SUMMARYInventory of raw materials holds an important role in companies within the manufacturingsector. The inventory works as a buffer that secure the supply of materials to the productionunit. The aim of the inventory is to ensure that the company is able to meet the customers?demands despite fluctuations and variations in the material flow. The size of the warehouseand the layout are physical limitations for the quantity of articles that can be stored.

The study was performed for the Swedish Regional Forestry Board in Södra Götaland. The study examines broadleaf plantations on former farmland that were planted between 1991 and 1996 with subsidy payments for conversion of farmland into forest. In particular, the study reviews forests planted in 1991-92 and 1994-96. In the early 1990s, Swedish agriculture was deregulated and direct subsides to farmers ended. The Swedish state instead granted farmers financial support and offered incentives for conversion of farmland and investments in order to make their unproductive land productive. The state supported conversion of farmland to broadleaf forest, forest for energy biomass production, or establishment of wetlands on former farmland. The County Administrative Boards and Regional Forestry Boards together monitored the planting of broadleaf forests.

In Sweden, reduced tillage usually means non-inversion tillage, where primary tillage is carried out using chisel ploughs or disc implements. Primary tillage method is mainly determined by the desired soil loosening and the handling of soil residues. The effect of tillage depth was studied in field experiments in Skåne, Väderstad, Uppsala, Örebro och Västerås in different crops; spring oilseed rape, spring wheat, winter wheat and spring barley.The experiments generally had a randomized block design with the treatments mouldboard ploughing, deep chisel ploughing and shallow chisel ploughing, in some cases also shallow discing and no-tillage. In the experiments the following parameters were determined: seedbed properties, saturated hydraulic conductivity, penetration resistance, number of emerged plants and crop yield (all parameters were not determined in all experiments. Root growth and draught requirement were determined in two separate studies. There were no significant differences between tillage depths in non-inversion tillage in seedbed properties, plant emergence or root development.

Laser for material processing possesses a number of advantages which mean that it has been and will be an important component for a wide range of industries' future development. Cutting materials processing is the dominant use of laser technology and has revolutionized the manufacturing industry. The aim of this thesis is to describe the principles of metal cutting by laser, how laser cutting is applied in practice and to identify how Swedish companies are using laser cutting. For the theoretical and technical description of laser cutting literature studies are the primary source of information. The empirical basis for the mapping of the Swedish industry for laser cutting is grounded on a survey; this includes Swedish companies that use laser cutting in their production.

SUMMARYInventory of raw materials holds an important role in companies within the manufacturingsector. The inventory works as a buffer that secure the supply of materials to the productionunit. The aim of the inventory is to ensure that the company is able to meet the customers?demands despite fluctuations and variations in the material flow. The size of the warehouseand the layout are physical limitations for the quantity of articles that can be stored.

SUMMARYInventory of raw materials holds an important role in companies within the manufacturingsector. The inventory works as a buffer that secure the supply of materials to the productionunit. The aim of the inventory is to ensure that the company is able to meet the customers?demands despite fluctuations and variations in the material flow. The size of the warehouseand the layout are physical limitations for the quantity of articles that can be stored.

In the production of pulp, paper and cardboard, a large amount of water is used daily. The water has to be purified in the internal purifying plant before it reaches the receiving body of water. In the biological purifying stage at the Stora Enso Skoghall mill, an aerated basin is used where the microorganisms, using oxygen, oxidize the organic material to carbon dioxide. The air is pumped from the bottom of the basin and the oxygen can then be transported from the air bubbles to the water through diffusion. The problem with aeration of waste water from the forest industry is that wood residues, such as fatty acids, are making the transport of oxygen in water more difficult.

Fast pyrolysis is a method for converting biomass into three energy rich products: char, gas and bio-oil, where the latter is most interesting.  Pyrolysis is an endothermic process where biomass is heated in an anaerobic environment and, with the right operating conditions, up to 80 %wt bio-oil can be extracted. Key parameters for fast pyrolysis are: stable reactor temperature (~500°C), short residue time for gas in the reactor (<2 s) and a very high heating rate for the biomass. Today there are several different process solutions for fast pyrolysis, where fluidized beds and rotating cones are most developed. Bio-oil has compared to fossil oil: lower heating value, low pH and also polymerizes with time. Because of this upgrading is desirable for increasing competitiveness.

