Afdeling Landbouwwerktuigkunde, Stallenbouw en Klimaatbeheersing, Mestverwerkingstechieken, Landelijke Bouw- en Milieutechniek (onderzoekseenheid)

Id: HER_UG_LA05V1

Agricultural Machinery: Research areas: Improvement of the efficiency of agricultural and of road vehicles. Reduction of mechanical damage to potatoes. Improvement of deposition by spraying machinery. Perspectives: Power split in the drive line. Active controlled differential. Decrease of damage to potatoes by warming. Stable spray boom. Animal Housing and Climate Control: Research areas: The purpose of the information centre is to provide scientific support for the extension services of the Ministry of Agriculture with respect to animal housing, construction and climate control. Thus the information centre performs problem analysis on individual farms regarding milk quality, the housing of young cattle and respiratory problems in pigs and cattle. The information centre is also developing a computer program to be used both by technicians and farmers for the calculation of heating and ventilation requirements in animal houses. Perspectives: Current developments in animal housing reveal an increasing concern for cost reduction and product quality assurance. Both can be achieved by the prevention of respiratory diseases through an optimization of the climate control within the house. On the other hand, concerns for animal welfare and environmental friendly production are also gaining in importance. In the short run, ammonia emission is seen as a major problem. Treatmabt of Pigmanure: Research areas: The research deals, on the one hand, with the optimalisation of the separation of pig manure in a cake (+/-30% DM) and a liquid fraction (2 a 3% DM) by means of mechanical techniques and, on the other hand, with the further treatment of the liquid fraction, which can be done by evaporation with thermal and/or mechanical vapour compression. In this research project the evaporation process is being thoroughly investigated; special attention is being given to the conditioning of the liquid fraction in order to achieve a satisfactory, energy saving evaporation process which is low-maintenance and environmental friendly. Significant aspects of the research include: the acidification of the liquid fraction: determining the right pH, and the influence of this pH on the concentration of the ammonia and volatile fatty acids in the distillates produced; ammonia-stripping of the liquid fraction; optimalisation of the temperature of evaporation (evaporation under vacuum conditions); the pollution produced by the evaporator; economic evaluation. Perspectives: The Research Center for the Treatment of Pig Manure is participating in a large-scale European project set up to develop a manure treatment procedure called the SDCE Process, which could be used to get rid of the local manure surpluses in West Flanders. The SDCE Process includes the following steps: S: Separation: the separation of the manure into a cake and a liquid fraction. D: Drying: the drying of the cake (30% DM) until a level of 90% dry matter is reached. The thin fraction is further treated by evaporation. C: Combustion: the incineration of the dried fraction. E: Energy recovery: the energy which is released through combustion is reused for electricity production. Rural Constructional and Environmental Engineering: Research areas: The research unit focuses on rural constructional engineering and rural environmental engineering. In the area of constructional engineering there are three main research subjects. In the field of building materials, the current investigation is focused on concrete technology, with emphasis on the corrosion of concrete by feed acids in pig houses and on the condensation characteristics of plastics used in (greenhouse) construction. The latter is closely connected with the research in the area of building physics, which is concentrated on climate control and modelling in agricultural constructions (animal houses, greenhouses, storehouses, etc.). In addition, the inside equipment of animal houses and greenhouses has long been an area of research interest in the department. 'Environmental engineering' comprises, on the one hand, the problems concerning animal farms (manure treatment, odour and noise abatement) and, on the other hand, general environmental engineering in the rural environment: small-scale wastewater treatment installations, the treatment of vegetable, fruit and garden waste, etc. Perspectives: In the near future the research on concrete technology and chemical corrosion of concrete will be expanded to include: bacteriological aspects of concrete deterioration; corrosion of the reinforcement; standardization and automation of concrete deterioration tests. In the area of building physics, the influence of condensation on light transmission through greenhouse cladding materials will be investigated. The results of this research will be integrated into an existing greenhouse climate model. In the long term, integration of this model into existing regulation programs should lead to the economically and technically optimal regulation and control of the greenhouse climate. In the area of environmental engineering we will focus on environmental engineering outside agriculture, especially on small-scale applications in rural areas.

Postadressen:

Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, BE

Disciplinecodes:

• TOEGEPASTE WETENSCHAPPEN (T)
  • Andere Technologieën
    • Landbouwtechnologie, landbouwmachines, boerderijbouw
    • Motoren en aandrijfsystemen