Lignocellulose is known to be an abundant source of glucose and xylose for biofuels. Yeasts can convert glucose into bioethanol. However, bioconversion of xylose by yeasts is not very efficient, to say nothing of the presence of both glucose and xylose. Efficient utilization of xylose is one of the critical factors for reducing the cost of biofuel from lignocelluloses. However, few natural microorganisms preferentially convert xylose to ethanol. The simultaneous utilization of both glucose and xylose is the pivotal goal in the production of biofuels. In this paper, we found that 97.3 % of the glucose and 93.8 % of the xylose in our experiments was consumed by black soldier fly (BSF) simultaneously. The content of lipid reached its highest level (34.60 %) when 6 % xylose was added into the standard feed. 200 g of rice straw was pretreated with 1 % KOH, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis for fermentation of ethanol, the residue from this fermentation was then fed to BSF for lipid accumulation. In total, 10.9 g of bioethanol and 4.3 g of biodiesel were obtained. The results of this study suggest that BSF is a very promising organism for use in converting lignocellulose into lipid for biodiesel production.

Enhancements in heat transfer, and consequently the thermohydraulic performance of solar air heaters (SAHs), are necessary to widen and optimize their use in many applications such as solar drying or heating buildings. In this investigation, two techniques were used. A novel solar selective coating combined with broken arc ribs roughness was employed with a SAH and the evaluation of the energetic and exergetic performance was applied under four airflow working conditions compared to a smooth absorber SAH coated with the same coating. The results revealed that the Nusselt number of roughened SAH with the new coating exhibited a notable improvement compared to a smooth absorber SAH and a roughened SAH without a coating. Furthermore, the thermal efficiency increased with the increase in the air flow rate and the maximum rise was 18.8% compared to a smooth SAH. The highest increase in exergy was 51.6% with minimum values of exergy destruction and improvement potentials. In brief, the roughened SAH with 4% CNTs/CuO-black paint under the airflow rate of 0.0244 m³/s (condition C) exhibited the best energetic and exergetic performance.

To solve the problems of the traditional orchard conveyor, such as inflexible steering, a complex structure, poor stability and no power grid coverage, a remote-controlled rail conveyor powered by hydraulic pressure for mountainous orchards was designed and manufactured. Climbing stress analysis was carried out on a full-load trailer to obtain the maximum traction force, which meets the requirement of the climbing slope of the transport mechanism. The key components of the conveyor were developed, such as the hydraulic transmission, the control system, safety protection devices, limiting devices, the throttle and decompression actuator, the counterweight tension and the battery. Through the theoretical calculations of key components, an orchard conveyor powered by diesel and hydraulic pressure was designed. Finally, the working performance of the transporter was tested through functionality, driving speed, system pressure and remote-controlled tests. The test results showed that the climbing angle of the transporter can reach 50°, the uphill load can reach 840 kg, the downhill load can reach 1100 kg, and the average running speed is 0.77 m/s; the driving speed ranges from 0.29 m/s to 1.08 m/s, and the system pressure ranges from 3.2 MPa to 10 MPa. The driving speed and system pressure are significantly affected by the load, and the remote control distance can reach 455 m. The technical specifications of the transporter meet all the design requirements, and the problem of stable operation of the transporter without power grid coverage has been addressed. The research results can well meet the practical application requirements of mountain orchard transportation without power grid coverage and provide theoretical reference for the design of key components of mountain orchard transportation machinery. Keywords: mountain orchard, conveyor, hydraulic drive, remote control DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20211402.5844 Citation: Li J X, Li S J, Zhang Y L, Liu M D, Gao Z Y. Development and test of hydraulic driven remote transporter. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2021; 14(2): 72–80.

In order to study the influence rule of various factors on the operation power consumption of the traction orchard transporter and realize the optimal design of the operation power consumption of the transporter, according to the traditional experience and the existing research foundation, the monorail transporter test bench was designed and built on the basis of the whole structure and operation characteristics of the transporter. Taking the motor frequency, track gradient and load as the investigation factors, and the driving shaft power, shaft power transmission and mechanical efficiency as the evaluation indices, the orthogonal test was conducted, and the range analysis of the influence effect was carried out according to the test results. The primary and secondary orders of the influence of various factors were obtained that motor frequency was greater than track gradient and track gradient was greater than load. According to the orthogonal test results, the second-order response surface method was used to establish the optimization model of the power consumption of the transporter, and the model was verified on the test bench. The results showed that the relative error between the model optimization value and the test value based on the response surface power optimization model was less than 10%, which indicated that the power optimization model had satisfactory performance. The research can provide a reference for the orchard conveyor to choose the parameter combination which can save power consumption and the motor that matches power consumption. Keywords: mountain orchard transporter, power consumption, orthogonal test, optimization model, analysis DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20211405.6209 Citation: Li J X, Zhong M Y, Zhang Y L, Bao X L, Li S J, Liu M D, et al. Optimized design of the power consumption test of mountain orchard transporters. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2021; 14(5): 107–114.