Introduction to Biosystems Engineering PDF

AREN 114: INTRODUCTION TO BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING (2 credits) This course is intended to provide fresh students in the department with the necessary information about the programme they have chosen to pursue. The course will help students develop the required interest needed to enable them acqui...

AREN 114: INTRODUCTION TO BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING (2 credits) This course is intended to provide fresh students in the department with the necessary information about the programme they have chosen to pursue. The course will help students develop the required interest needed to enable them acquire the skills in the field of Biosystems Engineering. The focus will be to broaden the knowledge of students on how they can apply the knowledge they will acquire through engineering, math, and biology to design systems to manage soil and water resources and to design and develop biological and machine products. Instructor: Prof. Edward B. Sabi (0240697164)  Reading list: 1. Moaveni, S., (2015). Engineering Fundamentals: An Introduction to Engineering, 5th Edition. Cengage Learning. 2. Nag, A., (200). Biosystems Engineering, 1st Edition. McGraw-Hill Education. 3. Nordlund, T. M., & Hoffmann, P. M., (2011). Quantitative Understanding of Biosystems: An Introduction to Biophysics, 1st Edition. CRC Press. 4. Nordlund, T. M., & Hoffmann, P. M., (2019). Quantitative Understanding of Biosystems: An Introduction to Biophysics, 2nd Edition. CRC Press. 5. Oakes, W. C., & Leone, L. L., (2016). Engineering Your Future: A Comprehensive Introduction to Engineering, 9th Edition. Oxford University Press.  The Biosystems Engineering The field of Biosystems Engineering is emerging in response to such major concerns as environmental integrity, food safety and quality, water security, and natural resource availability. Biosystems engineering is defined here as the analysis, design, and control of biologically-based systems for the sustainable production and processing of food and biological materials and the efficient utilization of natural and renewable resources in order to enhance human health in harmony with the environment.  In this course, biosystems engineering is introduced to address the large, complex, and time-dependent nature of biophysical systems. However, the principles and examples can be applied and extrapolated to lower-level structures, such as cells, organelles, organs, and organisms. There is a growing worldwide concern for saving the environment from human abuses and harmful actions. Such activities include irresponsible exploitation of our natural resources, deforestation, pollution of air and water, dumping of non-biodegradable products in our soil, uncontrolled production of ozone-depleting chemicals, acid-rain effects in forests and lakes, and the overall degradation of the environment.  Human abuses have slowly destroyed our life support systems. Consequently, the supply of safe food and water is increasingly compromised. The major culprit, among other things, is the lack of understanding of the dire consequences of uncontrolled economic development, unregulated technological advancement, and mismanagement of natural resources. Coupled with environmental dilemma is the fact that human population is growing exponentially. While human population is expanding, natural resources are declining. According to the World Population Prospects of the United Nations (Archer, et al., 1987) human population will reach close to 8 billion in the year 2020 (7.951 billion, 2022)  This implies that there will be more people competing for the consumption of the same amount of natural resources. Air, water, and soil pollution, resource depletion, social chaos, and political upheaval are some of the consequences already demonstrated and are expected to get worse in the future. Human-initiated activities have already altered many environmental situations worldwide. For example, cutting down of trees has increased soil erosion; industrial operations have polluted the atmosphere; voluminous human and industrial wastes have resulted in soil and water pollution; the quality of air and water in many cities has reached hazardous level; and changes in heat and water balances in the atmosphere and hydrosphere due to air and water pollution may be factors affecting adverse climatic patterns. Not seen before are the emergence of disease-causing and antibiotic resistant bacteria, such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella typhimurium DT 104. If the changes in the physical and chemical environments are more extreme than the variations to which human and other living organisms in the ecosystem can adapt, the ecological harmony may be irreversibly disturbed. Therefore, all possible steps should be taken to put an end to the deterioration of the natural environment, as our expression of concern for the future generation. A step toward this end is to analyze problem with global implications in a holistic manner and to propose solutions that reflect the consideration of the whole biosystem. It is the responsibility of the present generation to maintain a balance among food supply, economic development, and environmental protection in order to provide for, and ensure the survival of, the future generations.  The Biosphere While the concept on the environment involves a complex system of interacting living and non-living components encompassing the whole universe, for practical and obvious reasons, let us begin with the biosphere as a component of planet Earth. The biosphere is the space where biotic and abiotic worlds meet, at the overlap and interface of the three major spheres: atmosphere, lithosphere, and the hydrosphere Atmosphere: It is made up of the layers of gases surrounding a planet or other celestial body. Earth’s atmosphere is composed of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% other gases.  Lithosphere: It is the rigid, rocky outer layer of Earth, consisting of the crust and the solid outermost layer of the upper mantle. It extends to a depth of about 100 km. Hydrosphere: The hydrosphere is the combined mass of water found on, under, and above the surface of a planet, minor planet, or natural satellite. Biosphere is the common ground shared by humans and other living organisms, constantly interacting with one another. These living organisms also exchange matter and energy with their environment. It is in this sphere where the most pressing problems of the environment exist.  