Open Access
The integration of mechanical energy absorbers into rollover protective structures to improve the safety of agricultural tractors in the event of rollover
(MDPI, 2024) Alfaro López, José Ramón; Pérez Ezcurdia, Amaya; Latorre Biel, Juan Ignacio; Arana Navarro, Ignacio; Benito Amurrio, Marta; Villanueva Roldán, Pedro; Ingeniería; Ingeniaritza; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa, PJUPNA1912
The combination of safety belts and rollover protective structures (ROPSs) is key in improving the safety of agricultural tractors in the event of rollover. However, we also have the opportunity to enhance the security provided by each ROPS; one such example is the combination of this safety device with adequate mechanical energy absorbers (MEAs). Inexpensive disc-shaped MEAs can be included in the anchoring points of a ROPS onto the chassis of a tractor. Three configurations of ROPS combined with MEAs were tested during the application of loads that simulated the effects of side rollover in the vehicle. The tested configurations included a blank MEA as a reference case alongside a single MEA and a stack assembly containing both elements. The results of the tests show that both the deformation of the ROPS itself and the strain energy are larger in the case of blank MEAs; thus, there is also a risk that the clearance zone will be infringed upon and that the protective structure will collapse. We can conclude that the implementation of an appropriate MEA in ROPS reduces the deformation of the ROPS itself and its strain energy in cases of vehicle rollover; hence, the safety provided by such protection systems may be improved at a low cost.
Open Access
Compound Petri nets and alternatives aggregation Petri nets: two formalisms for decision-making support
(SAGE, 2016) Latorre Biel, Juan Ignacio; Jiménez Macías, Emilio; Pérez de la Parte, Mercedes; Sáenz Díez, Juan Carlos; Martínez Cámara, Eduardo; Blanco Fernández, Julio; Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de Materiales; Mekanika, Energetika eta Materialen Ingeniaritza
Decision-making in technological systems, such as communication networks, manufacturing facilities and supply chains, constitutes a common requirement able to lead companies galore to success or failure. This article presents a decisionmaking methodology, where the feasible structural configurations to be analysed are chosen heuristically in the frame of a single optimization problem. For stating the optimization problem and solving it efficiently, appropriate formalisms would be used. Compound Petri nets, a particular kind of parametric Petri nets, and alternatives aggregation Petri nets, are two Petri net–based formalisms able to integrate in the same model different alternative structural configurations. Moreover, even having different characteristics that might make them useful for different applications, both formalisms present common features, such as including a set of exclusive entities and the possibility of developing compact Petri net models, by the removal of redundant information. This article is also focused on the transformation algorithm between compound Petri nets and alternatives aggregation Petri nets. This algorithm is devoted to transform a model described by one of the formalisms into an equivalent model, that is, with the same behaviour, represented using the other formalism. Finally, several application examples are given for illustrating the steps of the transformation algorithm.
Open Access
Analysis of product shrinkage and waste in a potato bagging plant
(Dime University of Genoa, 2022) Sáenz Baños, Mercedes Irache; Latorre Biel, Juan Ignacio; Blanco Fernández, Julio; Martínez Cámara, Eduardo; Pérez de la Parte, P.; Jiménez Macías, Emilio; Ingeniería; Ingeniaritza
Nowadays, an average of 2 kg of waste per person are generated in Spain. Furthermore, the household consumption is rising and, as a consequence, the waste production is also increasing. This trend presents a direct impact in the environment. Moreover, after two years of COVID-19 pandemic, it has been detected a stronger rise in consumption per person, while consumption through professional commercial channels for hospitality industry has been lower. This paper analizes the waste generation and product shrinkage in a potato bagging plant, which addresses its production to both final consumers and retailers. The raw materials washing line, as well as the production line, are taken into consideration in the analysis, while new uses to the produced waste are proposed, aiming at providing new useful life, such as the production of bioplastics or the production of biodiesel. As a consequence, the environment impact is minimized and new products are obtained.
