Bidhan Nath | University of Southern Queensland (original) (raw)

Papers by Bidhan Nath

Densification of biomass is typically done by pelletising to produce clean fuel from renewable re... more Densification of biomass is typically done by pelletising to produce clean fuel from renewable resources. This study investigated the impact of additive blends for wheat straw pellet making and upgrading the physiochemical properties. Five additives, including sawdust (SD), bentonite clay (BC), corn starch (S), crude glycerol (CG), and biochar (BioC) were chosen for this study. Pellets were made from seven different combinations using a laboratory-scale pellet mill. The pellets' physical and elemental quality was evaluated and compared with ISO 17225-8 standards. The pellet’s mechanical durability, tensile strength and bulk density increased from 80 to 99%, 0.36 to 2.09 MPa, and 244 to 665.21 kg/m3, respectively, which met the requirements of the ISO standards. The additive blend pellets (T3 ~ T7) had a fines content of less than 2%, also meeting the ISO standard. Further, all pellets showed a water absorption capacity under 2%, except T1 and T5. Finally, the fixed carbon conten...

Frontiers of Optoelectronics, 2013

The overall transmitted efficiency at 1550 nm for Nylon-Teflon/Teflon-Nylon (N-T/T-N) grating Sil... more The overall transmitted efficiency at 1550 nm for Nylon-Teflon/Teflon-Nylon (N-T/T-N) grating Siliconon-insulator (SOI) structure with defect in even and odd position was investigated in this paper. Different types of losses, such as absorption, reflection and diffraction, were considered to find out the overall transmitted efficiency. The absorption loss of both Nylon-Teflon (N-T) and Teflon-Nylon (T-N) structure is zero at the wavelength of 1550 nm. Reflectance of these structures was analyzed by using plane wave expansion (PWE) method. Simulation result showed that reflectance as well as transmittance was varied linearly with respect to defect at odd and even positions. Simulation is also done for the diffraction efficiency at 1550 nm with respect to detuning from Bragg's angle, which was ranged from-0.4 rad to + 0.4 rad. Finally, it was found that overall transmitted efficiency increased as even defect position varied from 2nd to 10th for both N-T/T-N grating SOI structure. Similarly, the overall transmitted efficiency decreased as odd defect position changed from 3rd to 11th for both N-T/T-N grating SOI structure.

Journal of Food Process Engineering, 2008

The experiments were performed for various conditions at 40-60°C air temperature, 0.5-1.5 m/s air... more The experiments were performed for various conditions at 40-60°C air temperature, 0.5-1.5 m/s air velocity, 120-600 W microwave and 50-200 W ultrasonic power so as to investigate the effects of drying air temperature, air velocity, microwave and ultrasonic power on the drying characteristics of apple slices. In the study, the combined use of hot air, microwave and ultrasonic energy for apple slices was determined as the most effective and fastest drying method. Besides, according to the experimental results applied to the models selected from the literature, the model that best described the drying characteristics of the apple under the microwave and ultrasonic effect was that of Midilli et al and the correlation coefficient R 2 was calculated to be between 0.9969 and 0.9999.

Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2010

Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 2019

The deficiencies of zinc (Zn) was frequently reported in Bangladesh rice paddy. However, its effe... more The deficiencies of zinc (Zn) was frequently reported in Bangladesh rice paddy. However, its effects on rice productivity and soil fertility need to be reevaluated in the recent years. In order to examine the effect of Zn fertilization on rice yield and soil fertility in farmers field. The recommended treatment (NPKS+Zn) and the comparison treatments (NPKS+Zn +Zn enriched by product) and farmers practice
(NPKS+Zn) were selected for estimated of rice yield and yield component. The chemical fertilizers in NPKSZn treatment were applied with the rates of N-P-K-S-Zn=140-20-80-5-5 kg ha-1 and NPKS with husk
140-20-80-5 kg ha-1 in Boro season. Thereafter, Zn fertilization did not result to a significant increase in rice productivity.

BANGLADESH JOURNAL OF PROGRESSIVE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, 2014

A study was undertaken to develop an effective technique for resisting adverse effect of cold wea... more A study was undertaken to develop an effective technique for resisting adverse effect of cold weather on rice seedling growth
during Boro season in Bangladesh at the department of Farm power and Machinery in Faculty of Agricultural Engineering,
Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU). This study was conducted at Rangpur during January-February, 2012. A total number
of nine (9) treatments were taken under polythene shed as cover of various colours and thicknesses.Inside temperatures of
polythene sheds were recorded at 4 times viz. 6 am, 12 pm, 6 pm and 10 pm throughout 21 days of seedling raising period.
Number of plants cm-2, plant height, number of leaves plant-1 and length of leaf and stem thickness of the seedlings was
measured. The highest and the lowest temperatures were observed at 0.04 mm thick black polythene shed during day-night and
0.08 mm thick black polythene shed during day-night respectively. It was found that 0.04 mm thick white polythene shed during
day and night surpassed other treatments. The highest stem thickness was found where seedling trays were put in 0.04 mm
thick white polythene shed during night. The lowest number of plants cm-2 and plant height was found at traditional seedling
raising without shed. Number of leaves plant-1was the lowest in the tray which was kept under 0.04 mm thick blue polythene
shed during day and night. The lowest length of leaf and stem thickness were found in tray which was kept under 0.04 mm thick
blue polythene shed during night and 0.04 mm thick black polythene shed during day and night respectively. However, plant
quality at other treatments was found significantly better than traditional seedling raising without shed. Polythene shed traps
solar radiation which increases air temperature that’s why this technique is very efficient and affordable for seedling raising in
cold season of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Rice J., 2016

