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Search results for: hazardous materials
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Green aspects of techniques for the determination of pesticides in fruits and vegetables
PublicationApplied all over the world, pesticides are some of the most dangerous pollutants of the environment because of their stability, mobility, their ability to accumulate in the environment and their consequent long-term adverse effects on living organisms in general and human health in particular. Their presence in the environment is a particular danger. It is therefore crucial to monitor pesticide residues using all available analytical...
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Designing issues of the alarm system in context of functional safety and human factors
PublicationThis article addresses selected aspects of the alarm system and human factors that should be evaluated during the design and operation of an industrial hazardous installation. In such installations the layer of protection analysis (LOPA) methodology is often applied for simplified risk analysis based on defined accident scenarios. To reduce and control the risks the safety instrumented functions (SIFs) are identified and their...
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Detection of sulfonamide resistance genes via in situ PCR-FISH
PublicationDue to the rising use of antibiotics and as a consequence of their concentration in the environment an increasing number of antibiotic resistant bacteria is observed. The phenomenon has a hazardous impact on human and animal life. Sulfamethoxazole is one of the sulfonamides commonly detected in surface waters and soil. The aim of the study was to detect sulfamethoxazole resistance genes in activated sludge biocenosis by use of...
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Functional Safety Analysis including Human Factors
PublicationIn this paper selected aspects of human factors are discussed that should be taken into account during the design of safety-related functions for a complex hazardous installation and its protections. The layer of protection analysis (LOPA) methodology is used for simplified risk analysis based on defined accident scenarios. To control the risk the safety instrumented functions (SIFs) are identified and their safety integrity levels...
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Liquid–phase microextraction: A review of reviews
PublicationSample preparation is an important step in chemical analysis. It is generally done to deal with problems associated with the nature of the matrix, low analyte concentrations in real samples or analyte features incompatible with the instrumentation. Classical methods of extraction consume large volumes of hazardous solvents and other reagents and are not in line with the recent emergence of green analytical chemistry. Liquid-phase...
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Detection, classification and localization of acoustic events in the presence of background noise for acoustic surveillance of hazardous situations
PublicationEvaluation of sound event detection, classification and localization of hazardous acoustic events in the presence of background noise of different types and changing intensities is presented. The methods for discerning between the events being in focus and the acoustic background are introduced. The classifier, based on a Support Vector Machine algorithm, is described. The set of features and samples used for the training of the...
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Towards systemic functional safety and security management in hazardous plants
PublicationThe aim of this article is to identify and discuss some issues related to functional safety and security management in hazardous industrial plants. The safety functions are to be realised using the electric / electronic / programmable electronic systems (E/E/PESs) or the safety instrumented systems (SISs) that are designed and operated respectively according to IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 requirements in life cycle. Although the role...
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Temperature Sensors Based on Polymer Fiber Optic Interferometer
PublicationTemperature measurements are of great importance in many fields of human activities, including industry, technology, and science. For example, obtaining a certain temperature value or a sudden change in it can be the primary control marker of a chemical process. Fiber optic sensors have remarkable properties giving a broad range of applications. They enable continuous real-time temperature control in difficult-to-reach areas, in...
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Surfactants application in sample preparation techniques: Insights, trends, and perspectives
PublicationSince the implementation of Green Chemistry into analytical practice, significant efforts have been made to improve the sustainability of chemical analysis. These include reducing the use of hazardous chemicals and solvents, minimizing waste, and improving energy efficiency. Surfactants can be applied in chemical analysis as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional solvents and chemicals. The use of surfactants can...
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Analytical procedures for quality control of pharmaceuticals in terms of residual solvents content: Challenges and recent developments
PublicationResidual solvents play an important role in the synthesis of drugs and in product formulations. In addition, they pose a serious problem, that is toxicity, as many of them exhibit toxic or environmentally hazardous properties. Therefore, constant monitoring of quality control is needed. In this study, we present an overview of regulatory and general methods described by various pharmacopoeias. Then, the most commonly used methodologies...
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Environmental risk- based ranking of solvents by the combination of multimedia model and multi-criteria decision analysis
PublicationA novel procedure for assessing the environmental risk related to solvents emissions has been developed. The assessment of risk is based on hazard and exposure detailed investigations. The potential exposure related to different environmental phases is calculated with basic multimedia model, that gives the percentage distribution of solvent in environmental compartments as a result. Specific hazards– toxicological, environmental...
