20 research outputs found
Influence of the lemon (Citrus Limon L.) juice amount on the green synthesis of CuO nanoparticles: Characterization, stability and thermal conductivity
No full textIn this study, the effect of three L/M ratios on the morphology and thermal conductivity of CuO plant-mediated synthesis was evaluated for the first time. The work was structured as follows: In section 3.1, an overall description of the three synthesis processes was set up. In section 3.2, a complete characterization of the three synthesized CuO NPs through electron microscopy (SEM, TEM), FTIR, XRD and TGA/DTA was conducted. In section 3.3, the stability of the three CuO NPs dispersed in EG/DW (60:40) was accomplished by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential measurements. The fact of having three NPs with the same chemical nature but different sizes and powder qualities in terms of disaggregation made it possible to perform a comparative study of the experimental thermal conductivities under uniform standards. Additionally, these experimental TC data of the three CuO-EG/DW nanofluids were compared with those obtained from two mathematical models. These results are presented in section 3.4
Green Synthesis, Characterization, and Empirical Thermal Conductivity Assessment of ZnO Nanofluids for High-Efficiency Heat-Transfer Applications
No full textZnO nanoparticles were synthesized using lemon juice and zinc nitrate (1:1) through the green method. The structure of the biosynthesized ZnO nanoparticles was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The morphology and the size of ZnO nanoparticles were elucidated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The powder was highly dispersed and irregularly shaped and the size of the nanoparticles ranged from 28 to 270 nm, depending on the shape of the particles. Thermal conductivity of the biosynthesized ZnO PG/W mixture 40:60 (v/v) nanofluids was measured within the temperature range of 20–70 °C. Experimental results revealed a linear increase in thermal conductivity with the rise of temperature and volume fraction. The enhancement of this parameter with temperature was probably due to the different shapes of the former agglomerates. They were broken by the thermal energy in aggregates of different forms. A correlation of these structures with temperature was established. Finally, an empirical model was developed for predicting thermal conductivity with particle volume fraction and temperature
Experimental Investigation of Rheological Properties of Coconut Oil-GrapheneOxide Nanocomposites
No full textIn this paper, the rheological properties of coconut oil (CO) and graphene oxide (GO) in coconut oil were experimentally investigated, focusing on the shear rate influence. The rheological characterization showed that the addition of graphene oxide nanoparticles led to an increase in viscosity with respect to the base fluid. Both CO and GO/CO suspension viscosities decreased at higher shear rate. To evaluate these findings, different viscosity-shear rate models (the Power law model and Cross model) were tested. The Cross model was successfully applied to fit the experimental results
Business plan and feasibility analysis of an On-farm solar powered milk cooling system
No full textThis chapter focuses primarily on the development of a business model for three livestock projects in the region of Sidi Bouzid in order to compare their financial profitability and feasibility. These models were developed for different dairy farms: two of them are using the on-farm milk cooling system with two different energy sources: electricity and solar energy and the third one are a standard dairy farm
Addressing Gender Issues to enhance adoption of the innovative solar powered milk cooling solution for the higher efficiency of the dairy subsector in Tunisia
No full textThe objectives of the rapid gender assessment in the Sidi Bouzid project target site was to understand the specific gender contexts and identify key gender issues that could help to develop gender indicators for the project against which project performance on gender related outcomes is monitored. Moreover, it could help project stakeholders and partners to develop and implement gender strategic interventions for better adoption of solar powered milk cooling innovations being tested
Can Small-Scale Dairy Farm Profitability Increase with the Use of Solar Energy Technology? An Experimental Study in Central Tunisia
No full textThe dairy sector in Tunisia is based on small-scale farms, with 81% of the breeders owning
less than five cows. On these farms, milk is stored in plastic containers, resulting in post-production
losses estimated at 10% in the studied region. Due to high temperatures, the present paper aims to
study the implementation of an innovative solar-powered milk cooling system in Central Tunisia
and assess its profitability for dairy farmers. The methodology is based on a comparison of three
small-scale farm business models: a farm without any milk cooling equipment, a farm using an
innovative milk cooling technology, and a farm using an electrical cooling tank. Results showed
the significance of milk cooling in reducing milk rejection to 0%, leading to a total production of
6400 L per cow by the fifth year. Additionally, milk sales were found to increase due to the premium of
0.010 TND/L for cooled milk paid. In addition, farms utilizing solar-powered milk cooling technology
exhibited superior profitability in terms of financial indicators. This research offers a sustainable
energy solution for milk cooling on small farms, specifically addressing the challenges faced by these
