Linear Electron Beam Assisted Roll-to-Roll in-Vacuum Flexographic Patterning for Flexible Thermoelectric Generators

In this work, we investigated the use of in-line linear electron beam irradiation (LEB) surface treatment integrated into a commercially compatible roll-to-roll (R2R) processing line, as a single fluorocarbon cleaning step, following flexography oil masking used to pattern layers for devices. Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) were selected as the flexible electronic device demonstrator; a green renewable energy harvester ideal for powering wearable technologies. BiTe/BiSbTe-based flexible TEGs (f-TEGs) were fabricated using in-line oil patterned aluminium electrodes, followed by a 600 W LEB cleaning step, in which the duration was optimised. A BiTe/BiSbTe f-TEG using an oil-patterned electrode and a 15 min LEB clean (to remove oil prior to BiTe/BiSbTe deposition) showed similar Seebeck and output power (S~0.19 mV K−1 and p = 0.02 nW at ΔT = 20 K) compared to that of an oil-free reference f-TEG, demonstrating the success of using the LEB as a cleaning step to prevent any remaining oil interfering with the subsequent active material deposition. Device lifetimes were investigated, with electrode/thermoelectric interface degradation attributed to an aluminium/fluorine reaction, originating from the fluorine-rich masking oil. A BiTe/GeTe f-TEG using an oil-patterned/LEB clean, exceeded the lifetime of the comparable BiTe/BiSbTe f-TEG, highlighting the importance of deposited material reactivities with the additives from the masking oil, in this case fluorine. This work therefore demonstrates (i) full device architectures within an R2R system using vacuum flexography oil patterned electrodes; (ii) an enabling Electron beam cleansing step for removal of oil remnants; and (iii) that careful selection of masking oils is needed for the materials used when flexographic patterning during R2R.

Technical vision system for apple defects recognition: justification, development, testing

The most rational method for identifying the quality of fruits is the optical method using PPE, which has the accuracy and stability of measurement, as well as distance and high productivity. The paper presents classification of fruit quality recognition systems and substantiates the design and technological scheme of the vision system for sorting them, consisting of an optical module with installed structural illumination and a video camera, an electronic control unit with an interface and actuators for the sorter and conveyor for fruits. In the course of the study, a single-stream type of fruit flow in PPE with forced rotation was substantiated, a structural and technological scheme of an STZ with a feeding conveyor, an optical module and a control unit, an algorithm for functioning of the STZ software was developed based on algorithm for segmentation of fruit colors, tracking algorithm, etc. deep learning ANN, which provide recognition of the size and color of fruits, as well as damage from mechanical stress, pests and diseases. The developed STZ has been introduced into the processing line for sorting and packing apples, LSP-4 has successfully passed preliminary tests and production tests at OJSC Ostromechevo. In the course of preliminary tests of the LSP-4 line, it was found that it provided fruit recognition with a probability of at least 95%, while the labor productivity made 2.5 t/h.

Performance of Filter Bags Used in Industrial Pulse-Jet Baghouses in Wood-Based Panels Furniture Factory

The study specifies the value of the dust resistance coefficient in the process of wood dust filtration in a pilot-scale test stand. The experiments were carried out for one type of filter material—polyester with a PP film previously used in different production lines. Filter bags from the filtering installation of the processing line for narrow surfaces of furniture panels of the honeycomb structure with a chipboard frame, HDF, natural veneer cladding, and a line of CNC drilling machines, were taken into account. Before the pilot-scale tests, the bags had been in use in industrial installations from zero to nine months. All tests were performed under identical filtration conditions. The values of the dust resistance coefficient depend on the operating time and the conditions in which filtration is carried out in an industrial plant, and increased from 6507 s−1 to 10,208 s−1 for the bags from the filter of the narrow surfaces processing line and to 29,729 s−1 for the bags from the filter of the drilling line. The most important factor influencing the properties of the filter bag in the process of wood dust filtration in an industrial filter is the cleaning pulses frequency.

