Archive - Abstract
Vol.45 No.1 (March, 2014)
- Research Paper (Japanese)
Study on Automatic Monitoring System of Swine Sneezing and Cough
- Takuji KAWAGISHI, Natsuki MATSUNASHI, Koichi MIZUTANI and Naoto WAKATSUKI
- It is important to prevent infectious disease expansion in swine by detecting respiratory tract infections in early stage. Counting sneezing and cough is conventionally used to detect the disease. In this paper, we propose the automatic monitoring system of swine sneezing and cough using a microphone-array, which achieves an automated recognition and localization procedure for swine in weaning period cough and sneezing sounds. To realize this system, it must be achieved that a swine cough and sneezing sound are detected successfully in spite of many noises in swine house. The noises cause detection errors in the system. A technique using a high-pass filter has been found effective to detect the sneezing that includes frequency component of over 30 kHz frequency components than noises. Another technique using a band-pass filter has been found effective to detect the cough that includes frequency component in the range of 10 - 20 (kHz). These detection techniques and a localization technique based on the time difference of arrival are evaluated in experiment. The obtained results suggest that the proposed technique worked with sufficient accuracy. The correct discrimination rate for sneezing was 99.9 % and correct location estimation rate for detected sneezing was 85.7 %. The correct discrimination rate of cough was 99.6 % and correct location estimation rate for detected cough was 75.0 %. These accuracies ware enough to achieve automated recognition and localization procedure for swine cough and sneezing sounds.
Keywords: pig, swine, monitoring system, sneezing, cough, respiratory disease, location estimation
- Research Paper (Japanese)
Drip Fertigation Using Dairy Cow Slurry Processed by Solid-Liquid Separation and Aerobic Digestion
- Yoshimichi YAMASHITA, Motoo FUKUHARA, Koichiro IWATA, Tatsuo SATO, Hajime ARAKI, Kazuhiko OHMIYA, Naoto SHIMIZU and Kazunori IWABUCHI
- We devised method for applying liquid compost and water to plants by using commercially available drip device fertigation. Generally, these are many insoluble contents in livestock manure. These particle size is so big that the existence of insoluble contents makes the application difficult by using drip device. In our system, after solid-liquid separation by Screw Press, the liquid was aerated and purified. On the other hand, the insoluble contents was mechanically separated to the solid. Therefore, the solid component of the liquid was broken up by biodegradation well. These made it possible that drip holes of irrigation tube didn’t stack. As a result, applying this liquid fertilizer to cucumber in greenhouse by using drip device, no stacking problems happened and cultivation of cucumber went well.
Keywords: livestock waste management, solid-liquid separation, fertigation, aerobic digestion, screw press
- Technical Paper (Japanese)
Effects of Rapeseed Oil Fuel on a Diesel Engine - 1 500 h endurance test of a diesel generator -
- Genta KANAI, Yukinori SHIBUYA and Hisashi KOWATA
- We examined the use of rapeseed oil as diesel fuel to assess the rapidly increasing use of larger rapeseed crops and widening cultivated areas in Japan. A diesel generator was modified for this study using a commercial conversion kit. Then the generator was run for 1 250 h using straight rapeseed oil and 250 h with kerosene for comparison.
- Quality analysis of the engine oil showed no severe damage to the engine and no severe accident during the test run. The engine stopped several times, apparently because of plugging of the fuel filter as a result of insufficient maintenance. Homemade rapeseed oil can be contaminated, rather more than kerosene, with dust or moisture. Therefore, filter maintenance plays a more important role for an engine fuelled by rapeseed oil than that fuelled by kerosene. For practical use of a generator supplied with rapeseed oil, a backup system and a technician should be prepared for an unexpected engine stoppage.
- The diesel generator was found to consume more rapeseed oil hourly than kerosene by 6-13 % for a constant load and by 8 % for an alternating load, probably because kerosene has more calories than rapeseed oil. Engine oil analysis revealed that less soot was produced by the supplied rapeseed oil than by kerosene.
- The duration of 1 250 h for a generator is almost equal to 7 years of operation, which is the useful lifetime for agricultural equipment based on depreciation (Japanese Ministry of Finance) of this power source, which can be used for grain-drying to oil-cleaning processes for 2 ha rapeseed cultivation.