farms located in isolated areas where access to electricity is limited and the availability of milk cooling
equipment is lacking
Factors Affecting the Adoption of Innovative Technologies by Livestock Farmers in Arid Area of Tunisia
No full textDespite the efforts to promote adoption of innovative technologies (IT) by the Government and international development projects, the adoption rate among farmers has always been low in Tunisia. This paper aims to investigate the determinants of farmer’s decisions to adopt IT in the arid area of Tunisia. Economic, socio-demographic and institutional variables were selected as factors. A sample of 200 farmers was considered; only half of them adopted the IT. A binary logistic regression was used for the analysis. Regarding economic and socio-demographic factors, farm education, size of cattle flocks and off-farm income were statistically significant and positive influence on technology adoption while age and farm experience had significant and negative effects on IT adoption decision. To enhance the adoption ofIT, Government should firstly focus on educating young farmers with large cattle flock size and non-farm income. For the institutional factors, member of association, extension services and source of technology knowledge were significant factors and affected positively the adoption decision. In contrast, it was found that labor and credit services do not significantly influence adoption of IT. Based on these results, Government should intensify training programs for farmers and for extension agents with the collaboration of the project manager. Decision makers should consider this research for better targeting farmers and a better adoption and diffusion of IT in Tunisia. This understanding could provide important clues for research and policy makers to devise better strategies for the IT adoption, while helping rural farmers targeting their opportunities for a better income
Livelihoods Strategies and Household Resilience to Food Insecurity: A Case Study from Rural Tunisia
No full textDue to the decrease of household incomes, the increase of food prices, and the negative effects of climate change on agricultural production, Tunisia faces a food insecurity challenge, especially in rural and arid areas. The purpose of our research is to understand and explore household resilience to food insecurity in two villages, Selta and Zoghmar, in central Tunisia. A cross-sectional survey of 250 sample households was conducted in the villages. Factor analysis and regression models were employed to analyze the data using SPSS version 21. The results indicate that only around 36% of the households were resilient at different levels. In Selta, 62.8% and in Zoghmar 66.7% of the households were vulnerable. As indicated by the factor loadings and beta coefficients, income and food access, adaptive capacity, and the social safety net were important dimensions of household resilience to food insecurity, being positively correlated with the resilience index. However, asset possession, and climate change negatively affect household resilience. Therefore, interventions must target strategies that address the different levels of resilience reflected by the resilience estimators. These estimators were generated by focusing mainly on building farmers’ knowledge of how to face the different difficulties and challenges
Factors affecting innovative technologies adoption by livestock holders in arid area of Tunisia
No full textDespite the efforts to enhance adoption of innovative technologies (IT) by the Tunisian Government through national and/or international development projects, the potential rate of adoption of these technologies has remained low among farmers. This study aims at shedding some light on the potential factors that influence IT adoption in the Tunisian arid areas. Technological, economic, institutional factors and human specific factors (social) are selected to be the determinants of agricultural technology adoption. A quantitative approach employing a cross-sectional design was used to gather data. Stratified random sampling was employed and a total of 200 small-scale farmers (100 adopters and 100 non-adopters) were sampled. Data analysis and assessment was done through descriptive and statistical inferential analysis, and econometric modeling using the binary logistic regression model.
Empirical findings show that economic and socio-demographic factors such as farmer education, size of cattle flocks and off-farm income were statistically significant and had positive influence on technology adoption while age and farmer experience had significant and negative effects on IT adoption. The findings confirm the important role of institutional factors (being a member of an association, benefiting from extension services and source of technology knowledge) in the adoption decision of IT, particularly when such variables were found to be significant and positives. In contrast, labor and credit services do not significantly influence adoption of IT. Based on these results, Government should focus on educating young farmers with large cattle flock size and off-farm income to enhance the adoption of IT for livestock holders. It should also intensify training programs for farmers and for extension agents with the collaboration of the project managers and the involvement of the profession and the private sector. Finally, the open innovation strategy including all stakeholders during idea generation could be considered as a better way to decrease technology development costs and improve IT adoption
Electrochemical and Surface Morphological Studies of a Carbon Steel Corrosion by Natural Product in Acidic Solution
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