Batch Production Research Articles

Fabrication of the mini multi-function pepper machine

Pepper is one of the most significant agricultural products in Sarawak, Malaysia currently in the fifth largest pepper producer in the world after Vietnam, India, Brazil and Indonesia. Black pepper and white pepper both come from the same plant, but they are prepared differently. Black pepper is made by cooking dried unripe fruit, meanwhile white pepper is made by cooking and drying the ripe seeds. The production contributes to the aspects of economy and plantation rate of the state. However, the process of pepper through manual work is time consuming and a tough process which requires commitment and hard labor from the farmers. Therefore, the objective of this research is to fabricate the Mini Multi-Function Pepper Machine for small or medium enterprise by reducing the time of drying process. This fabrication machine consists of all the procedures involved in the production of white pepper, which are soaking, heating, drying and grinding process. Through the operation observed, this machine was able to undergo production in 208 to 300 minutes for 300g of white pepper, in comparison to the traditional way that needs approximately 1 to 4 weeks to undergo one production batch of white pepper.

Quality of raw cow’s milk intended for processing and retail sale from Eastern Poland

The study assessed the quality of raw cow’s milk intended for processing and retail sale (n = 595 samples and n = 19 production batches, respectively) and the relationship between the number of somatic cell and the fat and protein contents. All milk samples were tested for total bacteria count, somatic cell count, antibiotic residues, and fat and protein contents. Additionally, raw drinking milk samples were tested for counts of Enterobacteriaceae, Escherichia coli, coagulase-positive staphylococci, enterococci, and the presence of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. In raw milk samples, TBC, SCC, and fat and protein contents ranged from 4.9 × 103 to 2.3 × 105 CFU mL–1, from 9.9 to 407.8 thou. mL–1, from 3.2% to 5.9% and from 3.0% to 4.8%, respectively, while TBC, SCC, and fat and protein contents in raw drinking milk samples ranged from 1.8 × 106 to 3.3 × 106 CFU mL–1, from 454 to 696.9 thou. mL–1, from 1.67% to 2.88% and from 3.11% to 3.41%, respectively. The mean counts of Enterobacteriaceae, E. coli, coagulase-positive staphylococci, enterococci in raw drinking milk were 4.0 × 105 CFU mL–1, 1.4 × 102 CFU mL–1, 2.4 × 104 CFU mL–1, and 2.2 × 105 CFU mL–1, respectively. L. monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and antibiotic residues were not detected in any of the samples tested. The study showed that 95% of the raw milk samples were of satisfactory quality, while 100% of the raw drinking milk samples were of unsatisfactory quality in relation to the regulatory thresholds. Additionally, raw drinking milk samples were a vehicle of potentially pathogenic bacteria. The somatic cell count did not affect the fat and protein content in the analysed milk.

Study of photovoltaic integrated prefabricated components for assembled buildings based on sensing technology supported by solar energy

Abstract In recent years, domestic and international policies to support energy-efficient buildings have been intensively introduced, and a consensus has been reached in the direction of green buildings. Building photovoltaic integration is a key technology to solve the demand for electricity in energy-efficient buildings. Meanwhile, prefabricated assembly house construction, as a common construction technology in the current building field, has the advantages of a short construction period, low project cost, a wide range of applications, and high structural stability. Green building and building industrialization are the direction of future construction industry development, combining building photovoltaic (PV) integration with assembly building, breaking down the whole structure into simple components in the factory standardization, batch production, and then on-site assembly, can reduce the mold cost, speed up the construction speed, and improve economic efficiency. The PV solar integrated assembled facade is in line with the concept of energy saving, low carbon, and environmental protection, with significant social benefits, which helps to promote rapidly in the market. In this article, by analyzing the performance and characteristics of PV modules, we propose the design method of PV-integrated prefabricated components for assembled buildings based on sensing technology, extract relevant design parameters from the database of building PV-integrated components, and test the feasibility of the modeling scheme in four stages of engineering design. The use of the results shows that the method of this article can target to improve the accuracy of PV-integrated prefabricated components, ensure the efficiency of component production and processing, and play an important role in supporting the widespread application of modern construction technology for building PV-integrated prefabricated assemblies.

