| Summary: | A project was undertaken to compile and evaluate a computer program to simulate a system developed by the Agricultural Engineering Department at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University to harvest, transport and express juice from sweet sorghum for syrup production. Time study and product data were taken for approximately 29 tons of sweet sorghum processed during the 1976 season.
Material, consisting of standing sorghum chopped into 5" lengths, was separated by a pneumatic system and analyzed to determine effectiveness of separation. Up to 85 percent of the stalk sections were separated from the bulk material. Most of the unseparated stalks were undesirable for the production of quality syrup.
The computer model simulated harvesting, transportation, stalk separation, juice expression from the stalks and syrup production. It was dynamic and deterministic in nature. Harvesting from any number of fields with known areas, yields, locations, and order of harvest could be simulated. Transportation could be simulated using any of three types of labor and equipment combinations. The program had the capability of determining required transportation equipment to keep separation and milling system operating continuously. Other principal parameters computed were labor requirements, juice expressed, and syrup yields.
Simulation indicated that 40 to 45 acres of sorghum could be harvested and processed during a 30-day season. The amount of labor required using the VPI & SU system was approximately 50% of that required for conventional hand methods for harvesting and expressing juice for sorghum syrup. === Master of Science
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