This paper focuses on the interdisciplinary research on the design of a smart gateway for managing the dynamic error code testing collected and generated by the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) from the automotive industry. The techniques used to exchange information between the ECU code errors and knowledge bases, based on data fusion methods, allowed us to consolidate and ensure data reliability, and then to optimize processed data in our distributed electronic systems, as the basic state for Industry 4.0 standards. At the same time, they offered optimized data packets when the gateway was tested as a service integrator for ECU maintenance. The embedded programming solutions offered us safe, reliable, and flexible data packet management results on both communication systems (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Provider (TCP/IP) and Controller Area Network (CAN) Bus) on the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) tested for diesel, high-pressure common rail engines. The main goal of this paper is to provide a solution for a smart, hardware–software, Industry-4.0-ready gateway applicable in the automotive industry.

This paper introduces a novel model involving an integro-differential equation of fractional order characterized by multiple nonlinear terms with Caputo fractional derivatives. We derive conditions ensuring the existence, uniqueness, and stability of the mild solution. Furthermore, we explore a coupled system that includes the proposed equations and extend our analysis to an equation featuring three nonlinearities. The study utilizes Banach's, Krasnoselskii's, and Schaefer's fixed point theorems. Additionally, we investigate various forms of Hyers-Ulam stability for the equation and the coupled system. To demonstrate the practical implications of our findings, illustrative examples are provided.

This paper presents a novel approach to power management techniques in energy storage system (ESS) interoperability with the energy power system (EPS) by inserting a SCADA controlled directional protection relay for improving the mode switching sequence. According with latest European standards, all necessary measures for re-synchronization and reconnection for health work of the system must be taken. The proposed approach intends to improve the “interface” between storage systems and electric power grid by using a directional relay which provides interoperability improvement by automatic recognizing and differentiating the switching sequence of the mode of operation from the fault mode. Simulated results from a small scale electrical generating system are provided. The results demonstrate that the proposed power management solution is technically ideal to achieve high quality energy while retaining the stability of the power grid network. The interoperability of PHS systems integrated with the electric power grid usually leads to perturbations in terms of frequency of the generated voltage, and for improving it we designed an automatic treating and re-connecting software module. This work regards the importance of producing electricity from green and renewable energy sources, while retaining the stability and reliability of the power grid. ESS systems are widely used to help balancing of intermittent forms of load demand on the electrical power grid at specific key moments. In this article, the pumped hydro storage (PHS) technologies are proposed as an economical way to utilize smoothly the off-peak energy or surplus energy, by pumping water to a reservoir at a higher level. During peak load periods, the stored water is discharged through the reversible pump-turbine to generate electricity to meet the peak demand controlled by designed SCADA application.

Waste cooking oils represent an important household and institutional waste stream with significant environmental impacts when disposed of improperly. In the context of the circular economy, this study investigates their valorization through conversion into solid soaps by cold-process saponification. The oils were pretreated by mechanical filtration, chemical purification with 10% NaCl solution and natural purification using eggshells, and their quality was assessed through total polar compounds, acid, peroxide and iodine values. Raman spectroscopy showed similar molecular profiles of the soaps obtained from the two purification treatments. The purified oils were converted into solid soaps using sodium hydroxide with a 5% superfat, and essential oils of Pimpinella anisum L., Ocimum basilicum L. and Coriandrum sativum L., characterized by GC-FID, were incorporated to provide an additional functional characteristic. The soaps were evaluated for physicochemical characteristics and antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. All soaps showed antibacterial activity, with inhibition zones up to 10.87 mm against S. aureus and 7.77 mm against E. coli for basil essential oil soap. Two-way ANOVA confirmed significant effects of sample type and concentration (p < 0.001), the essential-oil soaps exceeding the base soaps by 0.83 and 1.88 mm, while no statistically significant difference was detected between soaps prepared from the two purification treatments. Waste cooking oils thus constitute a potential secondary raw material for functional soap production. The proposed approach demonstrate that, following appropriate pretreatment, waste cooking oils constitute a viable secondary raw material for the production of solid soaps with satisfactory quality and preliminary in vitro antimicrobial activity, supporting waste valorization and contributing to the development of circular economy approaches.

Growing interest in waste valorization and sustainable cleaning products motivated the development and characterization of an eco-friendly powder detergent based on soap derived from waste cooking oil and enriched with juniper essential oil. Waste sunflower oil was pretreated and, together with coconut oil, subjected to cold saponification; the resulting soap base was incorporated at 30% into a detergent formulated with sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium percarbonate and natural zeolite. The raw materials—waste sunflower oil, coconut oil, clinoptilolite and juniper essential oil—were characterized using physicochemical analyses: DSC for coconut oil and Raman spectroscopy for oils, XRF for zeolite, and physicochemical analysis and GC-FID for the essential oil. The soap exhibited pH 9.93, 14.8% moisture, 24 cm foam capacity, and a 3.0 g/min dissolution rate, versus pH 9.33, 10.5% moisture, 12 cm foam capacity, and 1.0 g/min dissolution rate for the detergent. In vitro antibacterial activity was assessed against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus by agar well diffusion. At 500 mg/mL, inhibition zones reached 8.53 and 17.00 mm for the soap and 7.47 and 15.03 mm for the detergent. Two-way ANOVA confirmed significant effects of sample type and concentration (p < 0.001), with the strain being the dominant source of variation (η²_p = 0.983); both products reached 71.0–87.7% of a commercial reference and were more effective against S. aureus. Antibacterial activity decreased significantly with decreasing concentration (p < 0.001 for all pairwise comparisons), while both formulations showed greater efficacy against S. aureus than against E. coli. The results demonstrate the potential for valorizing waste cooking oil into functional cleaning products and highlight the possibility of contribution of juniper essential oil to the antimicrobial performance of the formulations, supporting the development of sustainable and environmentally compatible detergent products within a circular economy approach.