Mechanical intervention in rice (Oryza sativa L.) postharvest operation especially harvesting, th... more Mechanical intervention in rice (Oryza sativa L.) postharvest operation especially harvesting, threshing and carrying is increasing due to shifting labour from agriculture to non-agricultural sector. It was hypothesized that mechanical intervention in rice postharvest operation will increase the postharvest losses. A two-year study (2008-2010) was conducted during Aus, Aman and Boro seasons in six locations of sadar upazila at Gazipur district to test the hypothesis. The widely used varieties of BR11, BR23, BR26, BR27, BRRI dhan28, BRRI dhan29 were used to assess the losses during harvesting to drying. In the study areas, farmer's common practices (harvesting paddy by sickle; transportation by head, shoulder and power tiller operated trolley; threshing by open drum and close drum thresher; cleaning by traditional cleaning device kula and winnower and sun drying) were used to assess the postharvest losses. The average postharvest losses from harvesting to drying recorded 10% in three rice growing seasons. Losses due to mechanical threshing and traditional sun drying were 3.16% and 3.14% respectively. Power tiller operated trolley showed the lowest carrying loss compared to shoulder and head carrying methods. Both kula and winnower were observed as the most appropriate method of grain cleaning. Mechanical intervention in threshing increased the losses, whereas decreased in transportation and winnowing. These data might be used for policy makers to assess the national food grain loss and for researchers to design and development new technology to reduce the postharvest loss. The study should be continued to other regions for consistent results.

Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 2018

This study was aimed to calibrate the uniformity of seed sowing and evaluate its performance usin... more This study was aimed to calibrate the uniformity of seed sowing and evaluate its performance using different rice varieties of different grain sizes at Farm Machinery and Postharvest Technology (FMPHT) Divisional workshop in Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Gazipur. The power operated automatic seed sower machine (Model: JK 3000, made in South Korea) was used to conduct this study.Three different categories of popular rice varieties were used such as long grain paddy (BRRI dhan50), medium grain paddy (BRRI dhan28) and short grain paddy (BRRI dhan34).There were four treatments such as T1: Dry seed; T2:One day of incubation (1/3 radicle length of seed); T3: Two days of incubation (2/3 radicle length of seed) and T4: Three days of incubation (more than 2/3 radicle length of seed). It was carried out in two factor Randomized Complete Block (RCB) design with three replications. The depth of bed soil was measured with the adjusting lever which marked as 1 to 7 positions and the depth of cover-up soil was measured with the adjusting lever 1 to 5 positions. Seeds density was determined with the adjusting lever 1 to 7 positions of seed hopper using 16cm2rectangular box. The adjusting lever keeping on the middle position of 3-4 and on the middle position of 2-3 were found the desired depth of bed soil layer and depth of cover-up soil layer respectively.The desired seeds per unit area was found in the middle position of 4-5 of the adjusting lever for medium grain size and in the middle position of 3-4 of the adjusting lever for long and short grain size (120~150gm germinated seeds per tray). Percentage of seedling was higher for each grain size under 24 hrs of incubation period (1/3 radicle length of seed) than others incubation periods. Percentage of seedling mortality was lower under 24 hrs of incubation period (1/3 radicle length of seed) for different grain size. It is a promising technology in Bangladesh due to labour shortage for seedling tray preparation for rice
transplanter machine during rice transplanting peak period.

Journal of Agricultural Engineering, 2020

A study was under taken with the combination of improve de-husker and a polisher for the processi... more A study was under taken with the combination of improve de-husker and a polisher for the processing of un-parboiled paddy. FMPHT division developed a de-husking machine to improve the milling performance of rice processing. The capacity of the developed de-husker was ranged from671 – 674 kg/h for BRRIdhan50 and BRRdhan70 respectively. The husking efficiency was found more than 90% for both the variety. The milling recovery was 61 - 63% polished in MNMP - 15 type polisher. The average head rice recovery based on input paddy was 54.0%, which is promising for processing of premier quality rice. The steel engelberg huller can be replacing with the combination of de-husker and polisher. Besides these, this combination gives similar milling recovery of the semi and automatic rice mills. In addition, separately collected husk and bran can be used for making briquette and extracting edible oil, respectively. Small husking mill owners can be benefited using this combination of milling machinery.