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Search results for: BIOMASS
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Achieving Efficient and Stable Deammonification at Low Temperatures—Experimental and Modeling Studies
PublicationThe short-term effects of temperature on deammonification sludge were evaluated in a laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR). Mathematical modeling was used for further evaluations of different intermittent aeration strategies for achieving high and stable deammonification performance at decreasing temperatures. As for the biomass cultivated at high temperatures (e.g., 30 C), a higher temperature dependency (the adjusted...
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Chromium (III) removal by perennial emerging macrophytes in floating treatment wetlands
PublicationFloating treatment wetlands (FTWs) are a sustainable solution to treat polluted water, but their role in chromium (Cr(III)) removal under neutral pH conditions remains poorly understood. This study evaluated the potential of FTWs planted with two perennial emergent macrophytes, Phragmites australis and Iris pseudacorus, to remove Cr(III) and nutrients (N and PO4-P) from water containing 7.5 mg/L TN, 1.8 mg/L PO4-P, and Cr(III)...
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Analysis of the impact of wastewater discharge on recipients: synergistic approach
PublicationThe dissertation presents the analysis of chemical and microbial composition of wastewater and examines the impact of wastewater discharge on the environment. Various case studies were analysed: from small settlements in a pristine European Arctic, to large municipal wastewater treatment plants in areas subjected to greater anthropogenic pressure. In order to comprehensively analyse the impact of wastewater discharge on the receiving...
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Late cultivars of cabbage can better cope with cadmium- involved stress than early one
PublicationThe usefulness of white cabbage (Brassica oleracea ssp. capitata L. f. alba) for phytoremediation of heavy metals (cadmium and zine) due to the rapid growth and a large biomass of its heads has been already described (Bączek-Kwinta et al., 2011. Kusznierewicz et al., 2012). As the photosynthetic apparatus supplies the whole plant with sugars necessary for various physiological processes and, in consequence, results in the yield,...
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HIERARCHICAL CYCLES IN MODERN POWER SYSTEMS – EXERGY ANALYSIS UNDER PART LOADS
PublicationThe aim of the paper is to investigate thermodynamic efficiency of advanced hierarchic power cyclesunder partial loads by using of exergy analyze. Advanced hierarchical power systems arecomposed of few energy conversion cycles, most common are steam and gas cycles in various configurations, but they may contain fuel cells, ORC, lithium bromide absorption chillers and others. Moreover hierarchical cycles can be powered by several...
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Teratomas of Drosera capensis var. alba as a source of naphthoquinone: ramentaceone
PublicationPlants belonging to genus Drosera (family Droseraceae) contain pharmacologically active naphthoquinones such as ramentaceone and plumbagin. Hairy root cultures obtained following Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation have been reported to produce elevated levels of secondary compounds as well as exhibit desirable rapid biomass accumulation in comparison to untransformed plants. The aim of this study was to establish...
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Distillery Wastes as External Carbon Sources for Denitrification in Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants
PublicationIn order to improve efficiency of N removal within the existing capacities, the denitrification process can be enhanced by adding external carbon sources. The studies on utilization of various by-products or waste materials as alternative carbon sources for denitrification have been carried out for over 20 years (Sage et al. 2006). Among several commercially available organic compounds (such as methanol, ethanol, acetic acid, glucose),...
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Trophic Transfer of Mercury in a Temperate Marine Food Web, Southern Baltic Sea
PublicationMercury (Hg) is considered to be one of the most dangerous global environmental pollutants. The toxicity and bioavailabilityof Hg depend on its chemical form, and the greatest hazard is posed by the organomercurial compounds. Hg is introduced into the human body primarily through the consumption of fish and seafood. Despite numerous studies on Hg in marine organisms, there is still a gap in the knowledge on Hg uptake and...
