Energy Optimization for Agriculture and Agroengineering Systems

The use of energy (and renewable energy, in particular) plays an important role in agriculture, where technologies are also being improved from year to year—agricultural production is growing, and machinery and systems are becoming more autonomous and robotic, where it is no longer possible to do without complex computing, optimization, planning, and working with large amounts of data.

This Special Issue, “Energy Optimization for Agriculture and Agroengineering Systems”, consists of the high-quality papers from academics and industry-related researchers in the areas of renewable energy systems, agricultural technologies, environmental bioengineering, energy saving technologies, environmental issues, modern crop and livestock issues, microbiological research, equipment and technologies for agriculture, issues of energy supply and reliability computing, control systems, robotics, and smart optimization to show the most recently advanced methods. The presented studies were carried out by scientists and researchers from around the world and were highly appreciated by peer reviewers in their respective fields of knowledge. The main objectives of the published works can be found below.

This research [1] is aimed at the assessing the impact of the ultraviolet radiation in the A, B, and C ranges (as additives to the main light) on general plan condition, the stress experienced by them, the pigment concentration in the leaves, and leaf reflective characteristics. This study [2] concentrates on the simulation modeling of a feed pusher robot using Simulink tools in the Matlab environment to facilitate robot modernization or to optimize the final cost for artificial testing of typical system elements and to reduce production costs. An article [3] is devoted to the relevant problem of increasing the efficiency of PV systems. The presented analysis discusses the available methods for improving the power generation of PV modules under partial shading. Mathematical models for power loss calculation were compiled, and they were based on the results of this analysis. Analytical and theoretical studies [4] were conducted in working cattle facilities in order to identify infectious, parasitic, and nervous diseases in large horned cattle. The authors analyzed the correlations between the cows’ rumen temperature and pH, their locomotive activity, and environmental parameters, such as air temperature and relative humidity, in the cowsheds, and then they constructed graphs of inter-correlating functions. The research [5] examines the impact of sectionalizing on power supply reliability and reviews the literature on sectionalizing unit allocation strategies in electrical networks. This paper describes the experience of the use of sectionalizing units with listing strengths and weaknesses of adopted technical solutions, and it describes the new structure of sectionalizing units. The work [6] aimed at evaluating the fertilising value of the solid fraction of a digestate as an organic amendment and as a source of nitrogen to crops replacing mineral N. The results showed a soil organic amendment effect of the solid fraction, with a beneficial effect on soil organic matter, soil pH, and exchangeable bases. In another work [7], the authors aimed to evaluate the possibility of using overpressure in the digester to improve the efficiency of codigestion of common municipal organic waste–sewage sludge and the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. An article [8] examines existing methods for assessing the homogeneity of feed mixes in the feed industry and agriculture. As an alternative to existing approaches, the authors offer a low-cost online technology to assess the homogeneity of feed. A paper [9] describes the use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy as a non-targeted tool to monitor variations in the metabolic profile of anaerobic bioreactor microcosms, simulating the treatment of food production wastewater exposed to benzalkonium chloride, a key quaternary ammonium compound. An effective model for a speed control loop is proposed in the paper [10], using a fixed-mode proportional integral controller based on an upper and lower limit torque limiter. In this model, torque is developed via a closed-loop control operation to attain the required speed assigned by the user. In work [11], an enrichment culture of a thermophilic butyrate-oxidizing syntrophic consortium was obtained by gradually increasing the initial butyrate concentration from 20 to 170 mM. This study revealed that the thermophilic butyrate-oxidizing consortia, as bioaugmented cultures, could be used as a potential strategy to alleviate the high organic load and volatile fatty acid stress of anaerobic digestion.

Thus, the presented works contribute to solving the issues of development, research, and optimization of energy processes and agroengineering systems, where their results will be of interest to specialists, researchers, and scientists in the considered areas. Of course, only a small part of the issues that are relevant today are touched upon in the Special Issue “Energy Optimization for Agriculture and Agroengineering Systems”. However, the authors have performed significant work in their research and will make a significant contribution to solving the issues of energy optimization for agriculture and agroengineering systems in the future.