A device with a frequency-modulated output signal has been developed to increase the sensitivity and accuracy of measuring moisture content in crude oil and petroleum products in the range of 0~20%. The main element of the device is a self-oscillator transducer based on a transistor structure with negative differential resistance. A capacitive sensor in the form of a capacitive cylindrical structure with cylindrical electrodes was used to determine moisture content in crude oil and petroleum products. Electric permittivity of a two-component mixture of oil and water was estimated and the capacitance of the humidity-sensitive capacitive cylindrical structure with cylindrical electrodes was calculated. An electrical diagram of the device for measuring and controlling the humidity of crude oil and petroleum products has been developed. The relative error of converting the humidity of oil and petroleum products into capacitance which was caused by the change in oil temperature, was determined to be 0.225%. Values of relative errors of the device for measuring the humidity of oil and petroleum products are as follows: 1.355 · 10 ^-5% is caused by instability of the oscillator frequency, 0.01% is caused by fluctuations in the supply voltage of the self-oscillator transducer, 0.05% is caused by a change in ambient temperature by 1°C. For the developed device, which used errors of the first and second type, the reliability of humidity control of oil and petroleum products has been determined to be 0.9591.

At present, Pakistan has been facing acute shortage of irrigation water and farmers have been using conventional irrigation methods for orchards, such as flood and basin irrigation, thus wasting huge amount of fresh water. Therefore, it is necessary to find efficient irrigation methods to cope with this major burning issue. The micro drip irrigation method is considered efficient but in the case of mango orchards there is a problem of irrigation frequency, number of emitters, and duration of flow from emitters to meet water demand. Considering the above, an experiment was conducted in the experimental field of the Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, by installing the drip system with two circular peripheries of lateral lines in clay loam soil covering the entire canopy of a mature mango tree. The radius of the first and second periphery around the tree trunk was 100 cm and 150 cm, respectively. Four emitters with 4 dm3∙h ^–1 discharge of individual dipper were fixed in each periphery. Emitters were tested for six different irrigation times, i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 h, to observe the moisture distribution pattern. Hydraulic characteristics, such as density, field capacity, porosity, infiltration rate, available water and permanent wilting point (PWP), were determined using standard methods (1.4 g∙cm ^–3, 33%, 49%, 8 mm∙h ^–1, 12.41% and 20% respectively). The texture class of the soil profile was determined as clay loam at the soil depth 0–120 cm. Fifty soil samples were collected at 0–10, 10– 30, 30–60, 60–90, and 90–120 cm depths and at 0–20, 20–40, 40–60, 60–80 and 80–100 cm distances on two opposite sides of emitters. The emitters provided sufficient moisture up to field capacity in clay loam soil with flow duration of 4 h. The maximum moisture distribution efficiency was 77.89% with flow duration of 4 h at vertical depth of 0–120 cm and 0–100 cm distance horizontally among four emitters as compared to 1, 2, 3 h flow duration which under irrigated the canopy area and 5, 6 h flow duration which excessively irrigated the canopy area of the mango tree. The water demand of the mango tree was met by 4 h flow duration which provided adequate moisture to the entire canopy up to 120 cm depth in the root zone and water saving was calculated as 15.91% under the installed drip irrigation system as compared with the conventional (basin) irrigation method.

Postharvest processing of grain is an important step in the overall grain production process. It makes possible not only quantitative and qualitative preservation of the harvest, but also ensures maximum profit from its sale at the most favorable market conditions. Convective heat treatment (drying, cooling) guarantees commercial harvest conservation, prevents its loss, and in some cases improves the quality of the finished product. The necessity of intensification and automation of technological processes of postharvest grain processing requires the development of methods of mathematical modeling of energy-intensive processes of convective heat treatment. The determination and substantiation of optimum modes and parameters of equipment operation to ensure the preservation of grain quality is possible only when applying mathematical modeling techniques. In this work, a mathematical model of particulate material drying is presented through a system of differential equations in partial derivatives of which the variable in time and space relationship between heat and mass transfer processes in the material and a drying agent is reflected. The aim of the research was to determine the dynamics of the interrelated fields of unsteady temperature and moisture content of the material and the drying agent on the basis of mathematical models of heat and mass transfer in the layer of particulate material in convective heat approach or heat retraction. The implementation of the mathematical model proposed in the standard mathematical set allows analyzing efficiency of machines and equipment for the convective heat treatment of particulate agricultural materials in a dense layer, according the determinant technological parameters and operating modes.

The paper presents the course of variability of the moisture content of the top layers in shallow (45 cm) and medium-deep (90 cm) peat-moorsh soil profiles in the years 2015–2019 against the background of the same meteorological conditions and a similar level of the groundwater table. The relative precipitation index ( RPI) classifies the years 2015 and 2016 as dry, 2017 as wet, and 2018 and 2019 as average. For periods of atmospheric droughts, the average daily climatic water balance ( CWB) ranged from –5.30 to –1.35 mm∙d ^–1. The water table did not fall below 90 cm b.g.l. during the entire study period, and the range of its fluctuations was 8 cm greater in the shallow than in the medium-deep profile. The range of moisture at different depths varied significantly and ranged from approx. 6% in periods of drought to about 80% in wet periods. Soil moisture throughout the measurement period was above the plant available water range (p F > 4.2). The occurrence of soil drought in the shallow peat-moorsh soil profile had a range of up to 40 cm, and in the medium-deep profile of up to 30 cm. The sequence of no-precipitation days and the maximum amount of daily evapotranspiration during them determine the possible timing of drought; however, it is the precipitation distribution in individual months, considered in the current CWB values, that ultimately determine the formation of soil water resources at the research site.