Inventory Classification with Limitations in the Number of Changeovers and Space for Inventory

This research addresses an inventory classification problem in a company that manufactures plastic pallets. Classification of the inventory is difficult because it is subject to two restrictions: the number of changeovers and the size of inventory storage. A mathematical model is first proposed to maximize the fill rate by classifying all product items into four groups. Due to all items can be classified based on the monthly demand, in descending order. The present study then proposed a procedure to find the classification that is most efficient. According to the experimental results, the maximum fill rate in the current situation is 89.85%. The proposed methodology also tested different production batches and levels of demand. The proposed methodology was found to be appropriate for practical application.

Monitoreo de la confiabilidad del sistema hombre-máquina del área de mecanizado mediante la distribución de Weibull

This publication presents the development of a method that seeks to monitor the parameters β (shape) and η (scale) for each component-subsystem combination following the Weibull distribution, necessary for the calculation of the reliability of the man-machine system in the machining area. This system defines the workshops of the metal-mechanic, with high-mix and low-volume batch production where conventional and Computerized Numerical Control (CNC) machines are involved, which share the manufacturing of parts that sometimes are unique, or their manufacturing period is short. The design of the man-machine system is based on the analysis of the failures of non-conforming parts in the machining area and on the failure rates, which the statistical model is developed for its evaluation, considering the 2-parameter Weibull distribution, and a redundant system with series-parallel configuration. The results obtained were based on the theoretical-practical, using mathematical and statistical models, as well as the Study Case. With the use of mathematical and statistical models, it is demonstrated that the probability of failure (risk) of the man-machine system is time-dependent and is generated by mechanical type stresses, which occur in the manufacture of parts.

Electric discharge aided surface post-treatment of laser powder bed fused non-planar metallic components for enhanced form accuracy

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of metals is an advanced technology gaining popularity in the manufacturing domain for producing near net shape products. The feasibility in batch production and design freedom highlights the promising scope of LPBF over conventional fabrication methods. However, loss of geometrical and dimensional accuracy is a critical challenge in LPBF due to solidification induced volumetric shrinkage and formation of surface irregularities. The aforementioned challenge gets aggravated whenever the fabricated components are non-planar. Studies on post-processing induced modification of dimensional and form accuracy of LPBF components is limited in literature. Moreover, the existing post-treatment operations using laser source, chemicals and mechanical forces exhibit limitations in ensuring desired geometrical accuracy in LPBF components. Therefore, the feasibility evaluation of integrating an alternate post-processing method with LPBF in improving geometrical accuracy become meaningful and worth exploring. Thus, the present study investigates the efficacy of a low energy thermo-electric post-processing method called wire electrical discharge polishing (WEDP) in ensuring geometrical form and dimensional accuracy of LPBF components. The study proposes a mathematical model which discloses the factors to be considered for dimension compensation in computer aided design (CAD) model. The results of the present study indicate that the proposed approach can impart notable reduction in form deviation leading to improved geometrical accuracy. The substantial error in terms of circularity over LPBF curved specimens were drastically reduced after WEDP process. Moreover, the cylindricity of curved specimens was improved by ~80 %. Despite the reduction in flatness error to ~7 μm, the irregularities pertaining to the edges were successfully removed from inclined LPBF surfaces resulting in sharp edged profile. The polishing speed was observed to be strongly dependent on the stair-stepping effect over vertically built LPBF surface. The discharge energy in WEDP played a vital role in influencing the circularity and surface integrity of the processed surface. Furthermore, the thermal impact of WEDP process leads to microstructural modification near the surface, whereas residual stress state after WEDP remains similar to LPBF condition. In a nutshell, the WEDP method looks promising in improving the geometrical and dimensional accuracy of LPBF components thereby enhancing the acceptability of parts in industrial applications.

Machine learning model and input batch management tool for the composition of new recycled polypropylene plastic material with reduced variability in target properties

Reducing the variability of recycled plastic materials is a prerequisite to encourage the safe substitution of virgin materials in new components manufacturing, hence promoting the circular economy (CE) to achieve the recyclability objectives set by the European Commission. To increase the use of recycled materials in some industrial sectors, such as in automotive, it is necessary to control and reduce their batch-to-batch variability to ensure that the required properties lay in reasonable ranges. In this work, through the analysis of the accumulated historical data from a recycling company, and with the help of machine learning (ML) techniques, a model is developed that predicts key material properties (melt flow index, ash content, Izod impact strength and percentage of shrinkage) in a mixture of recycled polypropylene (PP) batches from different sources. The model is validated correlating predictions with experimental measurements over new batch mixtures compounded on purpose. A batch management algorithm considers the entry flow of material batches received in the recycling company and proposes mixtures for the production of new recycled batches with reduced variability and controllable target properties. Furthermore, it proposes solutions for batch management to maximize the production output while maintaining the properties of the recycled material within target variability limits.

