The new perspectives of the water–energy nexus, water-for-energy and energy-for-water, emphasize the current and future need to find ways to produce as much energy with as low an amount of water as possible and to obtain as much water with as little energy as possible. In order to promote and implement the concept of sustainable development, the understanding of the dynamic and complex relationship between water and energy is crucial, especially in the context of energy transition. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the recent approaches regarding water and energy and the interlink during implementation, operation and servicing of various water and energy production systems. This endeavor is placed in the context of current energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. A qualitative and quantitative analysis is performed with various literature solutions from water-for-energy and energy-for-water perspectives for a broader view of the impact of implementing novel technologies in terms of resource use. Technological and managerial innovations are discussed and placed in a transdisciplinary context with a focus on establishing key approaches for achieving sustainable development goals.

This paper deals with the design and fabrication of durable radio frequency identification (RFID) passive tag with inductive coupling, operating at ultra-high frequencies, dedicated to the identification and monitoring of professional textile products. A reliable architecture for the tag transponder is proposed, featuring a minimal number of galvanic contacts: The two pins of the integrated circuit are connected to the terminals of the inductive coupling loop by using surface mount technology welding. The transponder is encapsulated with an electrically insulating material which is waterproof and resistant to mechanical, thermal, and chemical stress. The antenna is inductively coupled to the transponder through a double loop which substantially reduces the length of the tag and significantly improves the coupling factor, enabling the tag to operate at a low power level. The reliability and flexibility of the tag is obtained by using appropriate materials and manufacturing methods for the ultra-high frequency (UHF) antenna by embroidering a multifilament stainless steel wire on textile support. The washing cycle tests have validated the applicability of this flexible and washable RFID tag, and its electromagnetic performance was experimentally assessed in an independent laboratory.

Many applications require galvanic isolation between the circuit where the current is flowing and the measurement device. While for AC, the current transformer is the method of choice, in DC and, especially for low currents, other sensing methods must be used. This paper aims to provide a practical method of improving the sensitivity and linearity of a giant magnetoresistance (GMR)-based current sensor by adapting a set of design rules and methods easy to be implemented. Our approach utilizes a multi-trace current trace and a double differential GMR based detection system. This essentially constitutes a planar coil which would effectively increase the usable magnetic field detected by the GMR sensor. An analytical model is developed for calculating the magnetic field generated by the current in the GMR sensing area which showed a significant increase in sensitivity up to 13 times compared with a single biased sensor. The experimental setup can measure both DC and AC currents between 2–300 mA, with a sensitivity between 15.62 to 23.19 mV/mA, for biasing fields between 4 to 8 Oe with a detection limit of 100 μA in DC and 100 to 300 μA in AC from 10 Hz to 50 kHz. Because of the double differential setup, the detection system has a high immunity to external magnetic fields and a temperature drift of the offset of about −2.59 × 10⁻⁴ A/°C. Finally, this setup was adapted for detection of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) which can be used to label biomolecules in lab-on-a-chip applications and preliminary results are reported.

The vibrations developed during the work represent one of the main mechanical problems of the electric motors. Their frequencies and levels can cause large damages of different electrical motors parts. This is the reason why even in the design phase it is useful to be known the values of the natural frequencies of the parts. This can be made in two different ways: using modern capabilities of finite element method (FEM) or doing experimental modal analysis. The study developed in the present paper refers to the modal analysis of a three-phase squirrel cage induction of 1.5 kW, for both, for its elements and, for motor and the electric motor as an assembly. The FEM modal analysis was applied using ABAQUS software for assembly of the 7 elements of the motor. The 3D model was developed, mechanical connections being of screw type. The theoretical model was validated by experiments, with impact hammer test method. The validation confirms the assumptions made for the 3D model and the designed model can be use, as example, for other FEM based modal analysis. The natural frequencies obtained both by FEM and experimental method does not overlap on the working frequencies.

The present heating method which uses the cooling system of the internal combustion engine of the vehicle takes a lot of time to heat the interior air. In order to improve the heating process, auxiliary devices are required. The new innovative techniques propose as auxiliary heating device positive temperature coefficient heaters. For a better control of the temperature, the parameters of these devices should be known. This paper deals with a detailed description of the new types of positive temperature coefficient heaters used in automotive field. The test bench system developed for determining the parameters and characteristics of the positive temperature coefficient heater is described. The obtained data of the thermal resistance and voltage-current characteristics are used for controlling the temperature in order to design and control the positive temperature coefficient heaters properly.

Currently, major technical challenges linked to the implementation strategy of Distributed Generation (DG) are associated with new studies and researches regarding the impact of renewable energy sources on the parameters of power transmission and distribution networks. To increase the energy efficiency and to reduce the power losses in power distribution networks, specific measures are proposed: increasing the voltage of operation, introduction of control systems, reconfiguration of power networks, energy demand management, etc. Knowing that the impact of DG on power losses is cardinal to substantiate methods of structural improvements in planning distribution networks. In this paper the influence of DG on the low-voltage networks is analyzed, using the facilities offered by the NEPLAN software. Power losses analysis is done on a low voltage test grid of 17 nodes in the cases when a DG unit is connected in the node having the lowest voltage, and in the loading center of consumption. The proposed solution, placing the renewable source in the loading center of consumption, reduces energy losses by up to 57 %. The results and conclusions of this analysis could be extended to any low-voltage radial power distribution network.