Keywords: diesel engine, rapeseed oil, SVO, durability test
Vol.45 No.2 (June, 2014)
- Research Paper (Japanese)
Capacities for Heat Pump Cooling Systems for Greenhouses in Japan
- Limi OKUSHIMA, David R. MEARS, Sadanori SASE, Tadashi TAKAKURA, Hideki MORIYAMA, Shinsuke FURUNO and Masahisa ISHII
- Greenhouse cooling systems with three types of heat pumps: air source - air supply, water source - air supply and water source - water supply types, are evaluated by hourly calculations based on a simple heat balance model. Cases considered are for the current 4 most typical greenhouses at 4 locations in Japan. Cooling requirements for two combinations of day and night cooling as well as two night only cooling set points are determined. Peak daytime cooling requirements are similar for all locations and greenhouse types and may be too great to justify fully meeting without any ventilation. Meeting half the full day cooling requirements with heat pump systems may be more practical. In this case the water source - water supply system is shown to require only one sixth the size heat pump unit relative to the other two types, due to the utilization of the cool water storage. This type system sized to meet 90 % of night heating requirements can meet almost all night cooling needs. Even modest sized systems are shown capable of meeting cooling needs many hours of the year extending the opportunity for closed operation with carbon dioxide enrichment.
Keywords: heat pump, water source, air source, greenhouses, cooling demands, cool storage water tank, heat exchanger
- Research Paper (Japanese)
Peak Electricity Demand Leveling in Livestock Barn with Biogas Power Generation Facility for Stable Energy Supply
- Shiho ISHIKAWA, Kazunori IWABUCHI, Jun TAKANO and Juzo MATSUDA
- This paper studies the establishment of a livestock barn adjacent to a biogas power generation facility. In the barn, electricity necessary for the management of livestock and the barn itself is self-supplied via biogas power generation alone, and as much surplus power as possible is sold to other power users.
- A breakdown of daily power consumption by dairy farmers in Hokkaido showed that ventilation fans accounted for the largest percentage (37 to 76 %; 41 % on average), followed by bulk coolers (4 to 37 %; 20 % on average). Power consumption on farms was influenced more by equipment operated for long periods than by the rated power consumption of individual pieces of equipment. Based on these findings, it is suggested that for equipment used over extended periods, reviewing how machinery that can be used flexibly is operated would support the reduction of overall power consumption and maximum power demand. Additionally, the use of ventilation fans, livestock waste treatment units and other types of low-capacity equipment during non-milking times resulted in lower maximum power demand.
- Since the output of biogas power generators is stable throughout the day, the electric demand of barns facility is able to be covered mostly. It is important for barns with biogas generators to be applied the flexible operation system for equipments during milking, and to be able to supply the whole electricity at the farm using biogas generators.
Keywords: dairy, biogas power generation, self-supplied type livestock barn by electricity, electricity demand, leveling of power consumption, maximum power demand
Vol.45 No.3 (September, 2014)
- Technical Paper (Japanese)
Heating Water by the Fermentation Heat Recovered from Vacuum-type Aeration Composting System - Characteristics of water heating process and heated water supplying for dairy cow -
- Yoichiro KOJIMA, Yoshiyuki ABE and Koichi AMAHA
- This study describes the use of water heating by fermentation heat recovery from a suction-vented composting system of dairy farming. We elucidated the characteristics of water heating using exhaust gas from a composting facility with fermentation heat recovery, which generated a caloric value of 30 kW using two heat exchangers (Exp. 1), and we also determined the capacity of a heated water supply of drinking water for dairy cows in full-scale dairy farming (Exp. 2). In Exp. 1, the flow rate was 1-14 L∙min-1 and temperature of the heated water was 48.3-31.0 ℃, and the heat was used to heat the water up to 1.41 MJ∙min-1. The heat exchange efficiency reached approximately 90 % under these conditions, and the overall heat transfer coefficient was stable at 80-90 W∙m-2∙K-1. In Exp. 2, to construct a system for supplying drinking water to a milking herd of 118 cows, water at 33.3 ℃ was supplied at 14.4 m3∙d-1 (122 L∙d-1 per head of cow). During this period, the amount of heat used for heating the water was 1630 MJ∙d-1. In addition, to ensure that the fermentation heat recovery facilities remained in good working conditions, we treated or used the dew condensation water generated by the heat exchange process.
