TECHNOLOGIES FOR INNOVATION AND SAFETY IN AGRICULTURE

Academic Year 2022/2023 - Teacher: Emanuele CERRUTO

Expected Learning Outcomes

The aim of the course is to provide students with the basic knowledge necessary for a correct management and monitoring of work processes, also from an energy point of view, giving adequate emphasis to the aspects inherent to the safety of personnel in the workplace. At the end of the course the student will be able to evaluate some basic processes (plants for the production of energy from renewable sources, characteristics of electricity for its use in the agro-industrial sector, choice and sizing of pumps for use in agriculture ), favoring the technical-engineering approach. In addition, he will be able to identify the main sources of risk associated with the work activity (exposure to noise, exposure to vibrations, risks associated with the use of sprayers) and to evaluate them in accordance with current legislation.

Course Structure

The teaching (6 CFU) includes 28 hours of lectures and 28 hours of other activities, mainly guided numerical exercises for solving problems of practical interest for the profession of agronomist. PowerPoint presentations are mainly used to conduct lessons and Microsoft Excel to solve exercises. If teaching is given in a mixed formula or remotely, necessary changes may be introduced to what was previously stated in order to comply with the provided and reported syllabus. Learning assessment may also be carried out on line, should the conditions require it.

Information for students with disabilities and/or DSA

As a guarantee of equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students can ask for a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures, based on their specific needs and on teaching objectives of the discipline. It is also possible to ask the departmental contacts of CInAP (Center for Active and Participatory Integration - Services for Disabilities and/or DSAs), in the persons of professors Giovanna Tropea Garzia and Anna De Angelis.

Required Prerequisites

In order to understand the contents of the teaching, it is essential that the student possess basic knowledge of agricultural mechanics, normally acquired during the three-year degree.

Attendance of Lessons

Highly recommended, but not mandatory. The attendance of the lessons helps the students to apply the theoretical knowledge acquired during the lessons to the resolution of practical problems inherent to their own professional training.

Detailed Course Content

Elements of energy: review of the main energy sources, conventional and renewable, and of the main properties of fuels; characteristics and problems of using electricity.

Basic machinery of interest in agriculture: electric motors, electric generators, electric converters; pumps: main typologies of interest in agriculture; working point and pumping power calculation; installation problems: NPSH and cavitation.

Innovations in plants for fruits conditioning: packing lines for conditioning of fruits and vegetables for the fresh market; quality standards; mechanical damage to fruit in processing lines: survey methods and remedies; the instrumented spheres IS100 and PMS60; analyses of impacts; new approaches based on numerical simulations.

Operator safety in workplaces: general analysis and risk management; risk analysis and evaluation; Italian legislative decree 81/08; personal protective equipments (PPE); main risk analysis in workplaces.

Personal and environmental safety in the sector of machines for crop protection: dimensional properties of drops and measuring methods, effects of droplet size on coverage, volume and loss of pesticide; assessment of the deposit on the target; functional control of sprayers; test benches for sprayer calibration for herbaceous and arboreal crops, adaptation of the distribution profiles to the characteristics of the target to be sprayed; systems to reduce the environmental impact of pesticides; European Directives 128/2009 and 129/2009; innovations in sprayers for orchards, vineyards, greenhouses.

Noise exposure in workplaces: references quantities; frequency analysis; measurement equipment; normative references; PPEs; examples in agriculture.

Vibration exposure in workplaces: hand-harm and whole body vibration; references quantities; frequency analysis; measurement equipment; normative references; PPEs; examples in agriculture.

Textbook Information

1. Gennari, Trevisan (a cura di), Agrofarmaci—Conoscenze per un uso sostenibile, Oasi Alberto Perdisa Editore.

2. Barone, Violetta, Sicurezza e innovazione in agricoltura, Publisfera edizioni.

3.Cinquina, Sicurezza e prevenzione in agricoltura, Maggioli editore.

4. Campurra, Rotella, Il rischio rumore negli ambienti di lavoro, IPSOA.

5. Material provided by the teacher.

Course Planning

	Subjects	Text References
1	Basics of energetic	Didactic material provided by the teacher
2	Main aspects of renewable energies	Didactic material provided by the teacher
3	Technical and practical aspects of electricity	Didactic material provided by the teacher
4	Main electrical machines of interest in agriculture	Didactic material provided by the teacher
5	Pumps	Didactic material provided by the teacher
6	Series and parallel connection of pumps	Didactic material provided by the teacher
7	Check correct installation of pumping systems	Didactic material provided by the teacher
8	Post-harvest innovations in citrus growing: fruit packing lines	Didactic material provided by the teacher
9	Tools and techniques for the analysis of packing lines	Didactic material provided by the teacher
10	Aspects of personnel safety in the workplace	Reference 2 - Reference 3
11	Personal protective equipment	Reference 2
12	Analysis of the main risks associated with work activities	Reference 2 - Reference 3
13	Personal safety in phytosanitary treatments: exposure of workers to pesticides	Reference 1 - Didactic material provided by the teacher
14	Environmental safety in phytosanitary treatments: techniques for the assessment of deposits on the target	Reference 1 - Didactic material provided by the teacher
15	Functional check of sprayers	Reference 1 - Didactic material provided by the teacher
16	Examples of innovative machines for treatments in vineyards and greenhouses	Didactic material provided by the teacher
17	The risk of noise in the workplace	Reference 2 - Reference 4
18	The risk of vibration in the workplace: whole body vibrations	Reference 4 - Didactic material provided by the teacher
19	The risk of vibration in the workplace: vibrations to the hand-arm system	Reference 4 - Didactic material provided by the teacher

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

During the course there will be two written tests lasting 2 hours reserved for attending students (attendance of at least 70%) and containing numerical exercises and open-ended questions. The final exam takes into account the results of the ongoing tests and usually consists of an oral interview. The result of the ongoing tests is valid only within the academic year in which it was completed. Verification of learning can also be carried out remotely, should the conditions require it.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

The topics most frequently requested during the oral interview concern:

1. Elements of energy: renewable energies and the role of agriculture

2. Technical-practical aspects of electricity: problems related to generation and transport, power factor correction of machines and systems

3. Hydraulic operating machines: determination of the working point, verification of correct installation

4. Post-harvest plants in citrus growing: fruit packing lines, problems related to the analysis of impacts

5. Aspects of personnel safety in the workplace: risk and danger, risk assessment

6. Personal and environmental safety in phytosanitary treatments: exposure of workers to pesticides, functional control and calibration of sprayers

7. Exposure to physical agents: noise and vibrations in the workplace, reference quantities and legislative limits

Degree Course in

Agricultural Science and Technology