Informatics Publishing Limited

Arvind Kumar ¹, D. C. Baruah ²

Affiliations
1 Division of Agricultural Engineering, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Barapani Meghalaya, IN
2 Department of Energy, Tezpur University, Napaam, Tezpur Assam, IN

Abstract

Wetland traction is special area in the broader field of farm mechanization research. The requirement of mechanized cultivation, especially for paddy crops has increased its importance. Trafficability of the surface soil layer of paddy field is very poor, being extremely soft with low load bearing capacity. Farm tractors and power tillers operated in these conditions require special traction devices such as cage wheel for better trafficability. A number of research works have been reported on wetland traction. These could be broadly divided into specific areas such as (a) performance analysis of cage wheels operated in wetland, (b) behaviour of soil under the action of traction device (c) new design of wetland traction device; (d) traction dynamics study and (e) optimization of design parameters. Circumferential lugs provided in the cage wheel assists traction. However, optimal design of lugs with reference to its geometry and spacing has been a major area of investigation. Deteriorating performance of cage wheel resulted by excessive sticking of wet clay has been reported through experimental investigations. Three distinct mechanisms arising from improper combination of lug spacing and wheel slip have been identified as the primary causes of excessive adherence of clay soil to metal cage wheel.Coating of the metal cage wheel using non-sticky material like enamel, to improve cage wheel performance has also been attempted with positive results at varying degree of wheel slip up to 100 per cent. The performance of cage wheel mounted with tractor was also been assessed under varying operating and design conditions. At a constant hardpan of 30 to 40 cm the increase in traction up to 59 per cent was reported due to increase in wheel diameter by 7per cent. The inflation pressure of driving tyre and forward speed did not affect the traction performance in this test. Substantial enhancement in wetland traction (up to 48% increase in draw bar pull) of power tiller by using specially designed extension strake as traction aids was reported by experimental investigation in soil bin. Enhancement of net traction of two wheel drive tractor in soft clay soil was reported with the increase in axle load. Results of the same investigation also indicated non-significant effect of tyre inflation pressure on drawbar power except at the highest ballasting of 2.2 kN on the drive axle. Further, deteriorating traction performance was reported with increase in soil moisture content due to flooding. Some studies were also dedicated to make experimental investigation of soil reaction forces on lug with varying degree of analytical support. Such studies provided useful information for designing traction aids, especially lugs of cage wheel. However, in majority of the cases optimal design parameters of traction aids are decided based either (i) on the experimental results concerning some fixed set of system parameters or (ii) optimal values obtained from statistically analyzed results of experiments. This necessitates further research work aiming to develop effective analytical tool for wetland traction.

Keywords

Cage Wheel, Traction Performance, Lug Spacing, Wheel Slip, Sinkage

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Sampriti Kataki , Moonmoon Hiloidhari , D. C. Baruah

Abstract

Management and utilization of Ipomoea (Ipomoea spp.), a profusely grown wetland plant, have been under investigation in the regions of tropics including India. Uses of Ipomoea for bio-energy generation using modern biomass-to-energy conversion technologies have also been reported. Generally Ipomoea growth is considered undesirable as it causes problems. Profuse growth of this plant results covering of large patches of productive land. Moreover, it also blocks drainage system covering water body and canal thereby causing flood. Rapid growth of this plant is also noticed, especially in the wetlands of Assam. In this study, attempt has been made to assess potential of Ipomoea carnea ssp. Fistulosa, the common Ipomoea species in wetland the wetlands of Assam, as bio-energy feedstock in. Spatial distribution of I.carnea in the wetlands of Assam is assessed. Further, energy potential of distributed I.carnea biomass is also estimated using standard procedure. About 244 kilotonne (equivalent energy: 3885 tera Joule) of dry Ipomoea feedstock could be available in different districts of Assam per annum even if 0.5% of wetland area is considered for Ipomoea growth. District level decentralized power production potentiality is also assessed for the state of Assam based on the available wetland statistics and Ipomoea biomass production rate. Overall, 44.4 MW electrical power unit could be expected using the thermochemical route of energy conversion of dry Ipomoea biomass. With 4.8 MW power unit, Sonitpur is the most potential district amongst the 23 undivided Districts of Assam followed by Dibrugarh (4.2 MW), Barpeta (3.4 MW), Dhubri (3.2 MW). If it is planned to increase the area of coverage of Ipomoea in the wetlands, this cumulative power generation potential can go up to 266 MW in the whole state. In all the districts biopower availability in unit area has a range between 0.08 kW/sq km (NC Hills) to 1.24kW/sq km (Dibrugarh). However there are some issues requiring attention in planning and management before, such as collection & transportation of biomass, suitable location of plant, economic feasibility. It could be expected that utilization of this undesirable plant, largely available in the wetlands of Assam, as biomass feedstock could provide much needed energy for overall development.

Keywords

Ipomoea, Wetland, Bio-energy, Gasification.

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