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.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, by assigning a unique identifier to each product allowed spectacular development of wireless monitoring and control applications. With the advances of tags with passive integrated circuits, operating without a self-contained energy source, extracting the needed energy from the energy of electromagnetic waves generated by an interrogator, RFID applications extended to processes held in harsh industrial environments. For textile articles, in industrial laundries, the RFID system with passive RFID tags involves specific architectures and building solutions. The paper analyses the weak points of actual passive UHF RFID tags and proposes solutions regarding the architecture and the materials used in construction of tags suitable for laundry applications. Thus, new requirements have been established to design passive RFID tags: they should be washable and wearable, robustness enough to operate in harsh environments, with a sufficiently long lifetime, and cost-efficient.

The focus of this paper is the investigation of electromagnetic environment characteristics, especially in open spaces for urban areas to understand the trends in terms of electromagnetic radiation. Electromagnetic radiation can create potential population risks if standard limits are exceeded. The measurements were done with a portable spectrum analyzer provided with an isotropic antenna and a portable computer for data acquisition, in seven areas of the Brasov city, Romania, representative from electromagnetic point of view. The statistic method of data processing has been applied. The obtained values of electric field intensity and electromagnetic field exposure ratios are under the limits imposed by ICNIRP regulation. The variability of measurements shows that the characteristics of electromagnetic environment should be regularly assessed in order to understand the trends in terms of electromagnetic radiation and to impose specific protective measures.

In the last years, because of pollution consequences within large urban areas, a growing interest appears in electric (EV) and hybrid vehicles (HEV) use. It demands for an efficient, reliable and economical motors and drives for electrical propulsion. A special research interest consists in searching and selecting for a suitable traction motor considering the vehicle architecture and dynamics. This paper investigates the main motor types for EV starting with dynamics and traction characteristics. Are presented extended speed range, working abilities and energy efficiency from vehicular system perspective. In this aim computer simulations and laboratory tests are accomplished. The combination between theoretical aspects, computer simulations and laboratory tests help to develop an easy selection of traction motors and drives dedicated to EV propulsion systems.

Extended use of permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) has brought the need to design motors that can comply with the latest requirements in terms of efficiency. This paper presents different configurations in the case of a 3 kW PMSM with two pole pairs, focusing on finding the optimal constructive solutions to ensure that it falls within the IE4 efficiency class. Six virtual prototypes were developed and simulated using the Altair FluxMotor software. A detailed comparison between the simulated versions was carried out in terms of overall efficiency, torque ripple, weight and flux density, with the focus on the nominal operating point. The results show that the virtual prototype with a relatively simple rotor design but higher stator slots number had the best results in terms of efficiency and torque ripple at the nominal operating point.

Nowadays great efforts are done in order to improve the performance of soft magnetic materials due to their wide use in industrial applications. This paper deals with a comparative analysis of the influence of the alloying elements on magnetic properties of several grades of electrical steels. The magnetic characteristics are obtained in the sinusoidal magnetization regime at low frequency, of 1 Hz, and as indicators of magnetic performance are proposed magnetic induction and density of magnetic energy corresponding to 2500 A/m magnetic field strength. The content of Si and Al and other elements are determined using the spark optical spectroscopy technique. Those alloying elements decrease the losses by increasing the electrical resistivity and modifying the grain size of the magnetic material. The results have shown that for electric steel grades with content of (0.5–2.5) wt. % Si and (0.02–1.2) wt. % Al, the magnetic induction indicator varies between (1.6–1.7) T, and the magnetic energy density indicator between (40–75) mJ/kg.