W. Lücke

Continuous Measurement of the Oxygen Concentration during Ensiling - Technology and Preliminary Results

The fiberoptic measurement of the oxygen (O2) concentration is an important step towards a complete online recording of the ensiling process. This paper firstly explains the technology. Then, the methods and results of a first experiment are described, in which sugar beet pulp was ensiled in four tubes. These tubes were covered with two types of agricultural film (90 µm, 200 µm). During the ensiling process, the temperature, the pH value and the O2 concentration were recorded continuously in the silage. Furthermore the O2 concentration was measured online directly under the film. The first two measurands proved that ensiling took place properly and undisturbed. Measuring of the O2 concentration revealed a plausible course but some technical failures occurred.

Fast Determination of the Moisture Content of Chopped Maize using Electromagnetic Fields

It was investigated whether the use of high-frequency electromagnetic fields allows a satisfactory estimation of the dry matter (DM) content of chopped maize (Zea mays). For this purpose, a power of 50 W was applied to maize with a known DM content in a radio frequency (RF) unit. Subsequently, it was determined by regression analysis to which extent the DM content can be explained by the measurands of the RF unit. Under laboratory conditions, the DM content of maize of different origins can be estimated significantly with the aid of this RF unit. A satisfactory estimation without knowing the sample mass and its density does not seem realizable with the method described. In contrast to this, a good fit (R 2 adj.) of the regression equation could be attained if the mass of water was used as a dependent variable. Under these conditions it also appears possible to estimate the moisture content of unknown batches.

Fast Determination of the Moisture Content of Grass using Electromagnetic Fields

It was investigated whether the use of high-frequency electromagnetic fields allows a satisfactory estimation of the dry matter (DM) content of grass. For this purpose, a power of 50 or 250 W was applied to grass with a known DM content in a radio frequency (RF) unit. Subsequently, it was determined by regression analysis to which extent the DM content can be explained by the measurands of the RF unit. Under laboratory conditions, the DM content of grass of different origins and harvesting times can be estimated with the aid of this RF unit. Increasing the sample density improved the accuracy of the estimation. Whereas increasing the applied power did not cause further improvement. In the most favorable case, R2 adj. amounted to 0.89. A satisfactory estimation of the DM content [%] without knowing the sample mass and its density does not seem possible with the method described. In contrast to this, the water mass [g] could be estimated quite precisely (R2 adj. = 0.94).