AIMS To determine the utility of vacuum-packed polythene bags as a convenient, flexible and cost-effective alternative to fixed volume glass vessels for lab-scale silage studies. METHODS AND RESULTS Using perennial ryegrass or red clover forage, similar fermentations (as assessed by pH measurement) occurred in glass tube and vacuum-packed silos over a 35-day period. As vacuum-packing devices ...

The main factors that influence the quality of the raw meal during its production in a ball mill and storage in stock and homogenisation silos of continuous flow are investigated. A detailed simulation is used, incorporating all the key characteristics of the processes. The quality modules of the raw meal are controlled via robust PID controllers, optimized with the same simulator. The effect o...

Four experiments were carried out in Lelystad, The Netherlands in 1994, in which perennial ryegrass wilted to 421–568 g dry matter (DM) kg−" was ensiled with and without an inoculant containing Lactobacillus plantarum and Enterococcus faecium strains in 1-litre capacity laboratory silos. Treated silages showed a markedly increased rate of pH decline. The final pH of treated silages was reached ...

In recent years, as engineering education research (EER) has evolved as an area of study, questions of its disciplinary status, global reach and diffusion of educational innovation have been raised. Bibliometric analysis, mainly employing author affiliation data and citation analysis, has been shown to be effective in gathering relevant data on these issues. In this paper, the authors broaden t...

Post-industrial port structures occupy significant territories and play an important role in the architectural environment of cities. Constantly changing social needs predetermine search for new ideas approaches to reintegration former structures. The general tendency preserve integrity successive development urban is rejection demolitions, unpromising losses from standpoint ecology, culture ec...

In many ways SARS unmasked some painful truths about our existing system. Throughout the crisis we had to face head-on the unintended outcomes that flow from a healthcare delivery system designed as a series of unconnected silos.

We present experimental results of the jamming of noncohesive particles discharged from a flat bottomed silo subjected to vertical vibration. When the exit orifice is only a few grain diameters wide, the flow can be arrested due to the formation of blocking arches. Hence, an external excitation is needed to resume the flow. The use of a continuous gentle vibration is a usual technique to ease t...