Open Access
Environmental impact analysis of natural cork stopper manufacturing
(MDPI, 2022) Flor Montalvo, Francisco Javier; Martínez Cámara, Eduardo; García Alcaraz, Jorge Luis; Jiménez Macías, Emilio; Latorre Biel, Juan Ignacio; Blanco Fernández, Julio; Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de Materiales; Mekanika, Energetika eta Materialen Ingeniaritza
For both wine makers and customers, natural cork stoppers are a symbol of quality. More-over, they are essential for maintaining the organoleptic properties of bottled wines throughout their lifespan. This research relied on the life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to analyze the relationship between the efficient usage of cork planks and the environmental impact of the cork stopper manufacturing industry. The goals of this research were to analyze and determine the environmental impact of producing 1 kg of natural cork stoppers. The analysis considered cork stoppers of two sizes—24 × 44 mm and 26 × 44 mm—and two manufacturing methods—punching and turning. Our findings indicated that the 24 × 44 mm cork stoppers produced with the punching method had a slightly lower environmental impact (1.36 kg CO2 eq/kg) across the ten analyzed impact categories. Conversely, 26 × 44 mm turned corks had the highest impact on the environment (1.49 kg CO2 eq/kg). Additionally, a comparison of same-sized punched and turned cork stoppers showed that the former had a lower environmental impact. This phenomenon is directly related to plank usage. In conclusion, there is a clear relationship between environmental impact and the efficient usage of raw material. In turn, an efficient usage of raw material depends on both the manufacturing method and stopper size.
Open Access
Characterisation of mechanical energy absorbers developed to complement of roll-over protection structures in agricultural vehicles
(Elsevier, 2019-10-25) Latorre Biel, Juan Ignacio; Benito Amurrio, Marta; Pérez Ezcurdia, Amaya; Arana Navarro, Ignacio; Alfaro López, José Ramón; Ingeniería; Ingeniaritza; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC
Roll-over protection structures (ROPS) and the use of safety belt is a successful combination in agricultural vehicles. If during an accident, a vehicle overturns, a ROPS is designed to deform plastically, absorbing potential energy of the vehicle, while not infringing the safety volume around the driver. The addition of mechanical energy absorbers (MEA) to a ROPS might enhance this behaviour, improving the safety provided. A disc-shaped mechanical energy absorber, designed for this purpose, is analysed and some geometrical and manufacturing features that influence their behaviour are described. Tensile tests of 6 different variants of this absorber have been carried out. The obtained loadedisplacement curves have been linearized to facilitate the calculation of quantitative parameters that can be used to characterise and compare the behaviour of the tested elements. The relation between some geometrical and manufacturing features of the absorbers and the calculated parameters is discussed. The results show that the proposed mechanical energy absorbers present enough geometrical and manufacturing adjustable variables to cover a wide range of applications.
Open Access
Control of discrete event systems by means of discrete optimization and disjunctive colored PNs: application to manufacturing facilities
(Hindawi, 2014) Latorre Biel, Juan Ignacio; Jiménez Macías, Emilio; Pérez de la Parte, Mercedes; Blanco Fernández, Julio; Martínez Cámara, Eduardo; Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de Materiales; Mekanika, Energetika eta Materialen Ingeniaritza
Artificial intelligence methodologies, as the core of discrete control and decision support systems, have been extensively applied in the industrial production sector. The resulting tools produce excellent results in certain cases; however, the NP-hard nature of many discrete control or decision making problems in the manufacturing area may require unaffordable computational resources, constrained by the limited available time required to obtain a solution. With the purpose of improving the efficiency of a control methodology for discrete systems, based on a simulation-based optimization and the Petri net (PN) model of the real discrete event dynamic system (DEDS), this paper presents a strategy, where a transformation applied to the model allows removing the redundant information to obtain a smaller model containing the same useful information. As a result, faster discrete optimizations can be implemented.This methodology is based on the use of a formalism belonging to the paradigmof thePNfor describingDEDS, the disjunctive colored PN. Furthermore, the metaheuristic of genetic algorithms is applied to the search of the best solutions in the solution space. As an illustration of the methodology proposal, its performance is compared with the classic approach on a case study, obtaining faster the optimal solution.
Open Access
Cognitive systems for the energy efficiency industry
(MDPI, 2024) Arévalo Royo, Javier; Latorre Biel, Juan Ignacio; Flor Montalvo, Francisco Javier; Pérez-Parte, Mercedes; Blanco Fernández, Julio; Ingeniería; Ingeniaritza
This review underscores the pivotal role of Cognitive Systems (CS) in enhancing energy efficiency within the industrial sector, exploring the application of sophisticated algorithms, data analytics, and machine learning techniques to the real-time optimization of energy consumption. This methodology has the potential to reduce operational expenses and further diminish environmental repercussions; however, it also leverages data-driven insights and predictive maintenance to foresee equipment malfunctions and modulate energy utilization accordingly. The viability of integrating renewable energy sources is emphasized, supporting a transition towards sustainability. Furthermore, this research includes a bibliometric literature analysis from the past decade on the deployment of CS and Artificial Intelligence in enhancing industrial energy efficiency.
