•Power is needed on the farm for a variety of

operations which may be mobile or stationary.

– Examples of mobile operations are
• Transportation of farm produce

Farm Power • Ploughing

• Spraying
• Harvesting

– Stationary applications include

• Threshing
• Extraction
• Raising water etc

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 Sources of Farm Power Manual power
Human power
• Power produced by human beings
Animal power – Continues to be the main source of power in most
developing countries
Mechanical Power – Estimated that human being can develop 0.08 kW
• Depends on environmental condition and the type of food intake
Wind power

Water power • Human power and hand tool technology

– Man uses muscular power to operate farm tools
Solar power
– Man controls animals and machinery with his intelligence
Electric power

Internal combustion engines • Extent to which man can serve as a power source
– Depends on the degree of mechanisation?
Biomass energy

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 Man as Energy converter Energy requirements of man
•In performing the function as a source of
Man (65kg) Woman(55kg)
power
– man acts as an energy converter by
Base metabolism(24hrs) 6.3MJ 5.4MJ
consuming the chemical energy in foods and
converting it into output mechanical work Non occupational 4.2MJ 2.4MJ
activities(8hrs)

Mechanical work output

Food Occupational work(8 hrs) 2.9MJ 1.9MJ

Air Man
Wastes (heat, water, Total 13.4MJ (3200Kcal) 9.7MJ (2300Kcal)
food)

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 Rest Period (T ) r
Draught Animal as Source of
Power
•The rest period is given by:  P  use of livestock as a source of power for farm operations
Where Tr = 60 1 − max 
 Pa 
Tr = rest period

Pmax= continuous power consumption

Pa = Actual power consumption.

Exercise:
Is it necessary to have rest periods in human labour if
agricultural operations are time sensitive? Discuss

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 Limitations to the use of animals as
source of power
• Socio-economic factors
– Cultural practices
• Social attitudes towards animals
• Availability and cost of fodder etc.
• Agro-ecological and climatic factors
– Unfavourable land topography
– The rainfall pattern
• Factors relating to the animals
Advantages and disadvantages
ADVANTAGES

Lower initial investment and maintenance cost

Draught animals can be obtained locally

They can reproduce themselves
DISADVANTAGES

Lower efficiency of animals

They require continuous attention whether working or at rest

They are naturally slow and limited to small farm units.
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 Types of draught animals Draught Force, Power, Tractive Effort and
Tractive Power
• Working performance of draught animals is defined in
These are; terms of
Bovine species eg • draught force (pull) and
cattle
• power.

• Draught force applied to the implement is called the

Equine eg.
• tractive effort.
Asinine eg.
donkey Draught animals
horse
• Power applied to the implement is referred to as the
• tractive power.

Camaline eg Power output = pull force (N) x speed (m/s)

camel

Energy (MJ) = Power (W) x time (s) x 106

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Factors that affect the power output from a Wind Power
draught animal
• It is basically power generated from wind
Depends on individual characteristics such as:
• Used on the farm for:
• breed – Raising water
• sex – Used to generate electricity for use on the farm
• age
• weight
• size
• quality of its feed
• health
• training given to it
• hitch system and
• operating condition

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 Solar Power
• Energy derived from solar radiation from the
sun.
• Used for:
– Processing fruits vegetables
– General drying of crops
– Operation solar pumps
• Some Advantages include:
– Maintenance free
– No fuel requirement
– No waste to cause pollution

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 Water Power

• Power can be harnessed from water falling

from one level to a lower level.

• This can be used on the farm:

– To run farm operations such as feed grinding
– To operate a generating plant to provide
electricity

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 Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) • Engine Parts
– Conversion can be achieved by ICE through the
• In modernised agriculture, it is the most important help of other engine components such as:
source of power. • Cylinder
• Piston
• When geared to a self-propelling system, comprises • Connecting rod
what is known as the tractor • Crankshaft
• Cylinder head
• Crankcase
• Energy Converter • Inlet and exhaust valves
– A device that release the energy available in some fuels • Cam shaft
like petrol, kerosene, diesel etc • Flywheel
– liberates heat energy in the fuel and converts it into • Engine block
usable mechanical energy » See notes for the functions of components

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• Engine System
– The ICE has a system to govern each function
Engine system Function
Valve system Governs the operation of intake
and exhaust valves
Fuel system Supply regulated amount of fuel
and air
Cooling system Keep the engine operating at
optimum temperature
Lubricating system Lubricate all moving and other
parts
Ignition and electrical system Create a spark in the engine,
provides lights, starting mechanism

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 • Engine Terminology:
• Engine System – Used to describe the operation of an ICE
Bore Diameter of the cylinder
– If engine is equipped to be self-propelled (tractor)
it will also have a Stroke Maximum travel of piston from one position to other

Top Dead Position of piston at end of its travel when moving towards the
Centre (TDC) cylinder head
• transmission (locomotion) and
Bottom Dead Position of piston at end of its travel when moving towards the
Centre (BDC) crankcase
• hydraulic system (which based on the principles of (PD) Piston Volume displaced or covered by the piston when it moves from
hydraulics provides means of delivering power) displacement TDC to BDC
Clearance Space or volume between top of piston and engine cylinder head
volume (CV) when the piston is at TDC
Total Cylinder PD + CV
Volume (TCV)
Compression Ratio of total cylinder volume to clearance volume (TCV/CV)
ratio (CR)
Engine Size Given by bore and stroke of engine.

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 Sample calculations Engine Operation
• A 100 mm × a 124 mm engine has a bore of • The operation of an internal combustion engine may
100 mm and a 124 mm stroke. be as classified as
– four-stroke or
• Given the above engine size and that CV = – two-stroke operation
PD/6, compute the following
– i) the piston displacement • Four stroke and two stroke engines are defined on
– ii) the total cylinder volume and the basis of :
– iii) the compression ratio
– number of piston strokes needed to complete one cycle
of operation.

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• Four-stroke engine
– In four stroke engine, there are four events
associated with the travel of the piston for one cycle
Intake stroke
Compression stroke
Power stroke
Exhaust stroke

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 • Two-stroke engine
Assignment 2
• Sketch the operation of a four stroke petrol
engine explaining the events at each stage.
• Differentiate between the events of a four
stroke petrol engine to that of a diesel engine
– Engine cycle is completed in only two stokes of
the piston
– No definite intake and exhaust valves
– Openings or ports located in the cylinder which get
covered and uncovered as the piston moves up and
down the cylinder
– When piston moves from TDC to BDC,
• Fresh fuel mixture enters through the intake port
• At the same time the burnt fuel escapes through the
exhaust port
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• The two stages in the operation
of a two-stroke petrol engine
– a) induction and compression
– b) power and exhaust strokes

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