Södra Cell Mörrum is one of the five paper pulp plants that are included in Södra Cell, and the paper pulp that is produced here is not only sold to Swedish paper mills. Most of the paper pulp is exported to different countries in Europe. In the manufacturing process the plant needs different kind of process water and there are guideline values for how much copper, iron and sodium this water is allowed to contain. Analyzes of this water is in the current situation done with an atomic absorption spectrometric instrument (AAS-instrument) with a flame. Measurements done with flame-AAS of samples that have concentrations near the guideline values for copper, iron and sodium, are not reliable. The reason for not being reliable is that the quantitation limits of these metals are higher than the limit values.

Återvinningsstation Holkesmossen ligger cirka två kilometer öster om Hagfors i Värmland. Deponiverksamhet påbörjades på platsen under 1960-talet, och fortsätter fortfarande.Tidigare forskningsprojekt vid Luleå tekniska universitet har, tillsammans med Hagfors kommun och Uddeholms AB, tagit fram en design för sluttäckningen av avfallsdeponin. I denna lösning används restprodukter ifrån det lokala stålverket tillsammans med konventionella jordar.Delar av deponin började sluttäckas år 2005. I dagsläget pågår sluttäckning av deponins norra slänt. Arbetet utförs etappvis och i takt med att de slaggmaterial som används till tätskiktet har producerats och finns tillgängliga.I denna rapport har släntstabiliteten för sluttäckningen utvärderats.

The economic situation in the Swedish agricultural industry is currently experiencing a development towards larger units. This progress occurs simultaneously as farmers in cooperation more frequently make investments to decrease risk exposure and to improve the financial result. The purpose with this thesis is to study which advantages and problems a group of farmers experience after a common investment in a small-scale seed production. The aim with this investment is to increase the level of vertical integration in their respective agricultural firms and the results will be analyzed from an economic point of view. At present, the farmers are all seed producers with considerable cultivation areas.

Tussilago farfara, coltsfoot, is a troublesome perennial weed with deep lying rhizome, which can vegetatively generate new plants. The mechanical control of coltsfoot that is used today, "starvation", which consists of several cultivations of the soil, which fragmentises the rhizome. This results in production of new shoots, which leads to depletion of nutrient resources; as long the new plant is not allowed to establish. However, very little research has been done to investigate how the starving technique affects the regenerative ability of coltsfoot. The purpose of this experiment with coltsfoot was to investigate how fragmentation and burial depths affect the time of emergence, number of emerged shoots per rhizome fragment, number of shoots per node, and if the germination ability within nodes changes during the experiment.

This study will identify the environmental impact in terms of carbon dioxide for a boiler house on behalf of Kvänum energi. The boiler central consists of a main building, which in turn contains multiple components such as boilers, pipes, etc, the boiler central uses pellets fuel. It also includes a silo and an ash container. The total weight of the boiler is about 63 tons. Each boiler has an output of 600 kW; the central includes three boilers with room for a fourth if necessary.

This study investigated potato growing in beds as an alternative to conventional ridges.It was based on results from field trials on bed-grown potatoes carried out by Halland Rural Economy and Agricultural Society in 2007, studies of literature and interviews with farmers with experience of bed growing of potatoes. Due to their shallow root system, potatoes are one of the most drought-sensitive crops. Potatoes are often grown on sandy soils with poor water-holding capacity. Factors such as total yield, tuber size distribution and quality defects are negatively affected when water becomes insufficient. Wide beds have a more flat top which leads to more uniform water infiltration. Further on, beds have lower soil surface area due to its shape, and therefore, retain water more efficient. In the field trials, which were carried out at the Stjärnarp Estate near Halmstad, potatoes were grown in beds alongside a conventional ridge-grown crop.

The focus of the thesis is: how conditions for agriculture in the Republic of Macedonia today may form the basis for development of the agricultural sector towards conditions needed for future accession into the European Union. The method for investigating this question has been to look at newly available farm monitoring system (FMS) data from Macedonia. Also to look at the latest government policies created in the country for the agricultural sector and rural areas in relation to the requirements for EU accession. Articles and empirical studies published by other authors related to the questions which arise in this study have been reviewed and presented herein. Trade relations, trade patterns and national economic and agricultural trends are displayed to provide a background overview for the study of the agricultural sector.