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Safety Integrity Verification Issues of the Control Systems for Industrial Process Plants
PublicationThe aim of this article is to identify and discuss some issues that can be encountered in designing the industrial automation and control systems (IACS) for implementing safety functions. In a functional safety standard IEC 61511 for the process industry such systems are named the basic process control systems (BPCS) and the safety instrumented systems (SIS). In a generic functional safety standard IEC 61508 they are depicted as...
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Determination of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables using QuEChERS sample preparation method
PublicationThe intensive development of agriculture means that more and more toxic organic and inorganic compounds are entering the environment. Because of their widespread use, environmental stability, selective toxicity and bioaccumulative capability, pesticides belong to the most hazardous substances contaminating the environment. They are particularly dangerous in fruits and vegetables, because they are one of the reasons why people are...
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Bisphenols and their derivatives in baby diaper samples.
PublicationMany common products contain and leach hazardous chemicals, including endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as bisphenols that are harmful to human health. For toddlers, this dangerousness is higher because of their not fully developed detoxification system. Due to this, bisphenols content in products such as baby diapers, should be monitored. Baby diapers not only remain in close contact with the skin, but are also used from the...
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Removal of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics from wastewater by adsorption on cross-linked β-cyclodextrin
PublicationWe present a method using the material in the form of cross-linked β-cyclodextrin (CD) showing high efficiency in the simultaneous removal of hazardous pollutants from sewage, such as diclofenac (DIC), ibuprofen (IBU), ketoprofen (KETO), naproxen (NAPR), salicylic acid (SALI) and tramadol (TRAM). The material is stable and particularly easy to regenerate. The sorbent probably remembers the shape of the contaminants, which increases...
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“Green” nature of the process of derivatization in analytical sample preparation
PublicationNowadays, the idea of Green Analytical Chemistry (GAC) is of high importance what impacts on the rapid growth in the sample preparation area with special emphasis on sample preparation simplification, miniaturization, and automation. Because the derivatization process is often an essential element of the analytical procedure, it should be important to focus on this issue from GAC perspective and conduct a series of experiments...
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Mass Spectrometry-Based Direct Analytical Techniques
PublicationDirect analysis of samples is considered as one of the most environmentally sustainable solutions in analytical chemistry. In the ideal case, such solutions do not require sample preparation and analytes separation steps, therefore do not consumpt harmful substances (or consumpt only minimum amounts of them) and do not generate hazardous waste. Technical solutions for direct analysis also offer miniaturized and field-portable analyzers...
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Designing Control and Protection Systems with Regard to Integrated Functional Safety and Cybersecurity Aspects
PublicationThis article addresses current problems of risk analysis and probabilistic modelling for functional safety management in the life cycle of safety-related systems. Two main stages in the lifecycle of these systems are distinguished, namely the design and operation. The risk analysis and probabilistic modelling differ in these stages in view of available knowledge and data. Due to the complexity and uncertainty involved, both qualitative...
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Managing the security vulnerabilities of critical systems and hazardous plants
PublicationRozdział poświęcono aktualnym problemom zarządzania ochroną obiektów podwyższonego ryzyka jako ważnych systemów infrastruktury krytycznej. Zarządzanie odpornością na ataki takich obiektów jest oparte na ocenach ryzyka. Podkreśla się, że występują ważne instalacje i systemy wymagające specjalnej uwagi i zabezpieczeń, szczególnie systemy kontroli dostępu do sterowni i urządzeń komunikacji. Opisuje się przykładowe technologie ochrony....
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CuO-decorated MOF derived ZnO polyhedral nanostructures for exceptional H2S gas detection
PublicationConsidering that H2S is a hazardous gas that poses a significant risk to people's lives, research into H2S gas sensors has garnered a lot of interest. This work reports a CuO/ZnO multifaceted nanostructures(NS) created by heat treating Cu2+/ZIF-8 impregnation precursors, and their microstructure and gas sensing characteristics were examined using various characterization techniques (XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, and BET). The as-prepared...