In general, we shall refer to a system structure in the biosphere involving a biological component as a biosystem. In particular, the biosystem is defined here as any form of organization which is made up of living and non-living components, interacting and interconnected as to achieve a unified purpose, specifically with respect to food production, environmental preservation, economic development, and technological advancement.  Systems Concepts System. The word “system” can be defined as anything formed of parts or components placed together and interconnected to make a regular whole working as if one body or entity as it relates an input to an output, or a cause to an effect. There are at least four concepts in this definition. First, a system is made up of components or subsystems which have defined relationships. Second, each of these components are linked in such a manner that the output of one is an input to the other.  Third, the successful operation of one component depends upon the other (unity). And fourth, system components are interconnected to form one body or entity in order to achieve its purpose. A plant is a good example of a biological system. Plant growth is orchestrated in its internal mechanism as to reproduce itself. Under favorable conditions, a corn plant will bear corn grains (not rice nor wheat grains).  The photosynthetic process of converting solar radiation into carbohydrates and finally biomass is a series of interconnected transformations. When photosynthesis fails, biomass will not be produced. A car, an airplane, a computer, a microscope, a dog, a tree, a house, a population, a person, a bacteria, and a cell are each an example of a system. Associated with the word “system” are terms that need clear understanding and comprehension. These words are input, output, parameters, state variables, boundary, and environment. There are two kinds of input: controllable and exogenous. Similarly, there are two kinds of output: desired and undesired. There definitions are presented as follows.  Controllable Input. The controllable input variables are materials or energy which are required to bring about the desired system output. These variables can vary with time. For example, water is a material input in soil-plant systems, animal production systems, and river or lake systems. The volume of water flowing into a river may vary during the day. Food intake is a controllable input to the body. Exogenous Input. The exogenous input variables are materials or energy, which influence or affect the biosystem but the biosystem cannot affect them (at least for the system under consideration). For example, solar radiation, air temperatures, and rainfall are exogenous input to people, forest, crop, urban, and economic systems.  Desired Output. The desired output variables are the transformation product of the material input and the system processes (accounting for technologies) through the use of energy and labor. For example, forage and grain are desired outputs of the corn production system; milk, meat, eggs, and fur are desired outputs of the animal system; profit is a desired output of a farm system; potable water is a desired output of a regional system.  Undesired By-Products. The undesired by-products are the undesirable results as the biosystem functions to produce the desired outputs. For example, nitrate leaching is an undesired by-product of crop production system; phosphate runoff is an undesired by-product of animal production system; water pollution is an undesired by-product of an industrialized economy. System Parameters. System parameters are factors, which determine the initial structure and condition of a biosystem. In mathematical equations, these are constants representing technology or information. Parameters are differentiated from state variables in that, for deterministic systems, they do not change with time during the operation of the system.  System Boundary. System boundary is the separation (real or imaginary) between the system and the environment. For example, the physical boundary of a household system may be the house structure itself, that is, everything inside the house belongs to the system; everything outside belongs to the environment. Environment. For any given biosystem, there is an environment. This environment is the set of all objects, factors, and influences outside the boundary of the system. All signals from the environment crossing the boundary into the system must be one-way direction, that is, the signal may affect the system but the system output should not affect the environment to the extent that it would modify the signal (Eisen, 1988). The environment may occur in the following forms: 1. Natural environment -- For a biological (e.g. crop production) system, the natural environment may include solar radiation, rainfall, ambient temperatures, and wind speed. 2. State-of-resource-and-technology environment -- Formulation and structuring of a crop production system may be affected by the type of irrigation to be employed, or the crop variety to use, or the fertilizer management to practice. It is also affected by the availability of production inputs, accessibility to markets, etc. 1. State-of-knowledge environment -- Knowledge of the processes affect the formulation and synthesis of a biosystem. When there is no clear understanding of the biosystem, a less efficient and less sustainable management approach is likely to be used. For example, our lack of deeper understanding on the extent and ill-effects of nitrates and pesticide residues in groundwater contributed to the neglect of sustainable practices in manufacturing industries, farms, golf courses, household gardens and lawns, and other operations. 1. Institutional and Social Environment -- The institutional, organizational, and social structures, such as government laws, regulatory bodies, lobby groups, commodity associations, social customs, personal preferences, and manpower skills, may influence the evaluation of objectives and the structuring of the biosystem. For example, certain commodities dominate the market because of trade agreements. 2. Economic Environment -- Input costs, product prices, marketing costs, and other economic factors affect the formulation, structuring and synthesis of a biosystem. For example, cheaper inputs are likely preferred over more expensive materials.