Research on a multilevel scheduling model for multi variety and variable batch production environments based on machine learning

Traditional manufacturing enterprises cannot adjust their production line structure in the short term. They face significant challenges in adapting to the rapidly changing market environment and meeting various variable batch production requirements. Building a suitable and convenient multi-layer planning and scheduling model is an important goal to solve the efficient operation of manufacturing enterprises. This paper proposes a planning and scheduling design that meets the needs of enterprise and the production workshop using the APERT-VC model through a top-down design methodology. APERT is an enterprise-level plan that uses attention mechanisms to collect job plan time and decomposes project plans into workshop plans through PERT technology. virtual command is workshop level plan management, which converts workshop plans into time series vectors and achieves rapid and comprehensive guidance of workshop resource planning for enterprises through multiple classification and decision-making. Through experiments, the algorithm achieved production scheduling accuracy improvement of over 30% compared to previous algorithms and a decision accuracy rate of over 90%. The first half of the new model solves the problem of collecting work time for multi variety and variable batch products, and improves the accuracy of algorithm input. The second half of the new algorithm innovatively combines image recognition technology with dispatcher behavior, achieving efficient simulation results.

Data-Driven Approach to Modeling Microfabricated Chemical Sensor Manufacturing.

We have developed a statistical model-based approach to the quality analysis (QA) and quality control (QC) of a gas micro pre-concentrator chip (μPC) performance when manufactured at scale for chemical and biochemical analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). To test the proposed model, a medium-sized university-led production batch of 30 wafers of chips were subjected to rigorous chemical performance testing. We quantitatively report the outcomes of each manufacturing process step leading to the final functional chemical sensor chip. We implemented a principal component analysis (PCA) model to score individual chip chemical performance, and we observed that the first two principal components represent 74.28% of chemical testing variance with 111 of 118 viable chips falling into the 95% confidence interval. Chemical performance scores and chip manufacturing data were analyzed using a multivariate regression model to determine the most influential manufacturing parameters and steps. In our analysis, we find the amount of sorbent mass present in the chip (variable importance score = 2.6) and heater and the RTD resistance values (variable importance score = 1.1) to be the manufacturing parameters with the greatest impact on chemical performance. Other non-obvious latent manufacturing parameters also had quantified influence. Statistical distributions for each manufacturing step will allow future large-scale production runs to be statistically sampled during production to perform QA/QC in a real-time environment. We report this study as the first data-driven, model-based production of a microfabricated chemical sensor.

Surveillance of Avian Metapneumovirus in Non-Vaccinated Chickens and Co-Infection with Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli.

Brazil is the second largest producer of broiler chicken in the world, and the surveillance of avian pathogens is of great importance for the global economy and nutrition. Avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) infection results in high rates of animal carcass losses due to aerosacculitis and these impacts can be worsened through co-infection with pathogenic bacteria, particularly Escherichia coli (APEC). The present study evaluated the seroprevalence of the main aMPV subtypes in unvaccinated broiler chickens from poultry farms in Brazil, as well as the clinical effects of co-infection with APEC. Blood samples, respiratory swabs, femurs, liver, and spleen of post-mortem broiler chickens were collected from 100 poultry production batches, totaling 1000 samples. The selection of the production batch was based on the history of systemic and respiratory clinical signs. The results indicated that 20% of the lots showed serological evidence of the presence of aMPV, with two lots being positive for aMPV-B. A total of 45% of batches demonstrated co-infection between aMPV and APEC. The results point to the need for viral surveillance, targeted vaccination, and vaccination programs, which could reduce clinical problems and consequently reduce the use of antibiotics to treat bacterial co-infections.

