Energy Management System Application for Sustainable Development in Wood Industry Enterprises

Testing for Abrasion Resistance of WC-Co Composites for Blades Used in Wood-Based Material Processing

Commonly used tool materials for machining wood-based materials are WC-Co carbides. Although they have been known for a long time, there is still much development in the field of sintered tool materials, especially WC-Co carbides and superhard materials. The use of new manufacturing methods (such as FAST-field-assisted sintering technology), which use pulses of electric current for heating, can improve the properties of the materials used for cutting tools, thereby increasing the cost-effectiveness of machining. The ability to increase tool life without the downtime associated with tool wear allows significant cost savings, particularly in mass production. This paper presents the results of a study of the effect of grain size and cobalt content of carbide tool sinters on the tribological properties of the materials studied. The powders used for consolidation were characterised by irregular shape and formed agglomerates of different sizes. Tribological tests were carried out using the T-01 (ball-on-disc) method. In order to determine the wear kinetics, the entire friction path was divided into 15 cycles of 200 m and the weight loss was measured after each stage. In order to determine the mechanism and intensity of wear of the tested materials under technically dry friction conditions, the surface of the tested sinters was observed before the test and after 5, 10, and 15 cycles. The conclusions of the study indicate that the predominant effect of surface cooperation at the friction node is abrasion due to the material chipping that occurs during the process. The results confirm the influence of sintered grain size and cobalt content on durability. In the context of the application of the materials in question for cutting tools, it can be pointed out that sintered WC(0.4)_4 has the highest potential for use in the manufacture of cutting tools.

Cost Estimation Process of Green Energy Production and Consumption Using Probability Learning Approach

With electric vehicle (EV) charging, green energy production costs could be reduced, and smart grid (SG) reliability improved. Nevertheless, the vast number of EVs could adversely affect the stability of the voltage and cost of operation. The present study designs a new security-based system based on a new EV participation charging method for a decentralized blockchain-enabled SG system. It is aimed at minimizing the level of power alternation in the electrical network and the total charging costs of EVs as mobile systems. In the first step, the power alternation level issue of the SG is formulated based on the capacity of EV batteries, the rate of charging, and EV users’ charging behavior. Next, a new adaptive blockchain-based EV participation (AdBEV) method is proposed, using the Iceberg order execution algorithm for improving EV discharging and charging schedules. Simulated outcomes demonstrate that the suggested method is superior to the genetic algorithm method when it comes to reducing power fluctuation levels and total charging cost.

Energy Efficiency and Industry 4.0 in Wood Industry: A Review and Comparison to Other Industries

This paper presents a literature review of recent research on introducing the Industry 4.0 approach to improving energy efficiency, especially in the wood industry. While researchers focus on processes, service, and customer concepts, the effect on energy consumption is less addressed in these studies and applications. This paper focuses on previous works that discuss how to apply Industry 4.0 concepts to energy issues, such as to achieve better efficiency and performance for the industry in general and the wood industry in particular. The complexity of the study requires a multistep development. First, we define each concept separately and the relationships between them. Second, we apply a search algorithm to find related articles with specific terms, and then use the PRISMA method to select the most important ones, eliminating duplicates and excluding articles that do not mention energy efficiency and Industry 4.0 in the manufacturing or wood industry. Third, we explain and categorize the results and consolidate the study with brief examples from other industries. Finally, we conclude the study by mentioning the limitations and perspectives.

Management of Resource-Saving and Energy-Saving Technologies as an Innovative Direction of Agri-Food Enterprise Restructuring

The paper deals with the analysis of the resources and energy consumption at different levels of economic management. The most effective management tools are characterized. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the use of different types of resources by agri-food enterprises is carried out. Using the results of the analysis, a model that takes into account the features of general and specific for agri-food enterprises’ types of resources is proposed. The practical significance of this model lies in accumulating the most effective resource-saving and energy-saving technologies of renewable and non-renewable resources of agro-sphere (according to experience in application by different countries).

Design and Implementation of Energy Management System Based on Spring Boot Framework

This paper designs and implements an energy management system based on the Spring Boot framework. The system mainly includes three layers, which are the data collection layer, the business logic layer, and the display interface layer from bottom to top. The data collection layer is based on the RS-485 electrical standard and the MODBUS communication protocol. The two protocols connect all energy consumption monitoring points into a mixed topology communication network in the enterprise. The programs in the data collection layer poll each energy consumption monitoring point in the network to collect the data and transmit to the business logic layer. The business logic layer is developed on the basis of the Spring Boot framework and mainly includes two parts: the MySQL database and Tomcat server. In the MySQL database, the stored data are horizontally split according to the time column and stored in different data tables. The split of data reduces the load of a single data table and improves the query performance of the database. The Tomcat server is built into the Spring Boot framework to provide a basic environment for system operation. The Spring Boot framework is the core component of the system. It is responsible for collecting, storing, and analyzing data from energy consumption monitoring points, receiving and processing data requests from the display interface layer. It also provides standard data interfaces to the external programs. The display interface layer is developed on the basis of the Vue framework and integrated into the Spring Boot framework. The display layer combines an open-source visualization chart library called ECharts to provide users with a fully functional and friendly human–computer interaction interface. Through the calculation of hardware and software costs, considering the personnel cost in different regions, the total cost of the energy management system can be estimated. The cost of construction was approximately 210,000 USD in this paper. Since the system was actually deployed in a manufacturing company in December 2019, it has been operating stably for more than 600 days.

How Behavioral Aspects Influence the Sustainable Financial Decisions of Shareholders: An Empirical Study and Proposal for a Relevant Decision-Making Concept

Behavioral finance is an area or sub-discipline of behavioral economics that examines the real financial behavior and decision-making of people, including the knowledge of psychology and sociology. The objective of this paper was to identify and investigate the impact of significant cognitive, psychological and emotional factors affecting the financial decision-making of the shareholders of woodworking and furniture manufacturing and trading enterprises. This could lead to the design of decision-making concepts which take into account not only cognitive but also psychological and emotional factors and their influences on decision-making process, which could positively affect the sustainable development of the aforementioned types of enterprises. The mapping of the addressed issue was carried out by means of an empirical survey in the practice of the Slovak woodworking and furniture manufacturing and trading enterprises in the form of a questionnaire. The results of the survey were evaluated by descriptive, graphical and mathematical-statistical methods. Conclusions and recommendations were formulated based on the identification of key behavioral aspects (knowledge, security, freedom and sadness), the implementation of which could contribute to eliminating negative deviations and errors in the financial decision-making process of shareholders of woodworking and furniture manufacturing and trading enterprises.