Cost and performance evaluation of mechanical harvesting and transporting in Thailand | |
| Author | Abeygoonawardana, Korale Arachchige Roy |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no. 1260 |
| Subject(s) | Sugarcane harvesting machinery--Costs Sugarcane--Transportation |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering of the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The objective of this study was to evaluate the cost and performance and factors affecting these for the newly introduced sugar cane chopper harvester of type MF102 working in the Maeklong river basin area in Thailand. The observations made to achieve these objectives were in the form of, measurements of physical characteristics of the sugar cane fields, roads, harvesters and transport trucks; observations on the harvesting and transporting patterns and measurements of the time consumed by each individual work elements in an operating sequence; questionnaires and inquiries to determine the cost components of operation. The information gathered was analyzed using two· methods. One was the determination of the average values of field and material capacities of harvester, the cost of harvesting and transporting per unit weight of sugar cane and the effect of individual work elements on the total time of operation. The other method was the development of a computer model to simulate harvesting and transporting operations and then using the data collected to determine the variations of cost and performance of operation with the field to mill distance and the number of transport trucks available per harvester. It was found that the cost of operation was higher than the manual harvesting costs. Also the performance was found to be lower than for harvesters operating in Australia. The results of the simulation model indicated that a maximum of 10 transport trucks was sufficient for economical operation for the range of field to mill distances in the area, which varies from 5 to 100 kilo meters. Simulation model was used to develop curves of equal cost and equal performance which could help the farmers and mill owners in making some of their decisions. |
| Year | 1977 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | Student Research Before 1980 |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Thesis (Year <=1979) |
| Chairperson(s) | Singh, Gajendra |
| Examination Committee(s) | Cowell, P. A. ; Jindal, Vinod Kumar |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Government of United Kingdom |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1977 |