Characteristics of Ecological Energy Carriers Used in Agricultural Technology

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper deals with the testing of Shell Naturelle HF-E 46 hydraulic fluid and suggests its application for agricultural machinery, however, it does not present data of conventional hydraulic fluids adopted and suggested by the agricultural machinery industry. I suggest adding the information of the conventional hydraulic fuid with respect to the parameters analyzed in the research to contribute with the results and discussions. Because the development of the research seems to deal with the specific test of hydraulic fluid, distancing itself from the proposed objective.

Check the units of measure in Table 1.

Revise the conclusions, as much of the text seems to be focused on results and discussion.

Author Response

Thank you very much for the reminder. The research described in this study really deals with the test of a specific hydraulic fluid that can be used in agricultural machinery. The reason why we did not provide any information about ordinary, or conventional liquids in the article is that at our department we are dealing with research on ecological energy carriers, which are on the one hand synthetic or plant-based. In this study, we do not focus on the comparison of ecological fluid and conventional fluid, it is about researching the properties of ecological fluid and its subsequent analysis in order to find out how it degrades when pressure and temperature increase. I apologize, but I do not understand how it is meant that we are distancing ourselves from the proposed goal.

When we first submitted the article, we were suggested to add research results in the form of discussion from other authors to the CONCLUSION section (which we did, of course). In short, the result of our finding, which is presented in the article, is that after working for 200 hours, taking the liquid and its subsequent analysis, there was an increase in some contaminants and a decrease in some additives due to their activation, but not to such an extent that we the liquid was marked as unsatisfactory.

The units in Tab.1 have been corrected.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The article focuses on the properties of ecological energy carriers, which are used in agricultural and forestry technology. The aim of the article is to de-scribe the degradation of the working fluid from the point of view of the atomic emission spectrometer, which is used for the purpose of monitoring contaminants and additive elements. Authors have research changes in the individual properties of transmission-hy-draulic fluids, as well as to monitor their impact on individual elements of the hydraulic circuit.

After we have reviewed this article, we suggest the following changes.

1. Is the use of agricultural technology too broad because the test was only carried out on the test stand?

2. There is no definite quantitative result in the abstract.

3. In the introduction part, the introduction of the author's work is not compact enough, which is mixed with other people's research results. It is suggested that the narrative should be divided into at least two paragraphs.

4. This paper does not specify how the pressure exerted by the hydraulic pump changes from one value to another. It is suggested to show it in the form of pictures.

“… was loaded with pressure of 22.5 MPa for 0.5 second, with pressure of 18.5 MPa for 0.5 second and with pressure of 0 MPa also for 0.5 second.”

5. The hydraulic components shown in figure 1 are suggested to be properly adjusted in size to avoid unclear identification.

6. The line descriptions of figure 3 and figure 4 can be placed in the blank space in the picture to save pages.

7. What are the pollutants referred to below?

“Laboratory measurements of hydraulic fluid transmissions show that the content of contaminants increased at lead 2.74 mg.kg-1 and potassium 0.41 mg.kg-1.”

8. The text typesetting next to figure 2 is problematic

9. The article does not count the properties of the fluid used in the test under environmentally sensitive conditions, and it does not explain the similarity between the test environment and the environmentally sensitive environment, so its applicability cannot be obtained.

10. There are few keywords.

11. Please confirm whether the expression "Table. 1." used in this sentence is correct, and check other similar expressions.

 “As mentioned at the beginning, tested working fluid was Shell Naturelle HF-E 46, the properties of which is given in Table. 1.”

Overall, this article is still very valuable. I would like the author to make revision based on the above suggestions.

Author Response

1. The laboratory equipment was constructed precisely for the purpose of shortening these tests, and also, we are testing several types of fluids in a short period of time, so this is the reason why thy test was carried out only on the laboratory equipment (laboratory test rig).

2. After the first submission of the article, we were asked to include in the abstract specific data about how long the test lasted and at what intervals the fluid was taken. The measured and processed data are subsequently presented in the RESULTS AND DISCUSSION sections. Another reason was the maximum number of characters used in the abstract, which is determined by the template.

3. At this point, the authors who are doing similar research in our department, or people with whom we collaborate on this research, are listed. Several people are involved in the investigation of the physico-chemical properties of fluids at our workplace, and in most cases it is a matter of cooperation. I apologize if I misunderstood point 3 and your comment. If so just let me know. If so, please just let me know.

4. In this case, the change in pressure is handled by means of an electro-hydraulic proportional pressure valve. Three values ​​were determined, which are given in the studies, then the times, how long the given pressure value lasts, are given. For the specification, it is a simulation of the work of the work equipment connected to the tractor via a three-point hitch. Thanks for the reminder to attach pictures, but unfortunately we don't have them available.

5. I have enlarged the image of the hydraulic diagram, and the legend that describes the individual elements of the hydraulic device is listed below this diagram. Just to add, the image was originally embedded in a small format to avoid increasing the pages.

6. Removed two lines from the image 3 and 4 descriptions and resized the images as well.

7. Contaminants in this case are lead and potassium, but in addition, another element whose value increased during the test and did not appear in the liquid as an additive can also be a contaminant.

8. The typesetting of the text for figure 2 has been edited to highlight important terms.

9. As mentioned, the laboratory equipment is designed to be able to test several types of fluids in a short period of time. This liquid has so far only been tested in laboratory conditions, while we continue to test this fluid using a different method. Subsequently, however, it is planned to use the given liquid directly in the environment and therefore directly in operation in practice, where we hope to obtain interesting results that can be processed and compared.

10. We add another key words.

11. Yes, this statement is correct. In Tab. 1 contains the properties of the tested fluid, which are given by the manufacturer.

 

I want to thank you for your time and your comments. 

 

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx