The leaching potential of sewage sludge and municipal waste incineration ashes in terms of landfill safety and potential reuse

Incinerations residues from different types of materials (sewage sludge incineration ash and municipal waste incineration ashes) can either be by-products used in industry, or can pose a serious environmental problem related to their composition and the presence of potentially hazardous elements. State regulations and standards indicate whether material is inert, non-hazardous or hazardous. These standards, however, do not provide a complete overview on the leaching behavior of potentially hazardous elements in the environment. This study presents the result of batch experiment performed in accordance with the PN-EN 12457-2 (2006) and PN-EN 12457-4 (2006) standards. The results indicated that the leachability of elements is strongly dependent on the mineral composition of the waste product (the concentration and composition of soluble phase), the chemical composition (the mobility of hazardous elements and their affinity to soluble minerals), and the pH. To ensure environmental safety a thorough characterization of the waste is required followed by qualitative assignment to a particular waste type based on available guidance. Furthermore, to avoid leaching of potentially harmful elements into soils or surface water, it is also paramount to perform environmental impact assessment of wastes used as by-product in industry e.g., as building or road construction materials (aggregate) and fertilizers

Assessment of valuable and critical elements recovery potential in ashes from processes of solid municipal waste and sewage sludge thermal treatment

Due to the increasing amount of produced and accumulated wastes, a potential source of elements might be the global waste stream coming from the waste incineration process. As a result of this process, bottom ash, fly ash and air pollution control residues are produced. The goal of this study was to evaluate the raw material potential of the anthropogenic materials which are fly ashes from municipal waste incineration and municipal sewage sludge incineration, and the possibility for the recovery of metallic or other economically valuable elements by comparison of their chemical composition with the chemical composition of Earth materials (ultramafic, mafic and felsic igneous rocks, various sedimentary rocks), and with their lowest content in currently exploited ores. Fly ashes contain more valuable and critical elements when compared to Earth materials; however, they are less concentrated in comparison to the content in currently exploited ores. Since natural resources are becoming depleted, the costs of exploitation, mineral processing and related operations are increasing and the fly ashes are easily accessible. Cheap materials do not demand complicated treatment which might be considered as a future source of P, Zn, Sn, Cr, Pb, Au and Ag, and thus fulfilling the assumptions of close-loop economy and to maximize natural resources protection

Spectra of Positrons Lifetimes in Choose Gel Drugs

Spectra of positrons lifetimes in selected gel non-steride analgesic and antiphlogistic drugs were investigated. The basic components in them were sodium salts of diclophenac and they differed from one another with the chemical composition of other components. It was found that in all of the investigated spectra there occurred a component which testified to the formation of positronium. The differences in the values of ortho-Ps component lifetimes and their intensity can be attributed to the presence of ingredients modifying the effects of the drug

Tribopolymerization: An advanced lubrication concept for automotive engines and systems of the future

Advanced lubrication technologies based on the concept of tribopolymerization as a mechanism of boundary lubrication are described. Advantages of this approach as well as potential applications which could have an impact on the design, manufacture, and performance of existing and future automotive engines are presented and discussed. Tribopolymerization, a novel concept of molecular design developed by Furey and Kajdas, involves the continuous formation of thin polymeric films on rubbing surfaces; the protective films formed are self-replenishing. The antiwear compounds developed from this technology are effective with metals as well as ceramics and in the liquid as well as vapor phases. Furthermore, they are ashless and contain no harmful phosphorus or sulfur; and many are biodegradable. Thus, potential applications of this technology are diverse and include a variety of cost/performance/energy/environmental advantages. Examples include the following: (a) machining and cutting applications using thin films to reduce friction and ceramic tool wear; (b) the lubrication of ceramic engines (e.g., low heat rejection diesel engines) or ceramic components; (c) the development of ashless lubricants for existing and future automotive engines to reduce exhaust catalyst poisoning and environmental emissions; (d) ashless antiwear or ``lubricity`` additives for fuels, including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel; (e) vapor phase applications of this technology to high temperature gaseous systems or to fuel injector wear problems associated with the use of natural gas engines; and (f) the use of the concept of tribopolymerization as an enabling technology in the development of new engines and new automotive propulsion systems

WTC2005-63308 A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF TRIBOPOLYMERIZATION AS AN ANTIWEAR MECHANISM

ABSTRACT By tribopolymerization, we mean the planned, intentional, and continuous formation of protective polymeric films on tribological surfaces by the use of minor concentrations of selected monomers capable of forming polymer films "in situ" by polycondensation or addition polymerization. The approach involves the design of molecules which will form polymeric surface films in critical regions of boundary lubrication. The concept has been shown to be effective in reducing wear with ceramics as well as metals in both liquid and vapor phase applications. The purpose of this paper is threefold, namely: 1. To review our key fundamental research on the topic of tribopolymerization, including more recent views based on measurements of triboelectron emission. 2. To summarize the applications of this concept to a variety of industrial problems, including the use of the compounds in fuels as well as in areas in which environmental issues are important. 3. To briefly outline future plans for fundamental research on tribopolymerization, including theoretical and experimental studies to examine the roles of surface temperature, triboelectron emission, and catalysis on surface polymerization

SKELETONS OF SEIROCRINUS SUBANGULARISCRINOIDS (CRINOIDEA, ECHINODERMATA)(MILLER, 1821) FROM THE COLLECTION OFTHE NATURE EDUCATION CENTRE OF THEJAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY

The Nature Education Centre of the JagiellonianUniversity in Krakow has in its collection a spectacular fossil ofa Jurassic crinoid, in literature known as Seirocrinus subangularis(Miller). Only several museums in Central Europe can boast sucha perfectly preserved and complete specimen of Seirocrinus. Asseen against Polish museum collections the slab in questionis an outstanding object. That very form was a cosmopolitanand pseudoplanktonic crinoid species spread throughoutAsia, Europe, and Northern America, yet it has never beendocumented in Poland. The particular specimen reached Polandin the mid-19th century from Germany to enrich the collectionof the Mineralogical Cabinet. The paper presents the turbulenthistory of the slab with some dozen specimens of echinodermson it, the story which will shortly have a happy end, since itwill be permanently placed as a geological exhibit at the NatureEducation Centre of the Jagiellonian University