Janusz Piechocki

The Influence of Electromagnetic Pollution on Living Organisms: Historical Trends and Forecasting Changes

Current technologies have become a source of omnipresent electromagnetic pollution from generated electromagnetic fields and resulting electromagnetic radiation. In many cases this pollution is much stronger than any natural sources of electromagnetic fields or radiation. The harm caused by this pollution is still open to question since there is no clear and definitive evidence of its negative influence on humans. This is despite the fact that extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields were classified as potentially carcinogenic. For these reasons, in recent decades a significant growth can be observed in scientific research in order to understand the influence of electromagnetic radiation on living organisms. However, for this type of research the appropriate selection of relevant model organisms is of great importance. It should be noted here that the great majority of scientific research papers published in this field concerned various tests performed on mammals, practically neglecting lower organisms. In that context the objective of this paper is to systematise our knowledge in this area, in which the influence of electromagnetic radiation on lower organisms was investigated, including bacteria, E. coli and B. subtilis, nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, land snail, Helix pomatia, common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and clawed frog, Xenopus laevis.

Determinants of water consumption in the dairy industry

This paper analyzes the correlations between selected technical, process and production factors, equipment profiles and water consumption statistics in four types of dairy plants. Dairy plants were surveyed both individually and in groups. Water consumption was most highly correlated (r > 0.868) with equipment profiles. The highest water consumption was observed in dairy plants operating milk powder departments. In those plants, organization and production factors could significantly reduce water consumption levels because in addition to milk powder, those plants also supplied eight other products. The indicators of water consumption per unit of the final product were correlated (at 0.820 > | r | > 0.663) with equipment profiles, the degree of process automation and employment. Variations in water consumption per unit of the final product were best explained in small plants supplying several products. The presented equations can be used to optimize water demand of various types of equipment and to determine the correlations with energy consumption for wastewater treatment. Our results can contribute to the development of water consumption models in dairy plants and the implementation of clean production standards.

The Influence of Weather Conditions and Operating Parameters on the Efficiency of Solar Power Collectors Based on Empirical Evidence

The influence of solar irradiance, ambient temperature and buffer tank temperature on the efficiency of solar collectors was evaluated in the climatic conditions of north-eastern Poland (climatic zone IV) characterized by relatively low irradiance (annual average of 900 kWh/m2). Two types of solar power collectors (flat-plate and evacuated tube collectors) were compared in terms of energy gains, collector efficiency and glycol temperature between May and September 2016. The collectors were mounted on the roof of a building on the campus of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. The roof had a pitch of 45°, the collectors had a tilt angle of 30°, and they faced west of true south. Measurements were performed separately for the analyzed solar collector systems operating simultaneously in identical weather conditions. The combined absorber surface was 4.64 m2 in flat-plate collectors and 3.23 m2 in the evacuated tube collector. Both systems were connected to a water buffer tank. Empirical data were recorded with a controller and were processed and stored in a computer. The factors responsible for differences in the efficiency of the examined collectors are discussed in the paper.

Geothermal, wind and solar energy applications in agriculture and aquaculture

The agri-food chain consumes about one third of the world’s energy production with about 12% of it for crop production and nearly 80% for processing, distribution, retail, preparation and cooking. The agri-food chain also accounts for 80-90% of total global freshwater use where 70% alone is for irrigation. Additionally, on a global scale, freshwater production consumes nearly 15% of the entire energy production. It can therefore be argued that making agriculture and the agri-food supply chain independent from fossil fuel use has a huge potential to contribute to global food security and climate protection not only for the next decades but also for the coming century. Provision of secure, accessible and environmentally sustainable supplies of water, energy and food must thus be a priority. nOne of the major objectives of the world’s scientists, farmers, decisions makers and industrialists is to overcome the present dependence on fossil fuels in the agro-food sector. This dependency increases the volatility of food prices and affects economic access to sustenance. nThis book provides a critical review of recent developments in solar, wind and geothermal energy applications in agriculture and the agro-food sector such as processing, distribution, retail, preparation and cooking.

Studies of the Modelling Accuracy of Steam Turbine Control Systems for Diagnostic Tests of Automatic Synchronizers

One of the important factors that affect the reliable operation of the power system and the rapid restitution after disaster is a quick and effective combining synchronous electric power facilities to operate in parallel [. Hence, diagnostics of automatic synchronizers at every stage of their life, from building a prototype, through the whole life, until removing such devices from the operation, is an extremely important and responsible activity. In ordinary practice, this action is performed by dedicated test of mechatronics systems, called simulators [2, , in close to real - or even more restricted - conditions. One of the major limitations in the relevant field undoubtedly concerns the selection of an appropriate structure and implementation of models of the angular velocity control systems involved in the process of connection. These models must be simple enough to allow computation with a frequency of kHz, and, at the same time, developed enough to be able to form diverse and close to real working conditions. For these reasons, classical approach is not possible, allowing the use of well-known Parks model [ of the synchronous generator and the complex - and often nonlinear [. Hence, considered above-mentioned requirements and indicated constraints, to test the automatic synchronizer the designers of mechatronics systems use a number of simplifications during modeling of the angular speed control systems [. However, models are not detailed enough to study the impact of changes in the shape of relevant characteristics under the influence of changes the angle of phase discrepancy in the process of connecting. Hence, this paper presents the results of the research of the currently used method of modeling the most commonly used control systems of angular velocity, in the respective systems.

Mathematical Models of Control Systems of Angular Speed of Steam Turbines for Diagnostic Tests of Automatic and Mechatronic Devices

In many automatics and mechatronics systems accurate modeling of several physical processes is needed. In power system, one of these is the process of control of angular velocity of power blocks during their connection to parallel operation. This process is extremely dynamic and the response of control system results from continuous changes in many physical parameters (temperature, pressure and flow of the working medium, etc.). An accuracy of modeling this process influences int. al. on: quality of the automatic synchronizer diagnostic tests in the laboratory, as well as the possibility of evaluation of prospects for connection process in the power system, without the automatic synchronizer [. Automatics systems used for research and diagnosis of automatic synchronizers are known in the literature as and simulators [2, . To impose similar to real working conditions, it is required to implement an appropriate models of control systems. One of such models, representative for the larger population of objects, is model of control systems of angular velocity. Currently used models, e.g. [3, 4, 5, , allow to approximate the response of real object, or to impose higher restricted conditions of work, for example: related to the angular acceleration dω/dt, the size of overshoots and decay time of transitional characteristics, while accurate modeling the real working conditions using them is not possible. Furthermore, their use requires knowledge of the (often difficult to access) object parameters and time-consuming selection of manual procedure of certain substitute settings, occurring in these models. To eliminate inconveniences mentioned above, in the paper the proposal and mathematical modeling procedure is presented, which allow to obtain much more accurate transitional characteristics of real objects.