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M. Sc. Dissertations
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ThesisItem Open Access Development and testing of low cost solar box for drying of vegetables(CCSHAU, 2011) Gautam, Anita; Singal, SavitaThe study was conducted in two parts viz. preliminary survey and experimental work. Survey was carried out in 2 villages of Hisar district to study the existing practices of drying of vegetables with a sample of 100 women respondents (50 from each village) who were drying vegetables at home. In part-II, experiments were conducted to develop a low cost solar box, solar drying of vegetables, and testing the cooking quality of dried vegetables. Majority of the respondents were drying fenugreek leaves, kachar, and chillies. Some respondents also dried bitter gourd, round gourd, cluster beans, cauliflower, green peas and in the quantity of 4-6 kgs for about 6 months. Experiments were conducted in the open area of department of Family Resource Management CCSHAU, Hisar under three phases. In phase-I low cost solar box (measurements: length-1.2 m, width-0.6 m, height of front wall-0.2 m, height of back wall-0.6 m) were developed with the help of College of Agricultural Engineering.. All sides of box and lid were covered with white polythene sheet and base was covered with black polythene sheet. Holes (1cm diameter) was made in the front wall and at the back wall of the box for the inlet and outlet of air. In phase-II, eight vegetables were selected viz. green peas, carrot, fenugreek leaves, cluster beans, round gourd, cauliflower, bitter gourd, and french beans for drying in open sun and in solar box. Initial moisture content of these vegetables was recorded with the help of oven on wet basis. Drying of selected vegetables was conducted from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm under open sun (Sample A) and inside solar box (Sample B) Temperature inside solar box was higher than ambient temperature. Therefore, box drying rate of vegetables inside solar box was faster than open sun drying. Solar box dried vegetables regained more moisture than open sun dried vegetables when soaked in water. In phase-III, cooking quality of dried vegetables was evaluated on the basis of organoleptic test (using 9 point hedonic scale) through 10 judges. Results showed that overall acceptability of solar box dried cooked vegetables in terms of color, appearance, aroma, texture and taste almost all were significantly better than cooking quality of open sun dried vegetables.ThesisItem Open Access Management Of household waste In urban areas In Hisar district(2011) Hemlata; Sangwan, VeenaThe present investigation aims at studying the existing garbage disposal practices and selecting the efficient and easy disposal method to be introduced at household level and studying its acceptability. Knowledge level of the respondents about various aspects related to garbage and its problems was tested before and after the mass media exposure. Existing method of waste generation and disposal was studied on a sample of 100 respondents in two localities of Hisar district.. Experiment work was conducted in Dept of Family Resource Management, COHS, CCSHAU, Hisar. Effectiveness of the compost prepared was tested on the basis of C/N ratio. Regarding generation of waste, varying nature of waste including organic and inorganic was coming out of every household and maximum share was of organic waste (91.19%). Out of 8.81 per cent of inorganic waste, paper was generated in large quantity (3.75%) followed by clothes (1.94%). Majority of the respondents were not satisfied with the existing garbage disposal practices outside the home (64.0%). Compost prepared with earthworms was found best as it had narrowed C/N ratio. After mass media exposure, maximum gain in knowledge was found on various aspects of waste and its problems. Gain in knowledge was highest for ‘Effect of garbage on health and environment’ (43.34%) followed by ‘vermicomposting of organic waste’ (40.21 %) and segregation of garbage (37.11). Regarding various aspects of acceptability of the appropriate disposal method it was found that the respondents were willing to do segregation of garbage and found segregation as easy to do. Regarding vermicomposting technique most of the respondents liked vermicomposting and reported it as a good method of converting household waste into rich manure. However, did not agree to adopt this method at household level but agreed to segregate the garbage if composting is done at community level. At household level organic waste is being generated as a huge amount, 91.19 per cent of the total waste. If this organic waste can be disposed off at close vicinity by vermicomposting, a major problem can be tackled down along with saving the environment.ThesisItem Open Access Ergonomic Evaluation of Conventional and Improved Methods of Aonla Pricking(CCSHAU, 2012) Rai, Arpana; Gandhi, SudeshIndian food preservation industry is predominantly occupied with processed aonla products especially aonla preserve. Women are the vital and most productive workers in preserve making SMEs and do the most monotonous job of pricking individual aonla fruit for preserve making. Till date, the pricking of aonla fruits in these enterprises is done manually employing poorly designed hand tools thus, making the pricking task very tiresome and time consuming for workers resulting into lowered productivity. Therefore, a hand operated aonla pricking machine developed by AICRP on PHT, CCSHAU, Hisar was ergonomically tested with women workers. A study was conducted on ergonomic evaluation of conventional and improved methods of aonla pricking which was carried out in 3 phases i.e. field survey to study working conditions and work profile of workers in selected four preserve making units, experimental work to conduct ergonomic evaluation of conventional (fork and hand tool) and improved (pricking machine) methods of aonla pricking, user’s acceptability of machine, organoleptic evaluation of preserve prepared. Thereafter, a sit-stand workstation was developed using RSM and improvements were suggested for preserve making SMEs as per WISE methodology. The results revealed that working conditions, processing tools and techniques were not satisfactory in all the units. The workers were doing pricking by using poorly designed hand tools in awkward postures and there were no defined workstations in all the units. Ergonomic evaluation of all the tools in various postures in terms of physiological, biomechanical and psychophysical parameters with 15 women workers selected from four enterprises revealed that physiological parameters while working with all the tools were within the acceptable limits for women workers. The HR showed maximum increase while pricking with machine in squatting posture (90 beats.min-1). However, biomechanical and psychophysical parameters were higher while working with conventional tools as compared to the machine. The grip fatigue was found to be maximum with fork in squatting posture (26 %). The reason for this was attributed to use of poorly designed conventional tools and lack of proper workstation. Machine was found highly acceptable by the users due to more safety, comfort and higher economic benefits while working. The preserve prepared with machine pricked aonla obtained highest sensory score (8.5), highest ascorbic acid content (150 mg/100 gm of fresh fruit) and least water activity (0.53). A fully adjustable ergonomically designed workstation was developed and used for the experiment. RSM was used to find out the best combination of posture (200 mm-600 mm-1000 mm), duration of the pricking activity (1hr-2 hr- 3 hr) and light (100 lux-300 lux -500 lux) while working with conventional tools and machine that has yielded most favorable results. The most desirable combinations obtained were 500 mm height +500 lux light + 2 hr time with conventional tools in sitting posture and 200 mm height+300 lux light+1.45 hr time and 1000 mm height+300 lux light+1.30 hr time with machine in low stool posture and standing posture respectively. Improvements were also suggested for preserve making SMEs using WISE methodology concerning with material storage and handling, workstation design and work environment. This all has resulted into reducing drudgery of women workers involved in preserve making activity.