Benchmarking of Advanced Control Strategies for a Simulated Hydroelectric System

This paper analyses and develops the design of advanced control strategies for a typical hydroelectric plant during unsteady conditions, performed in the Matlab and Simulink environments. The hydraulic system consists of a high water head and a long penstock with upstream and downstream surge tanks, and is equipped with a Francis turbine. The nonlinear characteristics of hydraulic turbine and the inelastic water hammer effects were considered to calculate and simulate the hydraulic transients. With reference to the control solutions addressed in this work, the proposed methodologies rely on data-driven and model-based approaches applied to the system under monitoring. Extensive simulations and comparisons serve to determine the best solution for the development of the most effective, robust and reliable control tool when applied to the considered hydraulic system

Assessing the Origin of Phosphonic Acid Residues in Organic Vegetable and Fruit Crops: The Biofosf Project Multi-Actor Approach

Recently, on the EU market, phosphonic acid residues were detected in many organic goods, although fosetyl-derivates and phosphite salts are not allowed by Reg. EC n. 889/2009. The BIOFOSF project "Solving phosphite issue in organic fruit and horticultural crops" aimed at verifying whether the phosphonic acid contamination could be due to unproper use of fertilizers/plant protection products by organic farmers, or to the plant's ability to self-produce it spontaneously. Applying a participative approach, field case-studies on potato, rocket lettuce, and pears were carried out (organic vs. integrated systems). The ethyl-phosphonic acid and phosphonic acid were determined in soil, tubers, leaves, fruits, tree woody organs, used fertilizers, and plant protection products to correlate them to the applied farming management. Tested crops were not able to self-synthetize phosphonic acid, being its detection due to: (i) external inputs not allowed in organic farming; (ii) fertilizers/plant protection products allowed in organic farming, contaminated by fosetyl or phosphite. In addition, it was found that tree crops can stock the phosphite in their woody organs, then translocate it from branches to leaves and fruits over time. Regression models applied to field data showed that fruit trees decontamination could take more than 5 years, depending on the starting value of phosphonic acid contamination, useful to define the phosphite maximum residue limit in organic fruit crops

Comparison of different (biosensor, spectrophotometric and fluorimetric) methods for measuring the antioxidant properties of white and red wines

in Eurosensors, Czech Technical University, Pragu

Biosensors for determination of total and natural antioxidant capacity of red and white wines: comparison with other spectrophotometric and fluorimetric methods

Research was carried out to experimentally evaluate the antioxidant capacity of several red and white wines using a superoxide dismutase (SOD) biosensor recently developed by the present authors. Measurements were performed by comparing the biosensor response to increasing concentration of the superoxide radical produced in solution by the xanthine/xanthine oxidase system, both in the presence and absence of the test sample. The results were compared with those of two traditional spectrophotometric methods and of a spectrofluorimetric method described in literature. Lastly, also the polyphenol, sulfite and ascorbic acid contents of the different wine samples examined were measured using a tyrosinase biosensor, a sulfite oxidase biosensor and an ascorbate oxidase biosensor, respectively. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Solving Phosphites Emergency In Organic Fruit And Vegetables: The Participatory Biofosf Project

Quality and safe food is an imperative in organic production. Recently, in EU market some organic fruits and vegetables were positive (>0.01 mg/kg) to phosphonic acid (i.e., phosphite), despite fosetyl-Al or phosphite are not allowed as plant protection products in Reg. EC n.889/2009. In 2016, the Italian Ministry of Agricolture funded the BIOFOSF project to the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, which promoted a partecipatory approach among researchers, farmers and control bodies for solving this issue. The endogenous production of phophonic acid was not observed, while it was evidenced that its origin is due only to external inputs. A contamination of some plant protection products (PPP) and organic fertilizers allowed in organic farming was found, thus suggesting a deep revision of their official control system

Assessing the Origin of Phosphonic Acid Residues in Organic Vegetable and Fruit Crops: The Biofosf Project Multi-Actor Approach

Recently, on the EU market, phosphonic acid residues were detected in many organic goods, although fosetyl-derivates and phosphite salts are not allowed by Reg. EC n. 889/2009. The BIOFOSF project “Solving phosphite issue in organic fruit and horticultural crops” aimed at verifying whether the phosphonic acid contamination could be due to unproper use of fertilizers/plant protection products by organic farmers, or to the plant’s ability to self-produce it spontaneously. Applying a participative approach, field case-studies on potato, rocket lettuce, and pears were carried out (organic vs. integrated systems). The ethyl-phosphonic acid and phosphonic acid were determined in soil, tubers, leaves, fruits, tree woody organs, used fertilizers, and plant protection products to correlate them to the applied farming management. Tested crops were not able to self-synthetize phosphonic acid, being its detection due to: (i) external inputs not allowed in organic farming; (ii) fertilizers/plant protection products allowed in organic farming, contaminated by fosetyl or phosphite. In addition, it was found that tree crops can stock the phosphite in their woody organs, then translocate it from branches to leaves and fruits over time. Regression models applied to field data showed that fruit trees decontamination could take more than 5 years, depending on the starting value of phosphonic acid contamination, useful to define the phosphite maximum residue limit in organic fruit crops