Life cycle inventory of electricity cogeneration from bagasse in the South African sugar industry

The South African sugar industry has a potential for cogeneration of steam and electricity using bagasse. The sugar industry has the potential to generate about 960 MW per year from bagasse based on the average of 20 million tons of sugar cane crushed per year. Renewable energy sources like bagasse are generally regarded as cleaner energy sources as opposed to coal-derived energy

Identifying Institutions and Strategic Programs to Increase Sugarcane Production in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

The decline in the productivity of the national sugarcane commodity has become an issue in the last ten years. When domestic demand for sugar is increasing, the decline in productivity indicates a crisis in sugarcane production. At the same time, the involved institutions and strategic programs to encourage sugarcane production have not been well identified. The research aims to determine the institutions that are expected to play a role and the strategic programs that are prioritized in increasing sugarcane production in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. This study uses Interpretative Structural Modeling (ISM) to formulate complexity, hierarchy (levels) and classification among elements. The results showed that of the 14 sub-elements of the acting institutions studied, five institutions were key actors for increasing production, namely banking institutions; universities; agricultural, plantation and fisheries offices; industry, trade, cooperatives, & Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs') offices; and private companies. Then, from the 13 sub-elements of the strategic programs, there are five strategic programs that also serve as the key programs, namely extension/assisting farmers; addition of plantation labor; providing access to capital; variations of profit-sharing and buying systems of sugarcane; and accuracy of time and adequacy of the supply of raw materials to the mills. This means that these institutions must play an important role, as well as strategic programs that must be carried out effectively to address the issue of sugarcane production in the country. Thus, researchers recommend involving all stakeholders in conducting strategic programs with the key actors as the leading driving institutions

FARMERS’ SATISFACTION TOWARD ARRANGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE OF SUGARCANE CONTRACT FARMING IN WONOLANGAN SUGAR MILL, PROBOLINGGO, EAST JAVA

The sugarcane supply chain needs to be efficient and highly coordinated to ensure quality and quantity. Contract farming is an instrument used to achieve efficiency and high coordination of the sugarcane supply chain. The efficiency of contract farming depends on how the contract's arrangement satisfies the requirements and characteristics of each party involved. This study aimed to analyze the arrangement and farmer's satisfaction toward the implementation of contract farming. This study was conducted at PG Wonolangan in Probolinggo, East Java, on March, April, and September 2018. The samples used in this study consisted of 100 sugarcane contract farmers in PG Wonolangan and seven employees of PG Wonolangan. Descriptive and rank Spearman correlation analyses were employed to analyze the arrangement and farmer's satisfaction toward contract farming. The results of this study showed that there was a change in the contractual arrangement between PG and farmers. Currently, the role of PG changed from acting as farm credit and inputs supplier into a market guarantor for farmers; the changes reduced the risk and capital requirements of PG. In general, farmers were satisfied with the implementation of contract farming. The farmers' satisfaction increased as farm extension, scheduled planting and harvesting times, and the quickest harvest and transport management. However, they have concerns regarding farm inputs provision and profit-sharing mechanism.Keywords: Sugarcane agribusiness, correlation analysis, supply chainAbstrakKEPUASAN PETANI TERHADAP POLA DAN KINERJA KEMITRAAN USAHATANI TEBU DI PABRIK GULA WONOLANGAN, PROBOLINGGO, JAWA TIMURRantai pasok agribisnis tebu perlu efisiensi dan keeratan koordinasi yang tinggi untuk menjaga kualitas dan kuantitas gula yang dihasilkan. Kemitraan adalah salah satu cara untuk meningkatkan efisiensi dan koordinasi rantai pasok agribisnis tebu. Efisiensi kemitraan tergantung pada bagaimana pola kemitraan tersebut bisa memuaskan kebutuhan dan karakteristik pihak yang bermitra. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pola kemitraan usahatani tebu dan kepuasan petani terhadap kinerja kemitraan. Penelitian dilakukan pada Pabrik Gula (PG) Wonolongan di Kabupaten Probolinggo, Jawa Timur, pada bulan Maret, April, dan September 2018. Responden terdiri dari 100 petani mitra PG Wonolangan dan 7 pegawai PG Wonolangan. Analisis deskriptif dan korelasi rank spearman digunakan untuk menjelaskan pola kemitraan dan kepuasan petani terhadap kemitraan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terjadi perubahan pola kemitraan antara PG dengan petani. PG berubah peran dari yang sebelumnya sebagai pemberi kredit dan input usahatani menjadi penjamin pasar, perubahan ini menurunkan risiko usaha PG serta modal awal yang harus dikeluarkan PG. Secara umum, petani mitra merasa puas dengan kemitraan yang dijalankan PG Wonolangan. Faktor yang memperkuat kepuasan petani adalah adanya bimbingan teknis dari PG, teraturnya jadwal tanam dan panen, serta cepatnya proses tebang dan angkut. Akan tetapi fasilitas saprodi, sistem bagi hasil dan penentuan rendemen dengan sistem hamparan merupakan faktor yang menjadi perhatian petani.Kata kunci : Agribisnis tebu, analisis korelasi, rantai pasok