Activities of JSC “The Ukrainian research institute of refractories named after A. S. Berezhnoy” in the field of refractories standardization in 2021—2022

In 2021, JSC “URIR named after A. S. Berezhnoy” institute carried out scientific, scientific­technical, and organizational activities in the field of development, verification of national standards for refractories harmonized with ISO standards, provided scientific, methodological, information, and consulting services to provide regulatory documentation at the request of refractory enterprises of Ukraine.
 The Institute organized and coordinated the activities of the Technical Committee for Standardization “Refractories” (TC 7), prepared work plans and reports on the work performed by the TC 7 in 2021, and submitted them to the National Standardization Body — SE “UkrNDNC”.
 In 2021, JSC “URIR named after A. S. Berezhnoy” institute developed five technical specifications (TSs) for serial refractory products manufactured by refractory enterprises of Ukraine. Six technical specifications and eight changes to the current TSs for pilot batches of refractory products manufactured by the Institute were developed.
 The technical specifications and changes to the technical specifications were developed in accordance with the requirements of the modern standardization system of Ukraine, agreed upon with the enterprises — producers, as well as consumers, and checked for compliance with current legislation, technical regulations, as well as normative documents, and entered into the database “Technical Specifications of Ukraine” — SE “Kharkivstandartmetrologiya”, approved by the Technical Committee for Standardization “Refractories”.

Role of the National Control Laboratories in Ensuring the Quality, Safety and Efficacy of Blood Products in India

National control laboratories (NCLs) are responsible for testing of the batches of drugs prior to their release on the market. NCLs play an important role in strengthening a country’s regulatory systems. The National Institute of Biologicals is an NCL in India for the testing and coenzyme A (CoA) release of biologicals such as biotherapeutics, vaccines, and diagnostic medical devices. Every year, the National Institute of Biologicals tests and CoA releases thousands of batches of blood products following compendial specifications and schedule F, part XII-C (G) of Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945. This institute also participates in collaborative studies with the WHO for the establishment of international reference standards. In the last thirteen years (2010–2022), the blood products laboratory at this institute has evaluated 5159 batches of blood products, and 95 batches (1.84%) were declared as not of standard quality. As per CDSCO “the ‘not of standard’ quality products are categorized into three categories: A, B and C”. These 95 batches include all three categories (A, B and C) of “not of standard” quality blood products.

STATISTICAL EVALUATION OF MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS REINFORCEMENT OF CLASS A500С IN COILS

The paper presents the results of astatistical evaluation of the mechanical characteristics of reinforcement of class A500S in coils.The statistical evaluation was performed based on the results of tensile tests on 144 samples of 8 mm diameter rebar of A5000S class made of St3ps steel. The samples were taken from 8 coils of different batches of industrial production, 6 samples fromthe beginning, middle and end of each coil. During the tests, the main mechanical characteristics of A500C reinforcement were determined - yield strength (σТ), ultimate strength (σВ), ratio of ultimate strength to yield strength (σВ/σТ), relative elongation after rupture (δ5), state diagrams were drawn and the elastic modulus of the rebar (Es) was determined. The statistical evaluation was performed for each of the studied parameters (σТ, σВ,σВ/σТ, δ5) first separately for each skein for samples taken from the beginning, middle and end, then for all samples taken from the beginning, middle and end of all skeins, respectively, and finally forthe entire sample of 144 samples.According to the test data of samples from 8 coils, the yield strength of A500C reinforcement varied in the range of 532.80...631.10 MPa, the temporary resistance - 697.30...762.70 MPa, the relative elongation at break - 18.75...30.00 %, the ratioof temporary resistance to yield strength -1.185...1.344.No stable patterns of change in the mechanical characteristics of the reinforcement along the length of the coils were found. The difference between the average values of yield strength, temporary resistance, relative elongation, and the ratio of temporary resistance to yield strength along the length of the coils did not exceed 2 %.The values of the coefficients of variation and the range of the values of the corresponding mechanical characteristics of the samples taken from the beginning, middle and end of the coils were also close to each other.The yield strength of A500C rebar with a diameter of 8 mm in coils in this sample of samples was 0.9999, with a normalised value of 0.95. The coefficient of variation was 0.0328.For the established security of the calculated reinforcement resistance at the level of 0.998, the reliability factor for A500C class rebar with a diameter of 8 mm in coils was 1.109, which is less thanthe value of 1.15 accepted in the current regulatory documents.

