULTIVATOR


BALANCE PLOUGH


DISK HARROW

This Includes the design and construction of:

Ditches

Terraces

Irrigation system

The control of erosion& The collection and

storage of rain water


RESOURCES CONSERVATION PRACTICES

The artificial application of water to arid land

for growing crops.

The objective of the Engineer is to make water

available to the cultivators with respect of

location, time and quantity as per crop

requirements

The need for Investigation, Planning, design,

Construction, Operation and Maintenance of

pipe network, pump and distribution system


IRRIGATION

System: Gravity, Lif t & Infi l tration

Method: Sur face, subsurface, overhead, drip, suction, burried

Impact type sprinkler head

Canal irr igation

S Sprayers and bubblers


IRRIGATION SYSTEM & METHOD


HUB OF A CENTRE PIVOT IRRIGATION

SYSTEM

Components:

1. Control Head

Pumping Unit – Lifts water form source and generate pressure in pipe l ines

Control Valves and pressure gauges - Regulates pressure and flow control

Filtration units – Remove foreign material from water

Fertigation units – Inject soluble ferti l isers along with irrigation water

2. Pipe network

Main and sub-main units – Distribute water throughout the fields

Laterals – Distribute water to the crops and to emitting devices

3. Dripper devices : micro sprayers, drippers, perforated pipes – Dissipate pressure and discharge water


DESIGN CONSIDERATION OF A

PRESSURISED IRRIGATION METHOD

Total head (m)

Discharge (m3/Hr)

Water requirements m3

Area of irrigation m2

Irrigation time

Calculate losses:

I Operations loss

ii Filters loss

ii i Pipes loss


DESIGN CONSIDERATION


DRIPS FOR PLANTS AND SHRUBS


SPRINKLER FOR VEGETABLE GARDEN


WATER CONNECTIONS

Only a small fraction of the rainfall falling in arid

and semi-arid areas percolates into deeper soil or

rock layers to recharge an aquifer. Another small

fraction is used for transpiration of vegetation or of

agricultural crops.

The majority of the precipitation evaporates from the

often bare soil or from surface depressions. To

increase agricultural production in the country, the

necessity to think about the utilisation of water

before it is “loss” to the sea.


RAINWATER HARVESTING

Since time immemorable, farmers in dry areas of the

world collect surface runoff of precipitation, using

various types of “water harvesting”. Water harvesting

is here defined as the collection of surface runoff

mainly for agricultural and domestic purposes


CONT….

The objectives of the study are to calculate the

design rate of rainfall and calculate roof run -off and

to size gutters and rainwater pipes from tables and

by calculation.


PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF AN INVERTED

ROOF FOR WATER HARVESTING IN

AGRICULTURE


TYPICAL SYSTEM

A rainwater harvesting system consists of three basic

elements: a collection area, a conveyance system,

and storage facilities. The collection area in most

cases is the roof of a house or a building. The

effective roof area and the material used in

constructing the roof influence the efficiency of

collection and the water quality.


TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

A conveyance system usually consists of gutters or

pipes that deliver rainwater falling on the rooftop to

cisterns or other storage vessels. Both drainpipes

and roof surfaces should be constructed of

chemically inert materials such as wood, plastic,

aluminum, or fiberglass, in order to avoid adverse

effects on water quality.


SYSTEM DESCRIPTION


INVERTED ROOF - MAURITIUS

The water ultimately is stored in a storage tank or

cistern, which should also be constructed of an inert

material. Reinforced concrete, fiberglass, or

stainless steel is suitable materials. Storage tanks

may be constructed as part of the building, or may

be built as a separate unit located some distance

away from the building. Figure below shows a

proposed schematic of a rooftop catchment system


CONT….


SCHEMATIC DRAWING


COLLECTION SYSTEM

Agricultural structures deal with the facilities used in

agriculture:

Green house

Pens (animals)

Barns (tobacco)

Laboratory (Testing & certification)

Post harvest building

Storage building

The design, evaluation of offer, supervision of

construction of structures, together with drainage

system


AGRICULTURAL STRUCTURES


GREEN HOUSE - SHED

This shed is made from metal tubes and polycarbonate sheet.

The shed is used for tissue culture for plants.

It is fitted with:

1. Automatic opening and closing of the roof: depending on the

weather

2. Automatic curtain depending on the sunlight requirements

3. Automatic irrigation system – pump and timer for specific

time of the day

4. Automatic extractor fan – depending on the inside

temperature

The role of the engineer is to maintain this system in proper

condition


HARDENING SHED


AUTOMATIC ROOF AND CURTAIN


CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT


CONTROL PANEL

Storage means the phase of the post-harvest system

during which the products are kept in such a way as

to guarantee food security other than during periods

of agricultural production.