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Quantitative fluorescent determination of DNA – Ochratoxin a interactions supported by nitrogen-vacancy rich nanodiamonds
PublicationOchratoxin A (OTA) is a hazardous contaminant of a large variety of plant and animal originated food. Herein, we report an interaction of OTA with calf thymus DNA (ct DNA) on the nanodiamond surface. We employed multispectroscopic techniques to elucidate the binding mechanism of OTA with ct DNA. The fluorescence and UV–Vis spectroscopy results show that OTA binds to ds ct DNA and forms complexes. We obtained the binding constants...
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Application of deep eutectic solvents for separation and determination of bioactive compounds in medicinal plants
PublicationThe medicinal plants industry, particularly in regard to products rich in biologically active substances for maintaining health, has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade, with sales of over-the-counter drugs containing these substances growing by billions of dollars. Attention has thus also been paid to the safety and effectiveness of these medicines. We are currently witnessing a rapid increase in the number of publications...
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Deep eutectic solvents in analytical sample preconcentration Part B: Solid-phase (micro)extraction
PublicationOne of the key challenges of modern analytical chemistry is the monitoring of trace amounts of contaminants using sensitive and selective instrumental techniques. Due to the variety and complexity of some samples, it is often necessary to properly prepare a sample and to perform a preconcentration of trace amounts of analytes. In line with the principles of Green Analytical Chemistry (GAC), it is important for an analytical procedure...
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Bio-mitigation of organic pollutants using horseradish peroxidase as a promising biocatalytic platform for environmental sustainability
PublicationA wide array of environmental pollutants is often generated and released into the ecosystem from industrial and human activities. Antibiotics, phenolic compounds, hydroquinone, industrial dyes, and Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) are prevalent pollutants in water matrices. To promote environmental sustainability and minimize the impact of these pollutants, it is essential to eliminate such contaminants. Although there are...
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Extraction with environmentally friendly solvents
PublicationThe ever-increasing demand for determining compounds at low concentration levels in complex matrices requires a preliminary step of analytes isolation/enrichment in order to employ a detection technique characterized by high sensitivity at low LOQ. Sample preparation is considered as crucial part of analytical procedures. Previously the parameter of “greenness” is as important as selectivity in order to avoid using harmful organic...
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Proposal of a Mobile Medical Waste Incinerator with Application of Automatic Waste Feeder and Heat Recovery System as a Novelty in Poland
PublicationThe paper presents and discusses the issues of medical waste (including hazardous ones) and the problems regarding their proper management in Poland. Inappropriate handling of infectious medical waste directly endangers human health and the environment. Infectious waste must be properly disposed of—in practice, the only method of their disposal available in Poland is a thermal treatment in the incinerators tailored for this purpose....
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Proposal of a mobile medical waste incinerator with automatic waste feeder and heat recovery system
PublicationThe paper presents and discusses the issue of medical waste (including hazardous ones) and their proper management. Inappropriate handling of infectious medical waste directly endangers the human being health and the environment. Infectious waste must therefore be properly disposed of – one of the most commonly used methods is the thermal treatment in the incinerators tailored for this purpose. During designing an incinerator unit,...
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Human Factors in designing the Instrumentation and Control Systems Important to Safety
PublicationThis work addresses selected aspects of human factors in designing the instrumentation and control (I&C) systems important to safety as a part of the functional safety management of industrial hazardous plants, in particular nuclear power plants. As it is known in such plants a concept of “defence in depth” (D-in-D) is widely applied and some layers of protection are designed with regard to functional safety (FS) concept given...
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Guided wave propagation in debonding detection in CFRP-reinforced steel plate-like structures
PublicationThe present study investigates the guided wave propagation in multilayered steel specimens reinforced with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) through theoretical, numerical, and experimental means. The effectiveness of externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) relies heavily on the bonding quality between the CFRP and the substrate. Premature debonding, a prevalent and hazardous defect, can arise from suboptimal manufacturing processes,...
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Organizational culture as prerequisite of proactive safety and security management in critical infrastructure systems including hazardous plants and ports
PublicationThis article addresses selected aspects of organizational culture to be considered in the context of knowledge based proactive safety and security management of plants, ports and systems of critical infrastructure. It has been often emphasized in the domain literature that business effectiveness of such plants and their resilience against hazards and threats to avoid major accidents depends substantially on human and organizational...
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Endocrine disrupting compounds in the baby's world - A harmful environment to the health of babies
PublicationGlobally, there has been a significant increase in awareness of the adverse effects of chemicals with known or suspected endocrine-acting properties on human health. Human exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) mainly occurs by ingestion and to some extent by inhalation and dermal uptake. Although it is difficult to assess the full impact of human exposure to EDCs, it is well known that timing of exposure is of importance...
