Investigating natural cooling of piled sugar beet

The paper examines the processes of natural cooling of a medium-storage pile containing 3,650 tons of sugar beets. Adiabatic cooling and related processes are established to have a predominant effect on reducing the temperature in the pile while in storage. Piled sugar beet is cooled due to some natural water evaporation from the surface of sugar beets, followed by moisture saturation of the outside air. Such cooling leads to an uncontrolled decrease in the quality of beets, which has negative implications during further processing. A formula is presented for calculating post-harvest yield loss in sugar beets piled with one slope being across the prevailing wind.

EXAMINATION OF THE IMPACT OF AGGRESSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CORROSION DAMAGE ON SAMPLES OF LAMINATED GLASS-REINFORCED PLASTIC OF SIAL CLASS

The article presents the results of examination of the influence of aggressive environmental factors during tests in a salt fog chamber and moisture saturation on the strength characteristics and low-cycle fatigue of riveted joints of laminated glass-reinforced plastic with and without an integrated protection system. It is shown that the multilayer structure of SIAL prevents the development of corrosion damage in layers along the depth of the material. The mechanical properties of samples made of SIAL material with three-layer and five-layer structure after moisture saturation practically do not change. It was found that the lack of corrosion protection of the laminated material leads to a decrease in the fatigue life of riveted joints.

Influence of Temperature on the Moisture Transport in Concrete

Moisture with harmful ions penetrates into the interior of concrete, which causes deterioration of the concrete structure. In this study, a moisture saturation equilibrium relationship of concrete was tested under different temperatures and relative humidity conditions to develop moisture absorption and desorption curves. Based on experimental data and numerical simulation, a model of moisture transport in concrete was established. The results from the model indicate that the moisture absorption rate was lower at higher temperatures and largely dependent on the saturation gradient, while the desorption was increased at higher temperatures and mostly affected by the saturation gradient. The proposed model was highly in agreement with the experimental data.

Water Consumption by a Young Apple Orchard of Intensive Type

Water consumption consists of the moisture reserves of the soil used by plants, atmospheric precipitation of the growing season, capillary recharge of groundwater (if their bedding is close to the surface) and irrigation water. Water consumption in the apple orchard during the growing season was compensated by precipitation, irrigation rate, and the use of soil moisture from the root layer. Along with the total water consumption of the apple orchard, water balance calculations were carried out on the distribution of water consumption by vegetation months at 70% of the HB humidification regime and moisture saturation depths according to years of research. The thickness of the moistened layer is from 0.40 to 0.60 m. Water balance calculations to determine the total water consumption of the apple orchard were carried out for four years of research, characterized by different heat and moisture supply, both for the whole year and for the growing months.