The battery thermal management is a very important factor which can affect the batteries performance and life span. This paper proposes a method for the thermal behaviour prediction of an energy storage device. For this, a superior lithium ion polymer battery was utilised, battery that is more often used in automotive domain due to its high energy and power density. The results obtained from the simulation model have been compared with the experimental results of the battery.

The paper presents experimental results obtained in the study of heavy metals transfer from soil to vegetables. The experiments for which the raw and statistically processed data are presented in this paper are preliminary experiments within an extensive research program of plant behaviour in soils contaminated with heavy metals. These experiments underlie the development of primary statistical mathematical models that are also presented in the paper. These experiments will also form the basis for far more consistent experiments that follow plants throughout the life cycle. The statistical mathematical models presented in this paper facilitate extracting important conclusions about how plants accumulate heavy metals as well as about the accumulation rate behaviour during experiments. Both experiments and mathematical models will form the basis of complex experiments and dynamic mathematical models in the next stage of research.

This article presents the results obtained through experimental research carried out with a machine for shredding woody plant residues (twigs, vine ropes), residues obtained from dry or green cuttings, in fruit or wine plantations. The obtained shredding is intended for utilization in the form of compost or biofuel (pellet type). The machine was designed and made by a group of researchers from INMA Bucharest, with the aim of developing the machine system made available to farmers, for mechanized work in small and medium-sized fruit plantations. The sizes of the fractions of the wood fragments resulting from the chopping process, their humidity and volumetric weight were determined. Using as raw material greener or drier branches, with dimensions between 10-45 mm, with an adjustment of the chopping drum at an average speed of 1400 rpm and an average speed of the conveyor chain of 0.425 m/s, wood chips with different sizes between 4 and 16 mm were obtained, the proportions varying from 13% to 16%. The average working capacity of the equipment was approx. 14.2 mc/h. Research will continue to determine the energy indices of the machine designed and made at INMA Bucharest, and the results will be presented in another article.

Heavy metals in contaminated soils have benefited from a considerable attention due to the possible risks for the human body. The current study has investigated the accumulation and transfer coefficient for three heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn) found in the contaminated soil with three concentrations (c1=1.5%, c2=3.0%, c3=4.5%, c4=6.0%), obtained by mixing the three metals, in the tomato fruit. The highest accumulation in the tomato fruits was recorded for zinc, then copper and the smallest for lead, for all four concentrations used. The transfer coefficient decreases as the concentration of heavy metals increases, so that for high heavy metals concentrations, the values of the transfer coefficient are very low, and for small heavy metals concentrations in the soil, the values for the transfer coefficient are higher. The assessment of accumulation and transfer of heavy metals in the fruits of tomatoes grown in the contaminated soil has concluded that all concentrations of the copper, lead and zinc mix have shown a low risk for human consumption.

Abstract. Medicinal plants contain biologically active substances with therapeutic value. Primary and advanced processing of medicinal plants is important for assuring an enhanced quantity of raw materials and preserving or increasing their valuable constituents. Obtaining available high quality phyto-therapeutic products is possible only by using state-of-the art technical equipment adapted to each plant requirements. The technological separation process of medicinal plants on sieves is a complex process and is influenced by many factors: sieve charge, sieve dimension, components of vegetal material, dimension difference between plant fragments and the holes they pass through, sieve cinematic regime, plant humidity and their content of bioactive substances, etc. Based on correlations between the presented elements one can establish the technological parameters of the sorting process so that to make a quality separation. This paper presents experimental data on the separation process of nettle herb (Urtica dioica) and chicory herb (Cichorium intybus) on the length of flat vibrating sieves depending on the flow rate and sieve angle of inclination. In order to find an optimal separating efficiency and to characterize the separation process of nettle herb and chicory on the length of flat vibrating sieves we focus on: the separation intensity on the sieve length, cumulative separation on the sieve length and the efficiency of the separation process. The results are important for: medicinal plant processing, separating nettle and chicory herbs, designers of machines for separating medicinal plants and obtaining high quality phyto-therapeutic products.