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In the power plants where coal combustion is used to produce electricity and heat, solid combustion products are produced, i.e. furnace waste (ashes and slags) and waste from waste gas extraction. The amount of ash or slag depends on the quality of the coal and the ash content. To get 1 kWh of electricity it is produced from 60 to 200 g of waste. Only in 1989 in Poland, the energy industry produced 23.8 million Mg of waste. Only 4 million Mg of these waste (in the building materials industry) was used, while 19.8 ...

The article deals with the non-anthropocentric background in architecture design. The whole process of designing the experimental bird observatory - Duna - was used as the case study. This is a public bird observatory in the Bratislava agglomeration recreation area. When selecting the final concept, which continued with the stage of architectural study and the implementation project until project realization, an issue of quality arose, which should have been decisive for the design. The suppression of the establis...

Every day more than 60 tons of hydrolyzed lignin are produced only on one bioethanol manufacturing factory, 25000 tons per year. More than 1 million tons of lignin is produced by wood-recycling factories worldwide, which is being combusted to compensate energy costs or just stored as a waste. We suppose that there is a more sufficient way of its recycling and provide another way of lignin use, assuming the pyrolysis process as one of the pretreatment methods of its reproduction into more favorable derivatives. Pyr...

In this study, cobalt oxide (Co3O4) was prepared by thermolysis of cobalt (II) oxalate at ???????????? This oxide was characterized by IR spectroscopy, XRD (X-ray diffraction) and SEM (scanning electron microscopy). The adsorption of phenol and lead (II) ions, both singly and in combination, by obtained and characterized Co3O4 was studied in batch system. Kinetic and equilibrium experiments were conducted to study the effects of solid : liquid ratio, pH, contact time and initial concentration of the pollutants. Th...

The calculated energy efficiency and specified physical properties of building materials may change significantly during the initial years of a building?s operation under real climatic conditions. Five small test buildings with different wall assemblies were built in Riga, Latvia to compare different building construction characteristics under Latvian climate conditions. The heating energy consumption, thermal transmittance, air relative humidity and other important energy efficiency and environmental parameters h...

This paper deals with the results coming from the research activity of the SECOSUD Phase II, called ?Conservation and equitable use of biological diversity in the SADC region (Southern African Development Community) a project supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the SADC [1]. In the framework of this project they have been investigated groundwater resources and shallow ones present in the buffer zone of National Limpopo Park, in the aim of better support water demand in the villages, rising in t...

Rare Earth Elements (REE) are crucial for modern technologies and renewable energy application, while there is a high risk of supply. REEs have been identified as critical raw materials for the development and the European Union economy competitiveness. Currently, China dominates the market of REEs production and refining. However, there are several REE containing materials not being properly addressed. The ENVIREE project, funded by the ERA-MIN programme, is focused on REE supply for Europe, by addressing the exp...

Natural compounds and products are increasingly demanded by the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries as safer and user friendly alternatives to synthetic variants. Young wheat plantlets, known as wheatgrass, are a valuable source of minerals, vitamins and chlorophyll pigments and the biosynthesis of such compounds may be influenced by the cultivation conditions. The present study focuses onto the chemical profile, mineral and chlorophyll content of cultivated wheatgrass using two different types of water (sprin...

Problems generated by activities like mining exploatation, smelting or petrochemical refining include different levels of soils contamination with different pollutants. Having both the soils productivity and human health affected, these areas are of interest for researchers worldwide. The negative effects on the involved ecosystems and adjacent areas fully justify the current ecological and monitoring activities. Historically pollution in Baia Mare Mining Basin, like in all around mining basins, had has dramatical...

The ENVIREE project is focused on the working-out of efficient and environmentally-friendly rare earth elements (REE) recovery technologies from selected industrial waste disposal sites. Compared secondary sources from metal production processes are characterized by the highest REE content among the European objects assessed under the project. The paper presents the environmental aspects of REE recovery from New Kankberg (Sweden) and Covas (Portugal) tailings. Based on the results from stage II of the study, i.e. ...