Keywords: manure, composting, heat of fermentation, heat recovery, drinking water supply for cow, biomass energy
- Technical Paper (Japanese)
Field Survey of Greenhouses Damage by Heavy Snow in February 2014
- Hideki MORIYAMA, Limi OKUSHIMA and Masahisa ISHII
- In February 2014, numerous greenhouses were damaged by heavy snow in the Kanto-Ko-Shin region, We surveyed pipe-framed greenhouses, reinforced pipe-framed greenhouses, angle-steel frame greenhouses, steel frame greenhouses, glass houses, and greenhouses for fruit trees in Gunma, Nagano, Yamanashi and Tochigi prefectures, and classified them by failure mode and cause of failure. For single-span greenhouses, the covering net on the roof prevented snow sliding off. For multi-span greenhouses, snow load near valley gutter did not melt sufficiently causing collapse of the structure. Overflowing water from the gutter decreased the bearing capacity of soil and settlement of foundations. Strong wind and unmelted snow of past snowfall affected the loading condition of snow on the roof. There were frequent failures of columns in greenhouses with insufficient bracing. For greenhouses without bracing, the connections between column and beam, and column and foundation were the major cause of failure. In the most fragile structure, the connection between column and beam was by only one bolt. In this structure, a large bending moment at the weak connection between column and foundation caused failure. In order to increase the strength of the greenhouse for snow load, we propose the development of a new attachment that can be easy to put on and take off temporary bracing of the structure before a storm. Also proposed are the modification of the connection between the column and foundation using concrete and the addition of the covering film at the valley gutter.
Keywords: February 2014, Kanto-Ko-Shin region, greenhouse's structure, snow load meteorological disaster, failure mode
Vol.45 No.4 (December, 2014)
- Research Paper (Japanese)
Effects of Oxygen Supply, Temperature, and pH on Desulfurization using Digested Slurry
- Takashi SUZUKI, Shinji HOSHIBA, Hitoshi OGAWA, Hirotoshi TAKAZAKI, Eiryu OKAMOTO and Shigeru MORITA
- To use biogas effectively, an efficient desulfurization system is needed. Despite many detailed examinations of efficient and environmentally friendly operating conditions for desulfurization systems, the use digested slurry has not been reported. The objectives of this study are to clarify the influences of oxygen supply, equipment temperature, and digested slurry pH on the desulfurization process. A 0.24 m3 polyvinyl chloride pipe reactor was used as the experimental equipment, and polypropylene carriers were filled inside. Using a pump, the digested slurry was sprayed upwards via a nozzle onto the surface of the filling carriers for approximately 5 min once a day. To attain 85 % or greater of the target desulfurization efficiency, it was necessary to supply 1.0 % or more oxygen into the biogas. However, because too much air dilutes the biogas, the optimal air supply rate was 1.0 %. It was necessary to maintain the equipment temperature above 20 ℃ for bacterial activity; therefore the optimal temperature was 30 ℃. To prevent heat loss, it was necessary to position the desulfurization system near the fermentation tank. High desulfurization efficiency was achieved by maintaining the digested slurry at pH 7.0, and it is suggested that an operating method that periodically exchanges some liquid is desirable.
Keywords: desulfurization, biogas, digested slurry, oxygen supply, temperature, pH
- Research Paper (Japanese)
Dynamic Mass Measurement of the Livestock using Order Variable Adaptive Filter on Walking Cycle
- Nobuo AOKI, Koichi MIZUTANI, Naoto WAKATSUKI and Kasutaka UMETSU
- In a dairy farmer, it is an important index to manage the livestock weight for choosing a rearing method. It leads to a profit to know the weight both of dairy cattle and beef cattle. Conventionally, the static measurement is performed using fence or gage. In this paper, dynamic weight measurement of walking livestock is proposed utilizing adaptive filter on walking cycle. In case a livestock walks on the platform of measurement, the measurement signal cannot be expected to be constant, and contains disturbance signals caused by the movement of the livestock to be measured. In order to eliminate the disturbance signals, a walking cycle of the livestock is used to optimize the order and coefficient of adaptive filter. This adaptive filter realized that the difference of computed result and body weight fell in ±1 kg range compared with ±5 kg range of simple moving average. It is confirmed that the dynamic weight measurement has practically sufficient accuracy in experiment for dairy cattle.
Keywords: cattle, livestock weight, walk through, adaptive filter, dynamic measurement