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Deep Eutectic Solvents or Eutectic Mixtures? Characterization of Tetrabutylammonium Bromide and Nonanoic Acid Mixtures
PublicationDeep eutectic solvents have quickly attracted the attention of researchers because they better meet the requirements of green chemistry and thus have the potential to replace conventional hazardous organic solvents in some areas. To better understand the nature of these mixtures, as well as expand the possibilities of their use in different industries, a detailed examination of their physical properties, such as density, viscosity,...
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Investigation of tetrabutylammonium bromide-glycerol-based deep eutectic solvents and their mixtures with water by spectroscopic techniques
PublicationDeep eutectic solvents (DES) are formed by an acceptor and a donor of hydrogen bonds. They are generally considered as a possible alternative to hazardous organic solvents in various fields. Very recently they have also appeared in analytical chemistry, used mainly for the separation of analytes before instrumental quantification. For the development of new extraction procedures, it is important, among other things, to understand...
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Bio-inspired approaches for explosives detection
PublicationDue to unique abilities of the animals regarding analysis of complex gas substances, they still remain a gold standard in analysis of explosives. Unusual capabilities of biological chemosensory systems, including both vertebrates and invertebrates, stimulate elaboration of the devices mimicking their activity and operation parameters as precisely as possible. The electronic analogues are a subject of investigation in many research...
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Wavelet transform-based approach to defect identification in railway carbon contact strips.
PublicationPantographs of electric rail vehicles are fitted with carbon contact strips, which slide along the contact wire of catenary to provide constant electrical contact. Contact strips are exposed to wear and damages. Using damaged contact strips significantly increases the risk of catenary rupture. Therefore, their technical condition has to be inspected frequently. In previous work a 3D laser scanning system was proposed for recording...
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Analytical progress on emerging pollutants in the environment: An overview of the topics
PublicationThis overview discusses the ideas behind a collection of articles by invited authors on a diverse range of complex chemical mixtures and analytical methods which represent some of the most relevant and interesting issues on emerging contaminants of environmental health concerns. These chemicals, including those in high volume production, are released on an ongoing basis as a result of various human activities. Moreover, these emerging contaminants...
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Technological innovation and cost-benefit analysis of safety-related solutions
PublicationW rozdziale przedstawia się aktualne zagadnienia dotyczące innowacji technologicznych oraz analizę kosztów i efektów rozwiązań związanych z bezpieczeństwem na przykładzie systemów elektrycznych, elektronicznych i programowalnych elektronicznych (E/E/PE), pełniących funkcje monitorowania, sterowania i zabezpieczeń w instalacjach podwyższonego ryzyka. Podkreśla się znaczenie kryteriów związanych z bezpieczeństwem, takich jak tolerowalność...
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Functional safety in the context of risk appraisal criteria and cost-benefit analysis
PublicationRozdział przedstawia aktualne zagadnienia dotyczące analizy kosztów i efektów rozwiązań związanych z bezpieczeństwem na przykładzie systemów elektrycznych, elektronicznych i programowalnych elektronicznych (E/E/PE) pełniących funkcje sterowania i zabezpieczeń w obiektach podwyższonego ryzyka. Podkreśla się znaczenie kryteriów związanych z bezpieczeństwem, takich jak tolerowalność ryzyka (TOR) w kontekście analizy kosztów i efektów...
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Silver nanoparticles incorporated with superior silica nanoparticles-based rice straw to maximize biogas production from anaerobic digestion of landfill leachate
PublicationTreating hazardous landfill leachate poses significant environmental challenges due to its complex nature. In this study, we propose a novel approach for enhancing the anaerobic digestion of landfill leachate using silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) conjugated with eco-friendly green silica nanoparticles (Si NPs). The synthesized Si NPs and Ag@Si NPs were characterized using various analytical techniques, including transmission electron...
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Evaluation of Green Sample Preparation Techniques for Organic Compounds
PublicationNowadays, Green Analytical Chemistry (GAC) idea is of high importance, with impact on the rapid growth in the sample preparation area with special emphasis on sample preparation simplification, miniaturization and automation. Due to the fact that GAC is of high importance today, this study is focused on the evaluation of green sample preparation techniques for organic compounds. It is well known that sample preparation is considered...