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Optimization of the Aeration Strategies in a Deammonification Sequencing Batch Reactor for Efficient Nitrogen Removal and Mitigation of N2O Production
PublicationIn deammonification systems, nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) suppression and nitrous oxide (N2O) mitigation are two important operational objectives. To carry out this multivariable analysis of response, a comprehensive model for the N cycle was developed and evaluated against experimental data from a laboratory-scale deammonification granular sludge sequencing batch reactor. Different aeration strategies were tested, and the manipulated...
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Post-Pyrolytic Carbon as a Phase Change Materials (PCMs) Carrier for Application in Building Materials
PublicationThis article covers new application for char as a carrier of phase-change materials (PCM) that could be used as an additive to building materials. Being composed of bio-char and PCM, the granulate successfully competes with more expensive commercial materials of this type, such as Micronal® PCM. As a PCM carrier, char that was obtained from the pyrolysis of chestnut fruit (Aesculus hippocastanum) with different absorbances of the...
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Modelling long-term technological transition of Polish power system using MARKAL: Emission trade impact
PublicationThe need for technological transition of electricity production becomes a global problem. However, in coal-dominated Polish power system this need is even more crucial than anywhere, since technical lifetime of the most domestic power plants is ending. In this paper, the impact of the EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) for CO2 combined with sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission trading mechanism on power technology...
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Properties of an innovative multi-functional finish for the improvement of indoor air quality
PublicationDue to lifestyle changes, people spend most of their time indoors at present; thus, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is a matter of utmost importance. Multi-functional and innovative finishes can help to passively improve the IAQ, benefitting the health and comfort of occupants. For this study, reference and pre-mixed commercial mortars are compared to a new multi-functional hydraulic lime mortar for indoor finishes, in which conventional...
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The influence of magnetic particle incorporation on bisphenol A removal by β-cyclodextrin-derived sorbent
PublicationA novel, biomass-derived hybrid sorbent Ban-CD-EPI-Fe was successfully synthesized in a coprecipitation method, in which β-cyclodextrin copolymerized with banana peel extract and epichlorohydrin was grafted onto an iron oxide surface. The composition, presence of functional groups, morphology, thermal stability, and magnetic properties of the obtained material were characterized by Powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Photoelectron...
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Flexible syngas-biogas-hydrogen fueling spark-ignition engine behaviors with optimized fuel compositions and control parameters
PublicationThis paper presents the results research on the optimal fuel compositions and the control parameters of the spark ignition engine fueled with syngas-biogas-hydrogen for the purpose of setting up a flexible electronic control unit for the engine working in a solar-biomass hybrid renewable energy system. In syngas-biogas-hydrogen mixture, the optimal content of hydrogen and biogas is 20% and 30%, respectively. Exceeding these thresholds,...
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Elicitation strategies for the improvement of essential oil content in Rhododendron tomentosum (Ledum palustre) bioreactor-grown microshoots
PublicationRhododendron tomentosum Harmaja, previously Ledum palustre L., is a fragrant plant growing in swampy areas, which is characterized by well-known repellent properties and the anti-arthritic potential. In the present study, R. tomentosum microshoots cultivated in RITA® bioreactor, providing the alternative, environment-independent source of the valuable essential oil, were treated for 7 days with copper and nickel salts, methyl jasmonate,...
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An overview of the strategies for the deammonification process start-up and recovery after accidental operational failures
PublicationThe deammonification process has been universally acknowledged as an energy-efficient technology for sewage disposal. In contrast with traditional biological nitrogen removal technology, the deammonification process is able to remove ammonia from wastewater with the simplest nitrogen removal process because of its advantages of lower operating expenses, no organic carbon consumption, lower biomass production, lower carbon dioxide...
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Microbial and chemical quality assessment of the small rivers entering the South Baltic. Part I: Case study on the watercourses in the Baltic Sea catchment area
PublicationThe area of the Coastal Landscape Park (CLP) due to its location is extremely attractive touristic area. In the summer season, a significant increase in population density is observed, which influences surface water quality. Large numbers of tourists generate an increased amount of municipal wastewater, being treated in local treatment plants and discharged into rivers and streams. The paper presents preliminary research from summer...
