Engineering Analysis of Biological Systems

This online book shall serve as a handy resource and repository for topics critical to biological systems engineers. It is a compilation of a variety of topics - all of which biological engineers need to understand. Biological systems are diverse, include plants, animals, and microbes, and range from grain, to food, to feed, to fuel, and other biological materials. Key tools for biological systems engineers include mathematics, physics, chemistry, and, of course, biology. Many other topics and applications are important as well, and we will try to compile as many as possible. If you have topics which should be included, please contact karosent@iastate.edu.

List of Topics
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Introductory Material

 * /Preface/
 * /Introduction/

Biological Engineering Fundamentals

 * Enzyme kinetics
 * Enzyme kinetics Michaelis–Menten kinetics
 * Microbial growth Monod equation
 * Fermentation
 * Bioreactor
 * Reactors Fed batch
 * Reactors Packed bed
 * Continuous reactor
 * Anaerobic digestion
 * Kraft process


 * Plant cell
 * Photosynthesis
 * Calvin cycle
 * Carbon fixation
 * Cellular respiration
 * Light-dependent reactions
 * Light-independent reactions
 * Photosystem
 * Photosystem I
 * Photosystem II
 * Photosynthetic reaction centre
 * Photosynthetically active radiation
 * Photon
 * Light
 * Rubisco
 * C3 carbon fixation
 * C4 carbon fixation
 * Crassulacean acid metabolism
 * Theoretical production ecology
 * Leaf area index
 * Evapotranspiration

Biological Resources

 * Cereal
 * Grain
 * Corn (Maize)
 * Wheat
 * Soybean
 * Rice
 * Barley
 * Sorghum
 * Millet
 * Oats
 * Triticale
 * Rye
 * Buckwheat
 * Quinoa
 * Pulse
 * Ancient grains
 * Pseudocereal
 * Legume


 * Corn stover
 * Algae

Biological Applications

 * Agriculture
 * Agricultural machinery
 * Farm equipment
 * Combine harvester
 * Intensive farming
 * No-till farming


 * Beef cattle
 * Dairy cattle
 * Swine
 * Aquaculture


 * Biofuels
 * Starch
 * Ethanol fermentation
 * Cellulose
 * Cellulosic ethanol
 * Biodiesel
 * Algae fuel


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Mathematics Fundamentals

 * Exponential growth
 * Rate-limited growth Sigmoid function
 * Rate-limited growth Logistic function

Engineering Fundamentals

 * Thermodynamics
 * Thermodynamic equilibrium
 * Zeroth law of thermodynamics
 * First law of thermodynamics
 * Second law of thermodynamics
 * Third law of thermodynamics
 * Isobaric process
 * Isochoric process
 * Isothermal process
 * Adiabatic process
 * Isentropic process
 * Isenthalpic process
 * Thermodynamic system
 * Volume
 * Pressure
 * Temperature
 * Entropy
 * Internal energy
 * Enthalpy
 * Gibbs free energy
 * Helmholtz free energy


 * Heat transfer
 * Stefan-Boltzmann Law
 * Thermal contact conductance
 * Thermal conduction
 * Convective heat transfer
 * Thermal radiation
 * Heat exchanger


 * Fluid mechanics

Engineering Ethics

 * Engineering ethics

Engineering Design

 * Engineering design process
 * Building code
 * International Building Code
 * Fire safety

Process Engineering

 * Food engineering
 * Food processing
 * Food safety
 * Food physical chemistry
 * Food chemistry
 * Food microbiology
 * Food preservation
 * Food fortification
 * Food storage
 * Food packaging
 * Packaging and labeling
 * Rheology

Unit Operations

 * Mass balance
 * Conveyor system
 * Hammermill
 * Pellet mill
 * Pelletizing
 * Extrusion
 * Dehdration
 * Evaporation
 * Drying
 * Drying (food)
 * Spray drying
 * Expeller pressing
 * Dewatering screw preses
 * Extraction
 * Solid phase extraction


 * Grain elevator
 * Flour
 * Corn wet-milling
 * Dry milling and fractionation of grain
 * Soy protein
 * Texturized vegetable protein
 * Soybean oil
 * Malting
 * Masa
 * Nixtamalization
 * Corn tortilla
 * Compound feed
 * Feed manufacturing
 * Pet food
 * Grain yield monitor
 * Grain quality
 * Grain damage
 * Grain storage on subsistence farms
 * Grain drying
 * Post-harvest losses (grains)
 * Pasta processing


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Machine Analysis

 * Machine operator efficiency
 * Mechanical efficiency
 * Mechanical advantage
 * Electrical motor
 * Electrical efficiency
 * Thermal efficiency

Techno-Economic Analysis

 * Engineering economics
 * Cash flow
 * Net present value
 * Depreciation
 * Fixed costs
 * Variable costs
 * Total costs
 * Economies of scale
 * Internal rate of return
 * Break-even
 * Return on investment
 * Economic value added

Environmental Engineering

 * Agroecology
 * Hydrology
 * Ecohydrology
 * Water cycle
 * Carbon cycle
 * Nitrogen cycle
 * Ocean acidification
 * Ecosystem model
 * Ecotoxicology
 * Aquatic toxicology

Industrial Ecology

 * Industrial ecology
 * Anthropogenic metabolism
 * Emergy
 * Energetics
 * Exergy

Life Cycle Assessment

 * Life-cycle assessment
 * Environmental footprint
 * Carbon footprint
 * Water footprint
 * Ecosystem services
 * Agroecosystem analysis
 * EIOLCA
 * Cradle-to-cradle
 * Whole-life cost

Climate Change

 * Climate change
 * Global warming
 * Attribution of recent climate change
 * Climate change mitigation

Conclusions

 * /Conclusions/
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