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Continuous Measurement of the Oxygen Concentration during Ensiling - Technology and Preliminary Results

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Paper number  011092,  2001 ASAE Annual Meeting. (doi: 10.13031/2013.3437) @2001
Authors:   H.G.J. Snell, H.F.A. Van den Weghe, W. Lücke
Keywords:   forage, silage, ensiling, oxygen concentration, online measurement

The fiberoptic measurement of the oxygen (O2) concentration is an important step towards a complete online recording of the ensiling process. This paper firstly explains the technology. Then, the methods and results of a first experiment are described, in which sugar beet pulp was ensiled in four tubes. These tubes were covered with two types of agricultural film (90 m, 200 m). During the ensiling process, the temperature, the pH value and the O2 concentration were recorded continuously in the silage. Furthermore the O2 concentration was measured online directly under the film. The first two measurands proved that ensiling took place properly and undisturbed. Measuring of the O2 concentration revealed a plausible course but some technical failures occurred.

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