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Sources and composition of chemical pollution in Maritime Antarctica (King George Island), part 1: Sediment and water analysis for PAH sources evaluation in the vicinity of Arctowski station
PublicationThe paper presents a study regarding the identification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in fresh waters and surface sediments on the western shore of Admiralty Bay over four sampling seasons from 2017 to 2018. The results were compared to literature data from 2016 to provide a more comprehensive image of the environmental fate of PAHs over the years. The highest value of Σ PAHs was 82.9 ng/L and 445 ng/g dw in water...
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Mathematical modelling of gasification process of sewage sludge in reactor of negative CO2 emission power plant
PublicationSewage sludge is a residue of wastewater processing that is biologically active and consists of water,organic matter, including dead and alive pathogens, as well as organic and inorganic contaminants suchas polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals. Due to the nature of sewage sludge and itspossible influence on human health and wellbeing, it is a subject of various regulations. Currently,sewage sludge is considered...
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Seasonal variability and morphological structure of bacteria in the Admiralty Bay (King George Island, Antarctic).
PublicationIntroduction: The aim of investigations was to state whether melting glaciers cause mass mortality of the sea stenohalyne organisms, what in consequence can lead to an increase of accumulation and growth of psychrophilic bacteria. It may be also that fresh melting water is unfavourable to the sea bacteria and front glacier's regions are not the areas of their intensive development. Methods: Field investigations were done in Admiralty...
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Modeling organic nitrogen conversions in activated sludge bioreactors
PublicationFor biological nutrient removal (BNR) systems designed to maximize nitrogen removal, the effluent total nitrogen (TN) concentration may range from 2.0 to 4.0 g N/m3 with about 25-50% in the form of organic nitrogen (ON). In this study, current approaches to modeling organic N conversions (separate processes vs. constant contents of organic fractions) were compared. A new conceptual model of ON conversions was developed and combined...
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How the Dimensions of Plant Filler Particles Affect the Oxidation-Resistant Characteristics of Polyethylene-Based Composite Materials
PublicationThis study analyzed the possibility of using plant-originated waste materials (black and green tea dust) as functional polyethylene fillers. The dependence between the size of the filler particles and their antioxidant potential is discussed. Six fractions were selected: below 50 µm, 50–100 µm, 100–200 µm, 200–400 µm, 400–630 µm and 630–800 µm. Significant differences between the effect of particle size and the antioxidant properties...
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Hydrochars as a bio-based adsorbent for heavy metals removal: A review of production processes, adsorption mechanisms, kinetic models, regeneration and reusability of hydrochar
PublicationThe spread of heavy metals throughout the ecosystem has extremely endangered human health, animals, plants, and natural resources. Hydrochar has emerged as a promising adsorbent for removing heavy metals from water and wastewater. Hydrochar, obtained from hydrothermal carbonization of biomass, owns unique physical and chemical properties that are highly potent in capturing heavy metals via surface complexation, electrostatic interactions,...
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Advanced nanomaterials and metal-organic frameworks for catalytic bio-diesel production from microalgal lipids – A review
PublicationIncreasing energy demands require exploring renewable, eco-friendly (green), and cost-effective energy resources. Among various sources of biodiesel, microalgal lipids are an excellent resource, owing to their high abundance in microalgal biomass. Transesterification catalyzed by advanced materials, especially nanomaterials and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), is a revolutionary process for overcoming the energy crisis. This review...
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The effect of aeration mode (intermittent vs. continuous) on nutrient removal and greenhouse gas emissions in the wastewater treatment plant of Corleone (Italy)
PublicationThe paper reports the results of an experimental study aimed at comparing two configurations of a full-scale wastewater treatment plant (WWTP): conventional activated sludge (CAS) and oxic-settling-anaerobic process (OSA) with intermittent aeration (IA). A comprehensive monitoring campaign was carried out to assess multiple parameters for comparing the two configurations: carbon and nutrient removal, greenhouse gas emissions, respirometric...