Open Access
Water footprint of a 5 kg bag of washed potatoes
(Cal-Tek srl, 2023) Sáenz Baños, Mercedes Irache; Latorre Biel, Juan Ignacio; Martínez Cámara, Eduardo; Jiménez Macías, Emilio; Blanco Fernández, Julio; Ingeniería; Ingeniaritza
Climate change and water scarcity increasingly impact agricultural systems. Therefore, studying food systems in depth through a water footprint perspective and their effects on water resources is necessary. Potatoes are one of the most widely consumed foods globally. This article analyzes the water footprint of a 5 kg bag of washed potatoes using a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. A cradle-to-gate model is created, and four environmental impact assessment methods are applied to determine the impacts on water resources. The results obtained are consistent across all four methods, indicating that water consumption in the potato washing stage has the most significant impact. The second highest water consumption occurs during the agricultural cultivation phase. Furthermore, this agricultural phase has the highest impact on other water-related categories, including such as Water Pollutants, Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP) into Water, Heavy Metals into Water, and Radioactive Substances into Water.
Open Access
Methodology for energy demand reduction of potato cold storage process
(Wiley, 2022) Sáenz Baños, Mercedes Irache; Latorre Biel, Juan Ignacio; Martínez Cámara, Eduardo; Jiménez Macías, Emilio; Longo, Francesco; Blanco Fernández, Julio; Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de Materiales; Mekanika, Energetika eta Materialen Ingeniaritza
In order to maintain the quality of the potatoes over time, it is necessary to store them under certain storage conditions, which minimize losses both of quality and product, preferably without using chemical treatments. Conservation chambers consume a considerable amount of energy. Between 60% and 70% of the electricity consumed is used in refrigeration. Good insulation reduces the need for cooling the potato since its optimum storage temperature for consumption is around 4–7 C and relative humidity is 85%–90%. This research studies potatoes’ cold storage process to minimize the cost in the product value chain and to ensure its competitiveness in the market. A model is developed to assess energy consumption and propose measures to reduce energy, environmental, and economic costs. All this to reduce their impact within the value chain of potato consumption. Practical Applications: In this case study, different energy efficiency measures applied to the cold storage of potatoes have been implemented: replacement or improvement of the performance of refrigeration equipment, insulation and infiltrations in the refrigeration chamber, control of the product entry temperature, thermal conditioning through free-cooling, improvements in lighting equipment, technical management, and supervision of facilities, and thermographic control. The set of actions implemented has allowed to obtain a reduction in energy demand, standardized through the developed reference line, by 16.41% compared to previous years.
Open Access
Influence of geometry in the behavior of disc-shaped mechanical energy absorbers for agricultural tractors
(MDPI, 2021-12-20) Latorre Biel, Juan Ignacio; Pérez Ezcurdia, Amaya; Benito Amurrio, Marta; Alfaro López, José Ramón; Ingeniería; Ingeniaritza; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa, PJUPNA1912
Disc-shaped mechanical energy absorbers (MEAs), in combination with rollover protection structures (ROPSs), may contribute to the prevention of the infringement of the safety zone and the collapse of the ROPS in case of the overturn of an agricultural tractor. An MEA can absorb a significant amount of potential energy of an overturning tractor and its deformation produces a rotation of the ROPS around the safety zone. In this research, MEAs with two different geometries have been developed. Both geometries present common features, such as disc dimensions, number of rings, and number of arms, but the distribution of the arms differs. Additionally, these MEA were manufactured in steel discs of four different thicknesses, ranging from 2 to 6 mm. The manufactured MEAs were tested in a universal testing machine, and their behavior characterized. From this data, linear models of the MEAs were developed. As a consequence, a number of characteristic parameters were selected and calculated, such as the activation load and the strain energy absorbed in a safe range of applied loads. Some patterns and trends were analyzed from the tested MEAs, which enables a better description of their behavior and the extrapolation of this behavior to other non-tested thicknesses and geometries.