Multipurpose System for Cryogenic Energy Storage and Tri-Generation in a Food Factory: A Case Study of Producing Frozen French Fries

This contribution elaborates on a futuristic hybrid concept for the multifunctional employment of a liquid air energy storage (LAES) system for combined heat, cold and power production (tri-generation) in a food factory, thereby providing a substantial part of the energy demand for various unit operations and enhancing the round-trip efficiency (RTE) of LAES. A processing line for frozen French fries, with relatively high heating and refrigeration demands, is used as a case study. The total useful energy output per charge/discharge cycle is 61,677 kWh (i.e., 38,295 kWh of electricity, 19,278 kWh of heating, and 4104 kWh of refrigeration). The estimated tri-generation RTE of the studied system reaches 55.63%, which appears to be 1.2 times higher than the RTE of a classical standalone LAES system with the same power input, considered as a baseline. In a broader context, such a performance enhancement by amalgamating food and energy technologies can make cryogenic energy storage a more viable grid balancing option capable of substantially increasing the share of renewables in the energy supply mix.

Substantiation of a Promising Design and Technological Scheme of a Multicomponent Dispenser-Mixer

Currently, one of the main tasks facing animal husbandry is to ensure the conservation of land to provide the population with high-quality livestock products, as well as to increase the productivity and productivity of each livestock. The correct implementation of this task primarily depends on the creation of a solid feed base. This, in turn, is possible due to the improvement and introduction of feed production technologies that do not depend on natural conditions. The technology of mixed feed production is a set of operations (grinding, dosing, mixing, etc.) performed in a certain sequence. As a result of these operations, feed is obtained from the raw materials (grain components, mineral additives, vitamins, salts, etc.) with the parameters specified in accordance with its recipe. The creation of a multicomponent dispenser-mixer capable of preparing grain mixtures in a continuous flow with high uniformity of dosing and mixing requires research and development work and is caused by the need of agricultural enterprises for such dispensers-mixers. In the technological line under study, the feed components are alternately crushed and loaded into the mixing unit. The processing line is equipped with an electronic weighing system that allows you to accurately dose the components of compound feeds and accumulate data on grain consumption. The raw materials for the preparation of compound feeds are cereals, as well as protein and vitamin supplements. The system of feeding protein and vitamin supplements is carried out by an auger, which ensures their supply to the mixing zone even with their minimum amount. The fineness of the grinding is regulated by replacing the sieve in the crusher.

Comparison of the Performance of a Solar Thermal Absorption Chiller and a Novel Sub-Wet Bulb Evaporative Chiller for Cooling Processes in Food Manufacturing

The food processing industry exists at the nexus between food, energy, and water systems. Improving the sustainability of this industry is critical to reduction of carbon emissions and enhanced utilization of vital resources such as water. The overarching aim of the present research is to create a process-based modeling platform for food processing systems that would allow the most appropriate combination of water-sustainable, energy-efficient, and renewable energy (WERE) technologies to be determined for a system. This paper focuses on one specific process in a thermal processing line: the cooling step after sterilization and prior to packaging. A typical process might use groundwater in a once-through loop. To reduce water use, two sustainable alternatives are considered and compared: (a) solar thermal coupled with an absorption chiller and (b) evaporative cooling of chilled water using a sub-wet bulb evaporative chiller (SWEC). The former uses a parabolic trough solar field with thermal storage that is connected to a single-effect water/lithium bromide (LiBr) chiller. The field and thermal storage are modeled using NREL’s System Advisor Model software and coupled to in-house Python code for the chiller and process heat exchanger. For the latter option, a novel SWEC is used as a chiller. The energy and water use, and capital cost of the two alternative technologies are presented.

A Deep Learning-Based Vision System Combining Detection and Tracking for Fast On-Line Citrus Sorting

Defective citrus fruits are manually sorted at the moment, which is a time-consuming and cost-expensive process with unsatisfactory accuracy. In this paper, we introduce a deep learning-based vision system implemented on a citrus processing line for fast on-line sorting. For the citrus fruits rotating randomly on the conveyor, a convolutional neural network-based detector was developed to detect and temporarily classify the defective ones, and a SORT algorithm-based tracker was adopted to record the classification information along their paths. The true categories of the citrus fruits were identified through the tracked historical information, resulting in high detection precision of 93.6%. Moreover, the linear Kalman filter model was applied to predict the future path of the fruits, which can be used to guide the robot arms to pick out the defective ones. Ultimately, this research presents a practical solution to realize on-line citrus sorting featuring low costs, high efficiency, and accuracy.