Biosystems Engineering

Prof. dr. ir. Jan Pieters

Research mission

Research within the Biosystems engineering group deals with all kinds of engineering aspects related to bioprocesses. Mostly, these processes are studied via a combination of experiments at lab, bench, pilot or full scale and simulation approaches, such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and in house developed mathematical models. Applications in the food and process industry include fluid bed operations like coating of ingredients or drying of biomass. Major topics in agriculture are climate control in greenhouses and animal houses, as well as image based control techniques for precision agriculture machinery. More recently, the group also started extended its research in the field of energy efficiency towards renewable energy sources to be integrated in bioprocesses.

Ongoing research projects

• Hyperspectral detection and determination of troublesome agricultural weeds (Marlies Lauwers)

• Slimme aardappelbewaring

• Transforming Access to Excellence with Successful Alliances of Higher Education in Digital Agriculture - TALLHEDA

Recent research projects

• Experimental and model-based study of airflows and ammonia distributions in and around animal houses (Merlijn De Paepe)
• Development of 3D image acquisition system and image processing algorithms for the characterization of the ejection parameters of fertilizer granule (Bilal Hijazi)

• Integration of imaging techniques for the quantitative characterization of pesticide sprays (Sofija Vulgarakis Minov)

• Development of a reference method for ventilation rate measurements in a naturally ventilated test facility (Philippe Van Overbeke)
• CFD Modeling of Heat and Mass Transfer for Agricultural Products Drying (Ramadan ElGamal)
• M2LARV - Bioconversie van dierlijke mest door eiwit- en vetrijke vliegenlarven: procesoptimalisatie en –sturing (Johan De Koker)

• Reduced measuring strategies to assess ventilation rates in naturally ventilated animal houses (Gerlinde De Vogeleer)

• Computational fluid dynamics modelling of biomass slow pyrolysis in screw reactors for the production of biochar and charcoal (Xiaogang Shi)

• Development of an image based 3D technique to determine spread patterns of centrifugal fertilizer spreaders (Simon Cool)
• Use of hyperspectral data from UAV platforms in precision farming for weed detection and management (Junfeng Gao)

Publications