In last years, recycling has become a strategic factor in global politics, a vital component and a cost factor for economic development and the progress of society as a whole, generating a number of major global concerns. Exceeding twice the sum of all materials used in construction, annual concrete consumption around the world amounts to approximately 10 trillion tones being by far the most used building material and the partial or total replacement of a component of its mass with recyclable waste has a major pos...

EOR thermal processes involve both introducing of warm fluids in oil reservoirs through injection wells and also extraction of warm/cool fluids through production wells. A model that describes the process for heat transfer from the fluids flowing through the well at its contiguous environment, and the calculation of the temperature along the well can be used in various applications of heat transfer aspects, especially when the bottomhole equipment of the well doesn?t allow measurement. This paper presents a model ...

The oxygen plasma-based bonding of a liver-on-a-chip platform has been optimized for immunostaining and RNA extraction during differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells into hepatocytes on-chip. The device is a structural and fluidic mimicry of the liver?s lobules, consisting of a double layer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) bonded to glass. This bonding has been adjusted in terms of power, exposure time and post-exposure baking to make the device separable from its glass slide, making cells cultured inside ...

Close-range photogrammetry (CRP) represents very perspective technology for many fields. It can provide results comparable to terrestrial laser scanning, and the hardware is still much cheaper. Our research group is developing low-cost CRP device based on Raspberry Pi 3 computer. Raspberry Pi 3 is a single-board computer with relatively high computing power and low price. In connection with a touchscreen, Pi Camera module v2.1 (Sony IMX219, 8Mpx) and powerbank it becomes a portable device for imagery. Continuous s...

Research focuses on the use of alternative raw materials and on finding new solutions to reduce noise in the context of issues related to environment, is of great interest and great actuality. Composite materials with fir sawdust, used rubber granules and textile waste; Aracet (polyvinyl acetate) and hydrated lime as a binding material, were used in this research. Materials acoustic absorption coefficient was found using the impedance tube method. The values obtained show that these materials can be used for absor...

The purpose of this article is to discuss the authigenic chlorite, illite and illite-smectite mixed layers at the sandstone of upper Triassic reservoir at Euphrates graben fields east of Syria related to their structural, morphology and diagenetic events and precipitation. The upper Triassic sandstone reservoir is one of the most important oil and gas reser-voirs at the east of Syria; it contains about 60 % of the total hydrocarbon volume at the area. Petrographical analyses combined with the different core analys...

The paper presents a proposal for validation of a numerical model of a sedimentation process with use of a flow system. The essence of the proposed solution is to verify the numerical model using quantitative data, expressed by the flow rate and concentration of the suspension at the input and output of the device, as well as the qualitative data describing their granulometric composition. The analysis was carried out using a laboratory settler, as a sedimentation device, in which, during the purification process ...

Before presenting in detail the theme that this paper deals with, it is necessary to integrate the research on this matter within the larger context of climate change, which is at this time in a stage of unprecedented evolution. Worldwide, in the actual context of climate changes, more frequent and powerful natural disasters are expected. Disasters, representing a direct consequence of climate change, have also a negative impact on the environment as they are an obstacle to achieve sustainable development. In part...

Zvolensk? tepl?rensk? Inc. is a company that has been providing heating for the town of Zvolen for decades. After the reconstruction in 2008, it is using low-sulphur lignite, wood chips and natural gas as a fuel, resulting in fine ash, that is collected nearby; however, it is spread by natural forces into surrounding gardens, forests, soil and water. To dispose of this ash ecologically, there is a possibility of using the Oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm, namely its ability of absorbing the fine...

Due to the increased demand and supply shortage, neodymium is listed as critical raw material of the strategic importance in many countries in the world. From this point of view the researches for the development of recycling technologies for this metal are strongly justified. The paper presents the results of laboratory research on the hydrometallurgical recycling of neodymium from hard disk drivers (HDDs). Neodymium magnets are the elements of a positioner which drives the head of the HDD. The study material- si...

