Award Data

Spray drift from pesticide applications is a significant issue for U.S. agriculture. Spray drift, and efficacy of agrochemicals, are strongly affected by the droplet size spectra and the physical properties of the spray. Applicators have general guidance on nozzle selection but most reference tables are for water or water+surfactant mixture. Pesticide labels often specify the droplet size with whi ...

Ethylene is a growth hormone for fruits and vegetables that is generated by the plants themselves; that is, it acts as a self-ripening agent. Hence, the removal of ethylene gas can play a central role in maintaining the freshness of these products. Whereas the temperature and the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide gases are also important system variables that demand a significant economic invest ...

A. Water must be removed from biodegradable hydraulic fluids as they react with water and degrade insitu. B. Biodegradable hydraulic fluids for farm equipment provide a significant improvement over traditional petroleum based fluids due to decreased pollution. Increase the use and value of biodegradable hydraulic fluids by development of a membrane-based dewatering system.

The use of biodiesel offers significant advantages with regards to the reduction of total harmful engine emissions with the exception of NOx. Biodiesel is a renewable resource and soybean oil is known to be economically viable as a biodiesel fuel. Recent studies from the Environmental Protection Agency have shown that soybean oil alone or blended with #2 diesel fuel results in a significant decrea ...

The natural occurring variation in fish fillet weight result in overweighs Give Away in the product packages. Buyers prefer uniform serving sizes, which currently are difficult to achieve. The injected solids will be the under utilized trimmings from the fillet operation. The goal of the effort is to develop a technology that can increase the under-weight fillet weight by at least 10 nd result in ...

Influenza infection and pandemics occur rapidly in the millions of domestic animals that live in high density on farms. Monitoring each animal for disease is impractical and prohibitively expensive. However, culling and slaughtering entire flocks or herds once influenza is discovered stands as a tragic and costly consequence of current practices. Recent disturbing reports of bird-to-human influenz ...

Gypsy moth, accidentally introduced in Massachusetts in 1868, is one of North America's most devastating forest pests. Pheromone mating disruption is a safe, organic approach to GM's control; however current formulations are not effective in controlling high density populations. In this Phase I ISCA Technologies, INC. will use SPLAT technology, a flowable and sprayable formulation, to control GM i ...

Mosquitoes and biting flies are significant problems further aggravated by the insect's ability to transfer diseases like West Nile encephalitis, malaria, dengue fever and yellow fever. Disease treatments are few and one way to reduce its spread is through reduction of mosquito populations. Surveillance is an important part of mosquito management programs. The release of carbon dioxide, a mosquito ...

In the next few years, production of fuel-grade ethanol is expected to increase dramatically. The new ethanol production capacity will increase the supply-and decrease the price-of co-product streams. Zein is a potentially important co-product that could become interesting as a polymer raw material if it can be economically recovered. The purpose of this project--and the key breakthrough needed to ...

The rapid proliferation of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations has raised concerns about both health and environmental impacts of aerial emissions from animal production and waste management systems. The purpose of this project is to develop an ultra-sensitive instrument, based on cavity ringdown spectroscopy, that will enable researchers to continuously monitor hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, nitro ...