Design and realization of a pre-production platform for wind turbine manufacturing

Addressing the challenge of rehearsing large-scale equipment assembly, particularly for oversized components like wind turbine towers, hubs, nacelles, and blades, which often face quality issues such as substandard workmanship and wide tolerances during on-site assembly, a system has been developed for simulating wind turbine assembly. This system enables digital wind turbine assembly by creating virtual and production process models and employing intelligent database analysis. It resolves the problem of the absence of pre-production for large-scale equipment, meets the batch production needs of the wind turbine manufacturing industry, enhances the safety of wind turbine operations, improves operator assembly skills, and boosts production efficiency. This platform has already been implemented in the wind turbine manufacturing industry, yielding significant economic benefits.

Experimental determination of fracture mechanical properties of cement-fibre boards reinforced with cellulose and PVA fibres for FE analysis

The paper deals with determination and classification of the mechanical parameters of cement fibre boards (CFB) with cellulose and PVA reinforcing fibres. The cement fibre material with reinforcing fibres is produced using the Hatschek process, where the fibres are arranged in the production direction and the curing is subsequently verified. Test experimental samples, specimens are created from the same production batch, and are produced orienting all of them in the production direction to determine the characteristic for an orthotropic material. The fracture mechanical parameters such as fracture energy and work of fracture were then determined and verified as well. Records will be made for the determined crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) and displacement (d) of test specimens. The loading directions are given to cover the determination of the mechanical parameters of the material. These measurements are intended to complement the mathematical model that uses FEA modelling for subsequent implementation of the material into civil engineering structures or details.

A Research on the Enhancing of the Formability of Stainless-Steel Sheet Sus304 by Multistage Single Point Incremental Sheet Forming (MSPIF) Technology

Although the Incremental Sheet Forming (ISF) technology has been studied and applied from the last decade of the previous century with more than 30 years of experiences and ameliorations of the researchers of this field, but the ability of deformation of the formed material sheet still has remained in a restrictive modest value. This sheet forming technology could be divided into 2 mains branches: Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) and Two Point Incremental Forming (TPIF) wherein the first one is usually applying in research and the second branch is used in production. The ISF is suitable for forming sheet for a single product or for small batch production with a great advantage of a no-need pestle and mold manufacture in advance, but the formability of formed sheet material cannot bigger than a limited formed angle of about 80o that depends on the material and the forming parameters. There are some ameliorations for increasing the formability of the formed sheet such as heating the formed sheet in Hot SPIF or Multistage SPIF (MSPIF)… All the effort and amelioration measures are confronted with different difficulties. In this paper, we concentrate to study on the MSPIF technology on stainless steel SUS304 by simulation method with the proof of experimental method. The results were also compared to the simple SPIF to show its own pros and cons on the related field such as the technology, the productivity and the lubrication.

Optimization of the Flow of Parts in the Process of Brake Caliper Regeneration Using the System Dynamics Method

Remanufacturing processes are one of the key pillars of the so-called closed-cycle economy. Unfortunately, the design and organization of such processes pose a significant problem, due to, among other things, the high variability of the process as a consequence of both the degree of wear and tear and the quality of the remanufactured components. This article presents a method for optimizing the flow of the brake caliper remanufacturing process in the MTO (make-to-order) model. For the optimization process, the system dynamics (SD) method, which belongs to a group of simulation methods, was used. The developed model allows, in particular, the prediction of the number of components at the input to the regeneration process and the method of defining the size of the transport batch and evaluating its impact on the length of the production cycle of the batch of regenerated products. The issues of staffing management at individual positions and the organization of transport operations with variable production batch sizes were also discussed. The provided experiments have shown that reducing the size of the transport batch contributes to shortening the production order execution time, both with standard and increased staffing.

A digital twin-based analysis method to assess geometric variations for parts in batch production

Background In mass production, engineers are more concerned with the statistical distribution accuracy of parts in mass production rather than just the qualification of individual parts. However, currently, the statistical analysis methods designed for product accuracy are relatively scattered, and most of them focus on nominal part models. Therefore, there is a need to design a statistical analysis method for parts in mass production based on the Digital Twin model. >Methods This paper presents a novel method to analyse the geometric variations of parts in batch production in the production line, which is based on digital twins to model and evaluate deviations contributed by the geometrical condition, assembly condition and material condition. Firstly, the statistical descriptions of the parts, particularly the features of a digital twin for parts in batch production related to the geometry and position, are classified into various hierarchies. Secondly, a covariance method is employed to analyse the law of their shape from the descriptions. Thirdly, the parts' shape feature similarity for different terms is derived, including the linear features of pose constraint, rotation deviation, and geometric deviation and the curve features like a geometric deviation. Finally, the probability distribution of discrete points on the manufacturing error caused by different reasons is calculated. Results Two case studies of reducer and rail highlight the applicability of the proposed approach. The standard deviation of the points has similar trend with sample cases according to normal distribution. Conclusions This paper categorizes the deviations of batch parts into the linear features of pose constraint, rotation deviation, and geometric deviation. When batch parts exhibit any of these deviation types, the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of their covariance matrix show certain patterns, enabling the identification of the deviation type and calculation of the statistical deviation probability distribution for the corresponding features.