The hydrocarbon migration in a porous rock after waterflooding is a complex process. Mathematical models were developed through years to simulate the fluid flow, but input data from experimental works are needed to calibrate equations and/or trends. Routine and special laboratory analysis and measurements allow to determine the crucial input parameters. Knowledge of mineralogy, porosity, permeability, capillary pressure and relative permeability helps the reservoir engineers to predict and manage the future oil re...

In the context of deregulated energy market, energy companies need a flexible and efficient framework for energy trading. Along with concerns regarding environment issues, deregulation determined an increased share of sm all and medium renewable energy power plants. With these came along challenges in operation regarding their variability and the lack of central monitoring. Aggregation of distributed energy sources led to the concept of virtual power plant, which brings ad advantages as a better control of product...

The range of using the electric machines with high speed is increased year by year. It is very easy to explain. The power of electric machines depends from speed and sizes. If we will increase the speed we may decrease the sizes. So, the machines will have more less weight and materials. We may decrease the total cost of unit. But it is in case if we will solve many technologic problems. The main problem is the strength of rotating rotor. It is known that a centrifugal force depends from the speed as square-law. A...

This paper proposes a mooring location for sport and leisure boats - a solution for the green arrangement of the lower Danube seafront in Galati. Boating along the Danube is a tourist itinerary which is included in the visit program for foreign delegations that arrive in the city. The proposed mooring site is a fixed green construction consisting of a metallic platform that rests on a beamed beam structure, anchored in the bank, which contributes, through its design, to the green arrangement of the lower cliff and...

Old hospitals today usually don`t meet current health care requirements, requirements of new generations of medical facilities and technologies. For all these reasons the old hospitals and their areas often undergo urban transformation processes ? change of use, revitalization or restoration. However, old hospitals and their areas often possess high architectural, landscape architectural and cultural heritage values, which should be preserved. Green areas of hospital healing gardens and old hospital parks with mat...

Asphalt-resin-paraffin deposits (ARPD), are formed in processes of oil recovery on a surface and represent a serious problem for the oil production enterprises from the technical, economic, and ecological points of view. The ARPD quality indicators are an important factor defining effectiveness of removal procedures and searching of ways to its further use. At a late stage of fields exploitation the production processes are complicated by loss of asphaltenes and paraffin immediately in a layer pore space. It is co...

The article shows the selected aspects of the air temperature and air relative humidity changes caused by the heat emitted by people staying inside the selected sacral buildings. The air temperature and some other microclimate parameters change because of the heat emission from people staying inside rooms. There are shown exemplary results of the research conducted inside unheated or low-heated sacral buildings of the historical and modern construction. It is based on author's research conducted in Warsaw Universi...

The aerogel is a nanomaterial that may represent a viable alternative to the traditional thermal insulations, especially when it is required an increase of the thermal performance of the building envelope elements and also a reduced thickness of their finishing layers. The paper presents the conclusions of some studies regarding the thermal behaviour of the aerogel and also some improvement possibilities of this material and of other materials, by integration of the aerogel in their structure. At the same time, th...

The presented paper deals with the design and examination of steel towers of electrical transmission lines with circular or polygonal cross section. Structures of this kind are a safe and reliable option when selecting the appropriate structural solution, but nevertheless often remain omitted due to difficulties with design methodology. The cross sections of conical towers are in majority of cases categorized as class 4 sections. Being classified as such, they are in certain loading situations considered as shell ...

The biggest river in the Kosovo area is White Drin. Last 60-ty years, in Kosovo, three state power has been changed, therefore we have observation of hydro-meteorological data, of three stages. Those data are not complete. There are two serious water resources master plans, of year 1983 and of 2008, but both have used data of period 1952-1986. The idea of this article, is to complete, calibrate and to validate existing data, of daily average flows, until today, in order to study water regime of White Drin river, f...