In order to attain these general objectives, it is

obviously necessary to adopt measures aimed at

preserving the quality and quantity of the stored

products over time.


STORAGE

The main objectives of storage can be summed up as follows :

at the food level, to permit deferred use (on an

annual and multi-annual basis) of the agricultural

products harvested;

at the agricultural level, to ensure availability of

seeds for the crop cycles to come;

at the agro-industrial level, to guarantee regular and

continuous supplies of raw materials for processing

industries;

at the marketing level, to balance the supply and

demand of agricultural products, thereby stabilising

market prices.


STORAGE: OBJECTIVES

To conserve the quality of products over long -term

storage, degradation processes must be slowed down

or even stopped.

Degradation of grains during storage depends

principally on a combination of three factors:

temperature,

moisture,

oxygen content.

During storage, as during other phases of the post -

harvest system, the combined effects of these three

factors can sometimes cause severe losses.


ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

The Ministry of Agro-Industry & FS is the only producer

of vegetable and crop seeds in Mauritius. In order to

maintain their viability, the seeds are kept in a

controlled environment.

Seeds generally benefit from low temperature and low

humidity storage.

Normally the seeds are kept in cold room (positive) for

proper conservation.

Hence the need for the design of a refrigeration

system for the storage of seeds.


DESIGN OF REFRIGERATION SYSTEM FOR

THE STORAGE OF SEEDS AT BES


ROOMS TO BE REFRIGERATED


SEEDS ON RACKS

This project deals with the design hypotheses and engineering

concepts adopted and applied for the design load calculation

for a refrigeration system.

The objective of the load calculation is to design an

appropriate system capable of maintaining a certain

temperature and humidity level and also to handle the load of

seeds for conservation.

The approach is based on the basic theories of psychometrics,

thermodynamics and heat transfer. The project was started

from the calculation, drafting of technical specifications,

launching of tender, evaluation and selection of the offer. The

equipment was installed and commissioned.


THE DESIGN CALCULATION

The existing structure consists of four rooms dimension

8x6x3.3 m with storage capacity of 20 tons each and one

room of dimension 8x2x3.3 m with 7 tons capacity.

Inside temperature: 10 – 12 0c

Relative humidity: 40-50%

Outside temperature: 28 0c


FACILITIES - STRUCTURE

The total load depends on both sensible and latent

heat gain from:

Product load (products to be stored – seeds)

Transmission load (gain in temperature from outside)

Infiltration load

Internal heat sources (equipment, lighting)

Heat from respiration (seeds)

Heat from people (during loading and unloading)

Results: The 20 tons capacity room required a refrigeration

load of 24 Kw, while the 7 tons capacity required a

refrigeration load of 14Kw


REFRIGERATION LOAD


REFRIGERATION PLANT


STAND BY GENERATOR SET

With the recent construction of a new floor at the Engineering

Division. We need to install air conditioners for comfort use.

The space will be used partly for a training unit to

accommodate about 75 persons and partly for office for 5

persons.

First we need to size the appropriate air conditioning unit for

each space. We need to make a cooling load calculation to

reach the requirements in terms of cooling capacity.

There are several factors that need to be taken into

consideration, namely ; heat gain from people, lighting,

equipment, transmission, amongst others


COOLING LOAD CALCULATION FOR AIR

CONDITIONING OF NEW BUILDING ED

As an engineer we need to think of how w can get the work

done in a better way: Quality rather than Quantity, taking into

consideration the safety aspect of the work and very important,

is how we do not cause damage to the environment.

The need to provide training: on job training, conduct

theoretical training and calculations, seminars/talks amongst

others.

We need to keep our workforce up to date in their respective

trades.


PROVISION OF TRAINING

From the above, we can have a broad idea of Agricultural

Engineering, specially the inter -relationship between

Mechanical Engineers and other Engineers to make the work

complete.

The importance of each related field have been highlighted

and all to contribute to the betterment of the country as a

whole.


CONCLUSION

QUESTIONS?


END OF PRESENTATION

Following the installation of a new incinerator plant at

the Quarantine Department, a chimney was to be fixed

on the incinerator and held by guy wires. The chimney

was a 5.4 m high, in two parts, bolted together

through flanged.


DESIGN OF GUY WIRE TO SUPPORT THE

CHIMNEY OF AN INCINERATOR PLANT


EGG COOLING ROOM


FUMIGATION CHAMBER & EQUIPMENT


END OF PRESENTATION