Towards the Internet of Smart Trains: A Review on Industrial IoT-Connected Railways

[Abstract] Nowadays, the railway industry is in a position where it is able to exploit the opportunities created by the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and enabling communication technologies under the paradigm of Internet of Trains. This review details the evolution of communication technologies since the deployment of GSM-R, describing the main alternatives and how railway requirements, specifications and recommendations have evolved over time. The advantages of the latest generation of broadband communication systems (e.g., LTE, 5G, IEEE 802.11ad) and the emergence of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) for the railway environment are also explained together with the strategic roadmap to ensure a smooth migration from GSM-R. Furthermore, this survey focuses on providing a holistic approach, identifying scenarios and architectures where railways could leverage better commercial IIoT capabilities. After reviewing the main industrial developments, short and medium-term IIoT-enabled services for smart railways are evaluated. Then, it is analyzed the latest research on predictive maintenance, smart infrastructure, advanced monitoring of assets, video surveillance systems, railway operations, Passenger and Freight Information Systems (PIS/FIS), train control systems, safety assurance, signaling systems, cyber security and energy efficiency. Overall, it can be stated that the aim of this article is to provide a detailed examination of the state-of-the-art of different technologies and services that will revolutionize the railway industry and will allow for confronting today challenges.Galicia. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; ED431C 2016-045Galicia. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; ED341D R2016/012Galicia. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; ED431G/01Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España); TEC2013-47141-C4-1-RAgencia Estatal de Investigación (España); TEC2015-69648-REDCAgencia Estatal de Investigación (España); TEC2016-75067-C4-1-

Infrastructure Design, Signalling and Security in Railway

Railway transportation has become one of the main technological advances of our society. Since the first railway used to carry coal from a mine in Shropshire (England, 1600), a lot of efforts have been made to improve this transportation concept. One of its milestones was the invention and development of the steam locomotive, but commercial rail travels became practical two hundred years later. From these first attempts, railway infrastructures, signalling and security have evolved and become more complex than those performed in its earlier stages. This book will provide readers a comprehensive technical guide, covering these topics and presenting a brief overview of selected railway systems in the world. The objective of the book is to serve as a valuable reference for students, educators, scientists, faculty members, researchers, and engineers

A simulation study of cane transport system improvements in the Sezela Mill area.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.The South African sugar industry is of significant local and international importance and covers an area in excess of 450 000 hectares. This area yields approximately 21 million tons of sugarcane per annum which is transported almost exclusively by road, from farms to the sugar mills. The industry is under increasing economic pressures to improve its productivity and competitiveness and sugarcane transport in the sugarcane supply chain has been identified as one area where large improvements and associated cost reductions can be made. This is mainly due to the excess in number of vehicles in the inbound transport system, the high relative cost of transport compared to other production costs in producing sugarcane, and the high fixed costs associated with truck fleet operations. A simulation case study of the transport system was completed in 2005 in the Sezela Mill area in which approximately 2.2 million tons of sugarcane is transported per annum over an average distance of 29 km by approximately 120 independently managed vehicles owned by a wide range of hauliers and individual growers. This amounts to an estimated cost of R58 million per annum. This study investigated the potential savings that could occur as a result of a central fleet control system with integrated vehicle scheduling. A scheduling software package named ASICAM, which resulted in significant savings in the timber industry (Weintraub et al, 1996), was applied within the Sezela region. Results suggested that the number of trucks in the fleet could theoretically be reduced by at least 50%, providing that a central office controls vehicle movements and that all hauliers serve all growers in an equitable fashion. In addition, investigations towards decreasing loading times, decreasing offloading times, changing vehicle speeds and increasing payloads by reducing trailer tare mass showed further reductions in the number of trucks required

Cage row arrangement affects the performance of laying hens in the hot humid tropics

Although the traditional cage system of housing laying hens is gradually being faced out due to welfare reasons, cages are still common in most developing tropical countries in different arrangements. In a 12-week experiment, the effects of a three cage row arrangement on hen-day production and egg qualities of Shaver Brown hens was studied. Data were collected from 2 layer sheds housing 9,000 hens in a 3-cage row arrangement (southern row, northern row and middle row) with 3,000 hens per row. Data were analysed for a randomized complete block design where cage rows were the treatments and weeks the blocks. Results showed no significant effects of cage row arrangement on feed intake, hen-day production, per cent yolk and Haugh unit (P>0.05). Egg weight, egg mass and per cent shell were significantly reduced and feed conversion ratio increased on the middle row (P<0.05). Egg weight, egg mass, per cent shell and feed conversion ratio did not differ between the side rows (P>0.05). These results suggest that battery cage row arrangement may not affect the rate of lay but egg weight, egg mass and efficiency of feed utilisation may be adversely affected in hens housed in the middle row. These findings have both economic and welfare implications