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ADAPTATION OF THE ACTIVATED SLUDGE TO THE DIGESTATE LIQUORS DURING THE NITRIFICATION AND DENITRIFICATION PROCESSES
PublicationThe activated sludge process of the digestate liquors after chemical separation was conducted using a 10 L lab-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and a 0.50 m3 pilotscale SBR independently (with pH control). Due to the relatively high concentration of free ammonia (FA), clear inhibitory effects of the digestate liquors on the nitrifying bacteria were observed. The adaptation of the activated sludge to the toxicity was evaluated...
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Jacek Namieśnik prof. dr hab. inż.
PeopleScientific discipline: chemistryRector in 2016-2019 He was born on 10 December, 1949 in Mogilno. He graduated in 1972 at the Faculty of Chemistry at Gdańsk University of Technology, obtaining a master's degree in chemical engineering. In 1972 he started working at Gdańsk University of Technology, where in 1978 he defended his doctoral thesis and in 1985 he completed his habilitation. He was appointed an associate professor in 1991...
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Management of Urban Waters with Nature-Based Solutions in Circular Cities—Exemplified through Seven Urban Circularity Challenges
PublicationNature-Based Solutions (NBS) have been proven to effectively mitigate and solve resource depletion and climate-related challenges in urban areas. The COST (Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action CA17133 entitled “Implementing nature-based solutions (NBS) for building a resourceful circular city” has established seven urban circularity challenges (UCC) that can be addressed effectively with NBS. This paper presents the outcomes...
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Sewage sludge co-pyrolysis with agricultural/forest residues: A comparative life-cycle assessment
PublicationThis study aims to determine the sustainability and energy efficiency of co-pyrolysis scenarios as treatment processes for municipal sewage sludge through a life cycle assessment (LCA). In addition, sensitivity and energy recovery analyses are conducted to determine the possible methods for optimizing the co-pyrolysis process from a circular bioeconomy perspective. Corncob and wood residue have been selected as potential co-feed...
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Integrating conventional nitrogen removal with anammox in wastewater treatment systems: Microbial metabolism, sustainability and challenges
PublicationThe various forms of nitrogen (N), including ammonium (NH4+), nitrite (NO2−), and nitrate (NO3−), present in wastewaters can create critical biotic stress and can lead to hazardous phenomena that cause imbalances in biological diversity. Thus, biological nitrogen removal (BNR) from wastewaters is considered to be imperatively urgent. Therefore, anammox-based systems, i.e. partial nitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (PN/anammox)...
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Hydrochar-nanoparticle integration for arsenic removal from wastewater: Challenges, possible solutions, and future horizon
PublicationArsenic (As) contamination poses a significant threat to human health, ecosystems, and agriculture, with levels ranging from 12 to 75% attributed to mine waste and stream sediments. This naturally element is abundant in Earth's crust and gets released into the environment through mining and rock processing, causing ≈363 million people to depend on As-contaminated groundwater. To combat this issue, introducing a sustainable hydrochar...
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Performance and emission characteristics of diesel engines running on gaseous fuels in dual-fuel mode
PublicationConventional fossil fuels are being substituted with alternative green fuels because of their greenhouse gas emissions and pollution problems, which pose a severe threat to the environment. Several studies have reported the usage of biodiesel and gaseous fuels in both single and dual-fuel modes. Gaseous fuels such as producer gas, biogas, syngas, and hydrogen produced from renewable biomass could potentially be used along with...
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Environmental characteristics of a tundra river system in Svalbard. Part 1: Bacterial abundance, community structure and nutrient levels
PublicationThe Arctic hosts a set of unique ecosystems, characterised by extreme environmental conditions and undergoing a rapid change resulting from the average temperature rising. We present a study on an aquatic ecosystem of the Revelva catchment (Spitsbergen), based on samples collected from the lake, river and their tributaries, in the summer of 2016. The landscape variety of the study site and the seasonal change in the hydrological...