Assessing the reliability of the forensic technique for the identification study of motor gasoline using gas-liquid chromatography

A new approach to solving the problems of forensic examination of petroleum products, fuels and lubricants associated with establishing whether motor gasoline belongs to a common/different identification set is proposed. A methodology for the identification of gasoline using quantitative results of chromatographic determination of controlled parameters and subsequent evaluation of the results in pairwise compared samples according to the established criteria. The following parameters were selected as controlled indicators: values of research octane number (RON), concentrations of hydrocarbon groups (paraffins, isoparaffins, arenes, naphthenes, olefins) and oxygenates. Their determination was carried out using standardized methods. We used the hardware and software complex of a Chromatek-Crystal 5000 series, including the Chromatek-DHA data processing program. Estimated criteria or decision- making rules regarding the issues posed to an expert were determined to classify gasoline under one product name (generic set), one production technology (group set) or a common source of origin (one production batch, storage tank, etc.). The reliability of the method was assessed using a validation procedure consisted of three stages. We used a collection of AI-92 motor gasoline, selected at gas stations of four oil companies during six months of 2022 in various districts of Moscow. At the first stage, the performer analyzed 12 aliquots of each of four gasoline samples (samples that previously belonged to the common volume) at different times. It was established that the quality indicators of the proposed methodology (standard deviation of the repeatability and reproducibility, expanded uncertainty, limits of the repeatability and reproducibility) for each of the determined controlled indicators did not exceed the permissible errors established by standardized methods. At the second stage of the experiment, the performer combined 12 test samples into four groups from each manufacturer (one production technology) with three samples of different production times (different batches). By comparing the discrepancies in the measured values of the same controlled indicators between pairs of samples within groups and the discrepancy in average indicators between pairs of groups, the contractor identified gasolines manufactured using the same technology; gasolines produced by the same technology, but at different times (different batches) and, with a probability of 95%, gasolines having a common source of origin (previously belonging to a common volume). The conclusions of the validation study matched the original data on the samples, which confirmed the correctness of the developed comparison criteria. At the third stage (blind test), the performer examined seven gasoline samples of, information about the composition and properties of which was not provided to him. The results of the blind test were considered satisfactory. Thus, the validation results indicate the suitability of the methodology for solving forensic identification problems in relation to motor gasoline and the competence of the performer sufficient for implementation of the methodology.

Characterization of a New Toti-like Virus in Sea Bass, Dicentrarchus labrax.

The European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax is the main species reared in Mediterranean aquaculture. Its larval stage, which is very sensitive and highly affected by sanitary and environmental conditions, is particularly scrutinized in hatcheries. Recently, a Mediterranean sea bass farm had to deal with an abnormal increase in mortality, especially between 20 and 35 days post-hatching (dph). Biological investigations led to the observation of cytopathic effects on three different fish cell lines after almost 3 weeks of culture at 14 °C in contact with homogenized affected larvae, suggesting the presence of a viral agent. High-throughput sequencing revealed a 6818-nucleotide-long RNA genome with six putative ORFs, corresponding to the organization of viruses belonging to the Totiviridae family. This genome clustered with the newly described and suggested Pistolvirus genus, sharing 45.5% to 37.2% nucleotide identity with other piscine toti-like viruses such as Cyclopterus lumpus toti-like virus (CLuTLV) or piscine myocarditis virus (PMCV), respectively. Therefore, we propose to name this new viral agent sea bass toti-like virus (SBTLV). Specific real-time RT-PCR confirmed the presence of the viral genome in the affected larval homogenate from different production batches and the corresponding cell culture supernatant. Experimental infections performed on sea bass fingerlings did not induce mortality, although the virus could be detected in various organs and a specific immune response was developed. Additional studies are needed to understand the exact involvement of this virus in the mortality observed in hatcheries and the potential associated cofactors.