Energy Efficiency Analysis of White Button Mushroom Producers in Alburz Province of Iran: A Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

The aim of this study was to determine energy consumption pattern and specifically to measure and benchmark the efficiency for white button mushroom production in Alburz province of Iran. The data used in this study were collected by interviewing mushroom producers in the region. In the surveyed farms, average yield and total energy consumption were calculated as around 208.46 kg·ton-1 compost and 133.25 MJ·ton-1, respectively. The results revealed that fossil fuel (40.43%), compost (30.45%) and electricity (27.42%) consumed the bulk of energy. The results of DEA approach also showed that 12 and 14 farmers had efficiency score of unity. Electricity and fossil fuel were found to be used in excess in target mushroom production farms. Moreover, we came to the conclusion that the total energy consumption can be reduced to 120.15 MJ·ton-1 for mushroom production in which diesel fuel energy (50.89 MJ·ton-1), FYM (37.32 MJ·ton-1) and electricity (30.34 MJ·ton-1) energies were considerably significant.

Moisture-dependent physical and mechanical properties of cumin(Cuminum cyminum L.)seed

Some physical and mechanical properties of cumin seed were obtained as moisture content changed from 7.24%to 21.38%d.b.Increasing of moisture content was found to increase the seed length(5.14-5.58 mm),width(1.33-1.55 mm),thickness(0.97-1.05 mm),arithmetic mean diameter(2.48-2.73),geometric mean diameter(1.88-2.09 mm),surface area(10.34-12.66 mm^(2)),thousand seed weight(2.9-3.9 g),porosity(51.22%-64.11%),true density(917.8-1030.6 kg/m3),static angle of repose(43-49 deg),dynamic angle of repose(47-56.6 deg),and coefficient of static friction on the three surfaces:glass(0.48-0.77),galvanized iron sheet(0.36-0.73),and plywood(0.57-0.69).However,bulk density was found to decrease from 447.66-369.88 kg/m3,and rupture force and rupture energy along with seed length and width were found to decrease from 83.74-56.17 N,132.95-84.47 N,50.66-27.52 mJ,and 67.8 to 33.36 mJ,respectively.The sphericity increased from 36.63%to 37.5%with increasing in moisture content from 7.24%to 14.5%d.b.and then reduced to 37.5%with further increase in moisture content to 21.38%d.b.

Environmental impact assessment of chicken meat production using life cycle assessment

The present study was conducted in Varamin city of Tehran province,Iran.The environmental impact of broiler production at farm gate and chicken meat production at slaughterhouse gate per mass-based functional unit in summer and winter seasons were evaluated using life-cycle assessment(LCA)methodology.Environmental impact categories including abiotic depletion potential,acidification potential,eutrophication potential,global warming potential,ozone depletion potential,human toxicity potential,freshwater and marine aquatic ecotoxicity potential,terrestrial ecotoxicity potential,and photochemical oxidation potential were assessed via CML 2 baseline 2000 v2.04/world,1990 method.According to the results,the global warming potential,acidification and eutrophication for production of 1 ton packed meat were estimated to be 2931.91 kg CO2-eq,41.75 kg SO2-eq and 14.69 kg PO4-eq,in summer and 5357.61 kg CO2-eq,61.9 kg SO2-eq and 19.34 kg PO4-eq in winter,respectively.The evaluations revealed that the broiler production stage was the main source of environmental impacts principally due to production and transportation of feed and on-farmemissions in the life cycle of chicken meat production.Broiler production farms,slaughterhouse and transportation account for 56%,31%and 13%of total energy consumption,respectively.

Moisture-dependent physical properties of barley grains

Designing equipment for processing,sorting,sizing and other post-harvest operations of agricultural products requires information about their physical properties.This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of moisture content on some physical properties of barley grains.Four levels of moisture content ranging from 7.34%to 21.58%(d.b.)were used.The average length,width,thickness,arithmetic mean diameter,geometric mean diameter,thousand grain mass,sphericity,surface area and repose angle increased from 8.91 to 9.64 mm,3.30 to 3.74 mm,2.58 to 2.98 mm,4.93 to 5.45 mm,4.23 to 4.75 mm,44.48 to 51.30 g,47.55%to 49.35%,56.66 to 71.09 mm2 and 31.16°to 36.90°,respectively,as moisture content increased from 7.34%to 21.58%(d.b.).The bulk density,true density and porosity were found to decrease with increasing moisture content.The static friction coefficient of the grains increased linearly against various surfaces(plywood,glass and galvanized iron sheet)as the moisture content increased.At all moisture content,the maximum friction was offered by plywood,followed by galvanized iron sheet and glass surface.