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Insights into the microbial community of treated wastewater, its year-round variability and impact on the receiver, using cultivation, microscopy and amplicon-based methods
PublicationApart from chemical constituents, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents also release microorganisms that can be important to the receiving water bodies either from a sanitary point of view, or taking to the account the biogeochemical potential of the recipients. However, little is known about the treated wastewater microbial community, its composition, seasonal changes, functions and fate in the waters of the receiver. Thus,...
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Thermodynamic, ecological, and economic analysis of negative CO2 emission power plant using gasified sewage sludge
PublicationCurrently, sewage sludge is considered as a biomass, according to the Polish act on renewable energy sources from 20th of February 2015 and its novel version from 19th of July 2019. Possibility to utilize sewage sludge in gasification process is an additional advantage of the negative CO2 emissions power plant (nCO2PP). The work presents results of thermodynamic, ecological, and economical analysis using a zero-dimensional mathematical...
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Towards Changes of Macro-Economic Structures in Middle Eastern Countries. Empirical Evidence for 1970–2018
PublicationMiddle East countries share a wide bundle of specific structural economic features and one of the latest is a high dependency of these economies on fossil fuels, which is quantitatively demonstrated through the share of oil and gas revenues in total export, but also in gross domestic product composition. This high economic dependency on natural resources on one hand has recently generated a material wealth of Middle Eastern countries...
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The advanced monitoring as a key factor for appropriate optimization and control of full-scale activated sludge systems – case study Debogorze WWTP.
PublicationComputer simulation has become a helpful tool in wastewater treatment systems performance and effectiveness analysis. Advanced monitoring, by using appropriate software, enables to create a mathematical model of a real wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), run a simulation and subsequently interpret results under various conditions. An operation of WWTP is usually controlled by global parameters such as flow, solids retention time,...
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Removal of nitrogen from wastewater: Unsolved problems and possible solutions with partial denitrification/anammox systems
PublicationAbstract Nitrate (NO3−) is more stable than ammonia (NH4+) and nitrite (NO2−) among the majority of emerging pollutants in wastewater that can harm the ecosystem by depleting oxygen and water quality, thereby posing environmental and human health risks. Despite anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) being a common method for nitrogen (N) removal from wastewater, it leaves behind residual NO3− of around 11 %. Maintaining the stability...
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The experimental evaluation and modeling of SBR removing nutrients under varied aeration conditions
PublicationSequencing batch reactors (SBR) are mainly characterized by sequential process phases of fill, react, settle, decant and idle periods that allow considerable flexibility in the design and operation in different conditions. This flexibility and the unique features of SBRs used to wastewater treatment by activated sludge systems operated in laboratory scale, allow not only conducting experiments for the standard conditions but also...
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The microbial community, its biochemical potential, and the antimicrobial resistance of Enterococcus spp. in Arctic lakes under natural and anthropogenic impact (West Spitsbergen)
PublicationThe sustainable management of small human communities in the Arctic is challenging. In this study, both a water supply system (Lake 1) under the natural impact of a bird-nesting area, and a wastewater receiver (Lake 2) were analysed in the vicinity of the Polish Polar Station on West Spitsbergen. Microbial community composition, abundance and activity were assessed in samples of the treated wastewater, lake water and sediments...
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Optimization and Modeling of Cr (VI) Removal from Tannery Wastewater onto Activated Carbon Prepared from Coffee Husk and Sulfuric Acid (H2SO4) as Activating Agent by Using Central Composite Design (CCD)
PublicationThe primary goal of this research is to lower the hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI)) concentration that has occurred from the growth of the tannery industry. As a result, the potential for heavy metal concentration is increasing day by day. Industrial effluent containing Cr (VI) contributes significantly to water pollution. Chromium hexavalent ion (Cr (VI)) in wastewater is extremely hazardous to the environment. It is critical to address...
