In order to conserve perishable food and extend the permissible storage and marketing period, one of the best methods that uses artificial frost is freezing. The action of low temperatures leads to a slowing down of the modifying processes, both nutritionally and organoleptically. The researches presented within the paper aims to determine some specific parameters for the freezing process using an experimental model of a fast freezing equipment with liquid nitrogen. Experimental researches use two species of horticultural products, namely blueberries and green bean pods. The results indicate that the values of total freezing time, average linear freezing rate and liquid nitrogen consumption for quick freezing of blueberries were higher than those recorded for green bean pods. Also, with the lowering of the set temperature inside the freezing chamber, the freezing time from 0°C to the temperature of -15°C decreases, resulting in lower freezing times, higher average linear freezing rates and liquid nitrogen consumptions with increasing tendency.

In order to be used as food supplements, materials (medicinal and aromatic plants, other materials containing active principles, etc.) need to be chopped and sorted by size, depending on the field of use: herbal tea, suspensions, tinctures, etc. The paper presents the results of research on the sorting process of some materials containing active principles (yarrow, alfalfa and willow bark) using a sorting machine provided with 2 electro vibrators fitted on each side of the framework within which 3 sieves with a mesh size of: 2.15, 4 and 8 mm are fitted, changing the oscillation regime of the sieves by adjusting the angle of the electro vibrators, in order to identify the optimal sorting regime.

Acoustic power is a measure which must be specified on the outdoor used equipments and its determination depends on several factors: the place where the equipment works (indoor or outdoor), the placement of the microphones for its determination (the distance less or greater from the noise source), the shape of the measurement surface (parallelepiped or hemispherical). This paper aims to analyze the values obtained in these situations and interpret the data to determine the influence that each factor has on the acoustic power compared with the values obtained (permissible) according to Directive regarding noise emission D 2000/14/EC.

The article includes research on the production of essential oils from medicinal plants by applying water vapour distillation, the method most commonly used for the extraction of essential oils from plants. The results consist of extracting the essential oil from 2 types of medicinal plants: lavender and mint with the help of the EUV installation. The paper highlights the important aspects of obtaining quality products, on economically advantageous terms, addressing both specialists, farmers in larger farms and family associations. The article presents the experimental research results on obtaining essential oils from medicinal plants. Oils obtained by this method contain only volatile components, while wax and volatile resins are not found in the finished product.

This paper presents the interaction system within the mechanical soil processing process, consisting of two large elements, the metal of the tool and the soil. Due to the two main forces acting on the chisel knives—friction and impact with the sandy soil—the wear of these chisel knives was determined. To determine the wear, a stand was used which allowed testing chisel-type knives in laboratory conditions by changing their functional parameters: working depth, angle of the knives to work the soil, working speed, humidity and granulation of the test environment. The present paper presents an application of the Archard-type wear law to the contact between a chisel-type knife and sandy soil (wet and dry sand). The theoretical model regarding the Archard wear coefficient considered three forms of surface damage (shake down, ratcheting and micro-cutting). The sand was considered spherical and rigid and the surface of the knife was flat. The experimental model considered real steel knives with different surface hardness and operation under controlled conditions of sand granulation, humidity, attack angle, depth of penetration and speed of sliding. The theoretical and experimental results highlight the wear behavior of chisel knives (Archard coefficient) in wet and dry sand.