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BPL-PLC Voice Communication System for the Oil and Mining Industry
PublicationApplication of a high-efficiency voice communication systems based on broadband over power line-power line communication (BPL-PLC) technology in medium voltage networks, including hazardous areas (like the oil and mining industry), as a redundant mean of wired communication (apart from traditional fiber optics and electrical wires) can be beneficial. Due to the possibility of utilizing existing electrical infrastructure, it can...
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Challenges in determination of pesticides from various chemical groups in fruits and vegetables applying QuEChERS method
PublicationPesticides are a large group of compounds with different physical and chemical properties, which place some of them among the most toxic, environmentally stable, and mobile substances. Nevertheless, their number, use, and application are continuously expanding. A consequence of their use is the possible presence of residues in treated food products. To protect consumers from exposure to unacceptable levels of pesticides Maximum...
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Green chromatography
PublicationAnalysis of organic compounds in samples characterized by different composition of the matrix is very important in many areas. A vast majority of organic compound determinations are performed using gas or liquid chromatographic methods. It is thus very important that these methods have negligible environmental impact. Chromatographic techniques have the potential to be greener at all steps of the analysis, from sample collection...
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Bioassays as one of the Green Chemistry tools for assessing environmental quality: A review
PublicationFor centuries, mankind has contributed to irreversible environmental changes, but due to the modern science of recent decades, scientists are able to assess the scale of this impact. The introduction of laws and standards to ensure environmental cleanliness requires comprehensive environmental monitoring, which should also meet the requirements of Green Chemistry. The broad spectrum of Green Chemistry principle applications should...
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Wastewater reuse in agriculture: Prospects and challenges
PublicationSustainable water recycling and wastewater reuse are urgent nowadays considering water scarcity and increased water consumption through human activities. In 2015, United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 (UN SDG6) highlighted the necessity of recycling wastewater to guarantee water availability for individuals. Currently, wastewater irrigation (WWI) of crops and agricultural land appears essential. The present work overviews...
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Lead In drinking water: Adsorption method and role of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks for its remediation: A review
PublicationDue to various characteristics properties lead(II) metal is utilized in many applications like lead ion batteries, water pipes, ammunition and paints. For this reason, concentration of lead(II) ions in water is increasing days by days which is alarming for water pollution. Water pollution is a major problem worldwide which affects biosphere badly, and causes continuous reduction of accessible sources of fresh water and ground water, available...
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Assessing Tram Infrastructure Safety Using the Example of the City of Gdańsk
PublicationAnalysis of Gdańsk’s tram network statistics shows that incidents are quite frequent (about 650 within 5 years) and mostly involve collisions and crashes. As well as reducing the tram systems’ efficiency and reliability, incidents have a nega-tive effect on road safety. As Polish cities extend their tram networks, they must also ensure that their existing networks are safe. This is to be achieved by conducting safety assessments....
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Complementary use of GCxGC–TOF–MS and statistics for differentiation of variety in biosolid samples
PublicationFormation of biosolid cakes, which are one of the main wastes generated in wastewater treatment plants, is connected with emission of many hazardous chemical compounds, including odoriferous ones. To optimize particular processes of biosolid cake processing, it is necessary to assess chemical composition of the gas mixtures containing the compounds released from the cakes. The paper proposes application of two-dimensional gas chromatography...
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Mercury in suspended matter of the Gulf of Gdańsk: Origin, distribution and transport at the land–sea interface
PublicationThe coastal regions of inland seas are particularly vulnerable to Hg pollution. An important carrier of toxic Hg in the marine environment is suspended matter originating from multiple sources. The present study was conducted in the Gulf...
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Problemy zarządzania bezpieczeństwem obiektu przemysłowego podwyższonego ryzyka
PublicationW rozdziale przedstawiono wybrane zagadnienia dotyczące zarządzania bezpieczeństwem w zautomatyzowanym złożonym obiekcie podwyższonego ryzyka. Pokazano, że ryzyko strat można istotnie ograniczyć stosując odpowiednie rozwiązania techniczne w postaci warstwowego systemu zabezpieczeń, który obejmuje podstawowy system sterowania procesem, człowieka-operatora i system automatyki zabezpieczeniowej. Podkreślono znaczenie właściwego zaprojektowania...