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Energy and exergy analysis of negative CO2 emission gas power plant operation using thermodynamic modelling results of the cycle
PublicationA developed cycle of negative CO2 emission gas power plant is presented. The cycle is an oxy-combustion gas turbine cycle where the gas fuel is burnt with pure oxygen, and liquid water is injected to the combustor to keep the temperature at an appropriate level for the gas turbine. The negative level of CO2 emission can be obtained by combining CO2 capture method with the usage of a gas fuel based on sewage sludge gasification....
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Energy consumption optimization in wastewater treatment plants: Machine learning for monitoring incineration of sewage sludge
PublicationBiomass management in terms of energy consumption optimization has become a recent challenge for developed countries. Nevertheless, the multiplicity of materials and operating parameters controlling energy consumption in wastewater treatment plants necessitates the need for sophisticated well-organized disciplines in order to minimize energy consumption and dissipation. Sewage sludge (SS) disposal management is the key stage of...
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Seasonal changes of mercury speciation in the coastal sediments
PublicationPurpose Mercury speciation in sediments is linked to environmental conditions and processes. Domination of particular mercury species depends on its source, displays considerable seasonal behavior, and may be further modified due to oxygen levels, icing conditions, or the input of fresh organic matter. The purpose of this study was to examine the coastal area of the Gulf of Gdańsk in terms of mercury contamination and the influence...
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A multi‑criteria approach to investigate spatial distribution,sources, and the potential toxicological effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments of urban retention tanks
PublicationBottom sediments deposited in retention tanks (RTs) located on two urban streams (Oliwski and Strzyza) in the central part of Gdansk (Poland) were analysed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons’ (PAHs) content. PAHs were extracted from samples with methylene chloride, then the extracts were subjected to clean-up applying the solid phase extraction (SPE) method. Quantitative and qualitative determination of 16 PAHs was performed...
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Denitrification Process Enhancement and Diversity of the Denitrifying Community in the Full Scale Activated Sludge System after Adaptation to Fusel Oil
PublicationImplementation of anaerobic digestion of primary sludge in modern wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) limits the availability of organic carbon for denitrification in conventional nitrification-denitrification (N/DN) systems. In order to ensure efficient denitrification, dosage of the external carbon source is commonly undertaken. However, application of commercial products, such us ethanol or acetate, greatly increases operational...
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Potentials of Water Usage in urban Neighbourhood Structures
PublicationThis paper will treat about water influence and possibility of its usage in the urban neighborhood structures (e.g. districts, real estate properties, town parts) in the context of actual regional environmental problems and according to directories determined by European targets. It is not rare yet in the basic stage of urban design that water is treated as a threat, not a chance. In result planned structures are often built,...
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Topological behavior mimicking ethylene–hexene copolymers using branched lactones and macrolactones
PublicationPolyolefins are of paramount importance in the world of polymers due to their technological and economic potential.1 However, their nonpolar character significantly restricts the compatibility and adhesion properties, which consequently limits their versatility. Moreover, an intensified demand for materials from renewable resources can also become a problematic venture for the current polyolefin industry.2 Although Braskem and...
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Current status and future success of renewable energy in Pakistan
PublicationMismatch between energy demand and supply from last two decades has been increasing because of the domination of expensive imported oil in energy mix of Pakistan. To import crude oil Government paid US $ 9 billion in 2008–2009 to meet the energy demands...
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Elemental and water-insoluble organic carbon in Svalbard snow: a synthesis of observations during 2007–2018
PublicationLight-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols emitted by biomass or fossil fuel combustion can contribute to amplifying Arctic climate warming by lowering the albedo of snow. The Svalbard archipelago, being near to Europe and Russia, is particularly affected by these pollutants, and improved knowledge of their distribution in snow is needed to assess their impact. Here we present and synthesize new data obtained on Svalbard between 2007...