The paper deals with the green parametric architecture as a new approach to architectural and urban design. In the twenty-first century the digital design tools, which are interfaced with the production of computer technology, have opened the new opportunities that not only are shaping the architectural objects, but also interferencing in the buildings' structures. The first part of the paper defines the main features of the "green" architecture. Selected samples show a diverse approach to designing the architectu...

The CO2 removal from N2 using unconventional techniques based on different (various) membranes has known a significant interest in industry. Mixed matrix membranes combine the advantages of organic (easily processable and low cost) and inorganic phases (high selectivity, mechanical resistance, chemical and thermal stability). In this study, membranes with polysulfone matrix and MCM-41 (silica) as filler were obtained, characterized and tested. The mixed matrix membranes were prepared by casting method. The effects...

In a forest ecosystem pine plantations, the National Park lower Kama Natural expansion of the path network and Parking areas, is characterized by an increase of stages of digression that slows down all the process of development of components of forest natural complexes. With the increase in recreational forest use and loads increases the number of trees with mechanical damage. Traumatized trees colonized by pests and diseases. There is a decrease in the number of healthy trees and an increasing number of worst . ...

The paper discusses problems associated with attempts at limiting waste that is the result of the functioning of the modern economy. This is associated with the use of new, sustainable systemic solutions in terms of the manner of designing cities and buildings that use existing resources to the highest possible degree while not generating waste. The impact of new, ecological cities is to be neutral to the extant ecosystem. Buildings are to be erected solely from recyclable materials and roofs covered in greenery i...

The aim of this study was to analyzed the effect of magnesium ions from gluconate and lactate salt at the level of 100, 150 and 200 mg/100g addition on empirical and fundamental dough rheological properties from the wheat flour type 550. Wheat flour is considerate a very good one for bread making having 14.0% moisture content, 0.55% ash, 13.2% protein, 1.4% fat content, 31% wet gluten and 8 mm gluten deformation index. Dough empirical rheological properties were analyzed using the Alveograph and Glutograph device....

The paper presents the results of the research of horticultural dendroflora of the park located in the city center of Tuzla. By the mutual action of a series of natural-geographic factors in the wider area of Tuzla that belongs to the contact zone of the internal Dinarides and Pannonian lowlands, different types of soil have evolved. The most commonly are automorphic soils, which are up to 75% of the surface. The area of Tuzla City has the highest population density in the Tuzla Canton, that is 555 inh/ km2. The r...

This work discusses the creation of a river flow generator, which uses as an inputs temperature and precipitation data. These input data could be an artificial series of mentioned climatic variables (especially in context of climate change studies), but when assessing the present-day state, measured data may be used too. For this purpose hydrological model and machine learning model is used. In order to increase the accuracy of the flow generation, the authors have designed and tested various variants of data driv...

After 1990, when Romania changed its political regime, many changes registered in the economic field. The new economic system had to experience the new form of transition from a Centralized to the Capitalism new one. The forestry field had been affected too, and it should adapt to the new conditions of the economic market demand. In the new economic conditions, it should adapt the offer with the demand. Taking into account the natural conditions, the tradition of wood processing and the predominance of the forest ...

In the last twenty years Timisoara proved to be one of the main development centers of Romania, and became the most important economic region in the western part of the country. As part of this evolution the neighbouring settlements of the city began to change, as they became part of a greater new urban system. At first, all initiatives came from the part of investors, mainly based in Timisoara, who were looking for cheap land surfaces for their future projects. Though new investments represented great possibiliti...

The paper presents the need for the purification of polluted air from the highly polluting processing technology of an industrial shop. (paint shops, foundries, welding constructions, forging, etc.). The advantages of using ultrasounds in the pollutant air filtration and purification process and an ultrasonic filter designed are presented. The main computational and construction elements of the ultraacoustic system used in the design of the air filter are presented in the paper. Paper insists in the design of the ...

Melanism is found in many animal species. This phenomenon is caused by a large amount of melanin pigment and causes an abnormal black or dark brown colour of the outer covers. Melanistic individuals are usually quite rare in nature. However, there are a number of examples indicating that melanistic colouring in animals can be adaptive under certain conditions and be supported by natural selection. These examples include the phenomenon of industrial melanism, described in the birch moth Biston betularia, as well as...

Assessment of economic efficiency of transport infrastructure projects also includes impact of these projects on the environment. This paper focuses on the effects of exogenous costs associated with removing/reducing negative externalities such as traffic noise or exhaust fumes from cars. These effects are evaluated by using Cost Benefit Analysis according to their influence on the beneficiaries. The presented analysis has been performed on the sample of 47 Czech large-scale transport infrastructure projects proce...

The relationship with pet has been for many years in the attention of researchers, with studies which approached the relationship under very different aspects. Researches has focused on the multiple benefits of different stages of individual development (from kindergarten to elders), on gender influences over many related issues (animal attachment, involvement in animal welfare activities), on the therapeutic aspects (positive influences on cancer patients, depression, etc.) and, last but not least, the positive c...

As numerous studies show, changes in the environment at the end of the 20th century have become global ones. This means that the buffer capacity of the Earth, and the planetary boundaries have been subjected to a massive impact of the different human activities for several decades. Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the UN, is becoming more difficult to fulfill. Chemical pollution directly or indirectly affects the quality of natural resources, including water. Providing the population wi...

Background: Currently develops a range of new and innovative construction systems, presented as modern methods of construction (MMC), which has the ambition to improve the buildings sustainability throughout their life cycle. Regarding the implementation modern methods of construction in Slovakia, assembled buildings based on wood, also called green buildings, seem to be the most preferred construction system. Methods: In the study, presented in the paper, were searched already built and occupiedfamily houses base...

The goal of article is to present an influence of V2G and G2V technology on electric power system. They were presented different ways of balancing the National Electric Power System by electric vehicles, which are taking part in V2G and G2V systems. By using technologies which support integration of electric vehicles with grid, a traditional grid can be developed and transformed to the Smart Grid. One of the systems that support electric vehicles is called Smart Metering. ?Negawatt? is a theoretical unit, which te...

Research objective: To develop methodological technique for the assessment of change patterns of the effectiveness of oil recovery depending on the size of already exhausted sections and stress-strain performance of oil reservoir. The experience of oil development shows that configuration (size) of operating area as well as flow coefficient of oil reservoir are considered to be within the key factors determining the rate of oil recovery, regime and parameters of injection and pumping as well as the design of well ...

Spatio-temporal distribution of pollutants in surface water bodies of the Baikal natural territory is shown on the example of the main inflow of the lake Baikal ? the Selenga river. This is due to the fact that the transboundary Selenga river basin plays a very important role in socio-economic development, as well as in the formation and functioning of natural systems in a large part of Mongolia and the subject of the Russian Federation - the Republic of Buryatia. To assess the spatial-temporal distribution of pol...

The aim of the article was to present the possibilities of logistic solutions of management system of mixed waste and segregated waste that can be one coherent system or two parallel systems. The authors of the article attempted to optimize the transport of various waste fractions from their origins and collection to recycling and storage sites. The assumptions and limitations of adopted systems as well as conclusions are presented. Sustainable waste management should follow the hierarchy: waste prevention, reuse ...

This study aimed to investigate: i) the chemical composition and ii) the antimicrobial properties of the essential oil isolated from Lavandula angustifolia ?Sevtopolis? cultivated in western Romania. The essential oil, obtained by steam distillation, was evaluated by GC/MS. The inhibitory effects of Lavandula angustifolia ?Sevtopolis? essential oil were tested using the Kirby-Bauer agar disc diffusion method against five common food-related bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC...