Volume 12 (2010): Issue 4 (December 2010)

Extraction of zinc(II) and iron(III) from hydrochloric acid solutions using quaternary phosphonium salts, Cyphos® IL 101, Cyphos® IL 104, Cyphos® IL109 and Cyphos® IL 111 in mixtures with toluene, was studied. Trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium chloride (Cyphos® IL 101) and trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)phosphinate (Cyphos® IL 104) showed the best zinc(II) and iron(III) extraction abilities. After three stages of zinc(II) extraction with Cyphos® IL 101 and Cyphos® IL 104 the efficiencies were 100 and 93.6%, respectively. Total iron(III) transport to the organic phase was achieved after two separation stages and amounted to 82.1 and 100% for Cyphos® IL 101 and Cyphos® IL 104, respectively. Zinc(II) and iron(III) could be effectively stripped from the loaded organic phases with 0.5 mol dm^-3 sulfuric acid. The more hydrophobic the character of the anion type of phosphonium salts, the lower the efficiency of extraction.

The studies covered the branches: sugar industry, fruit-and-vegetable processing and potato processing plants. The analyses of water consumption and quantities of wastewater formed in 24 production plants were performed in the paper. A comparison of water and wastewater management in three branches showed that the highest water consumption is in fruit-and-vegetable processing. The data collected in the paper indicates the drop of water consumption in potato as well as fruit-and-vegetable industry. The values obtained for sugar industry indicate that it is the least diversified branch.

The results of the studies of bis(1-chloro-2-propyl) ether adsorption from aqueous solution onto AG5 activated carbon were presented here. Dynamic adsorptivity, mass transfer zone and the velocity of the adsorption front of the 10cm adsorption bed depth for the velocity of flow 9 and 25 cm/min were determined. For the regeneration of the adsorption bed, acetone rinsing was used. Total washout of adsorbed bis(1-chloro-2-propyl) ether from the bed was obtained. After the regeneration the adsorbent has not shown deterioration of adsorption properties. To isolate bis(1-chloro-2-propyl) ether from acetone, distillation was used.

Pot experiment was conducted in the hall of vegetation at University of Agriculture in Szczecin over the years 2001 - 2003 on the soil of IVa complex of agriculture usefulness (very good rye) numbered among loamy sand as regards to the granulometric composition. The composts used in the experiment were after 8 months of decomposition. There was more nitrogen and phosphorus in the composts in comparison with potassium. In the pattern of the research the doses of composts, corresponding with 100, 200 and 300 kg N·ha^-1, i.e. 0.63; 0.99 and 0.126 g N pot were used. The experiment was conducted in four repetitions. In 2001 spring rape Licomos variety was the test plant, in 2002 it was the spring triticale Wanad variety and in 2003 oats Polar variety. In the second and third year of the research of the soil there was 0.475 g N, 0.137 g P and 0.315 g K applied into every pot. It corresponded with the doses of 150 kg N·ha^-1, 43.6 P·ha^-1 and 100 kg K·ha^-1. Mineral fertilizers were used in the form of urea, double superphosphate, 60% potassium salt.

The obtained results of the research indicate that the content of the total forms of copper, manganese and zinc in the composts, with the participation of sewage sludge fulfilled the norms concerning the organic fertilizers.

Over the years, since the time of an application into the soil the composts with the participation of municipal sewage sludge, the content of the total forms of copper, manganese and zinc has decreased. It was caused by the uptake of these micronutrients by plants.

The paper presents the results of the disposal of packaging waste from two companies: Tetra Pak and Combibloc, carried out in a fluidized bed boiler of rated thermal power 0.5 MW. The material introduced into the fluidized bed boiler underwent thermal and mechanical degradation in a sand bed of the temperature between 750 and 850°C. The process proceeds auto-thermally, without the need of additional fuel. The appropriately chosen fluidization parameters caused the separation of the solid products of combustion from the deposit material. Presence of aluminum, part of it in an un-oxidized form, was confirmed in separated dust. The gaseous products of combustion contained the traces of oxides of nitrogen and sulfur, mainly originating from the remnants of food products contained in the packaging. However, the concentration of these oxides met the requirements of emission standards.

Sodium tripolyphosphate - one of the condensed phosphates is an important ingredient in various types of cleaning substances and a food additive. The paper presents a comparison of different variants of STPP production with the application of the cumulative calculation method. The material balances of the processes were taken as the basis of the analysis. The method of the process analysis as shown in the cumulative calculation determines the influence of the emissions of dust and gas pollutions originating from a particular production process, as well as wastewater and solid wastes resulting from it, upon the natural environment. It was proved that the solution of the production STPP with the dry one-step method has the lowest impact on the environment among the three assessed solutions.

The results of a research related to the physico - chemical properties of the mixture of bone - waste and their ingredients have been presented. The mixtures was made up from waste: bovine bones, pork bones, bone sludge and bone meal. The content of the individual waste in the mixtures was selected on the basis of the heat of the combustion of the mixture and the amount of the waste produced in a meat processing plant. The heat of the combustion has been determined by the calorimeter, the content of phosphorus by spectrophotometric method, calcium by titration and phase composition by X - ray diffraction.

The investigations confirmed that pork bones have the highest heat of the combustion 17 MJ/kg because of a big amount of fats. The analyzed waste has contained on average 16.5 wt % phosphorus and above 30 wt % calcium. X - ray diffraction method has proved that in bone waste one phase - hydroxyapatite occurs.

Commercial available lithium hydroxide monohydrate LiOH.H₂O was found to be a novel ‘dual activation’ catalyst for tandem cross Knoevenagel condensation between malononitrile or ethylcyanoacetate and aromatic aldehydes leading to an efficient and easy synthesis of the corresponding arylidenes at room temperature in a short reaction time. In the case of salicyaldehyde the reaction lead to the formation of 3-substituted coumarins. The high efficacy, cheapness and easy availability of LiOH.H₂O prompted us to investigate its validity as a basic catalyst for Gewald reaction.

Zinc oxide derived from processing of the slime obtained in an industrial process of electrolytic zinc obtaining was leached with the aqueous sulfuric acid solution. The effect of temperature and time on the extent of leaching was determined. The conditions lead to zinc recovery of about 90%. It was found that the extent of arsenic leaching did not depend upon the time and temperature of leaching. Next the conditions of the solution purification procedure were determined. It was found that jarosite formation as well as the degree of arsenic removal is connected with trivalent iron concentration in the solution.

Gas chromatography, coupled with the temperature controlled pyrolysis technique, can be used as a quick method of identification of polymers such as acrylates, methacrylates and polyurethanes. Polymers based on alkyl methacrylates are widely used as construction materials and coatings. Polyurethanes are widely used as self-adhesives, sealants and electrical products (due to polyurethane's low glass transition temperature T_g). The aim of this work is to investigate which products can be obtained from polymethacrylates and polyurethanes.

The paper presents the results of the tests on the preparation of iron (III) stearate - the most prominent oxo-biodegradation agent for polyolefinic plastics. The process chosen for testing was the double precipitation process, using stearic acid alkalised with soda lye and iron (III) chloride or iron (III) sulphate. A number of iron (III) stearate preparation methods described in the literature were tested and an analytical procedure for monitoring the process was developed using both the classical and instrumental techniques. FTIR spectroscopy is the most useful technique for the product quality control and identification. During the study the characteristics of the proper product were also determined using the DSC methods. Microscopy and laser diffraction particle size analysis were applied to determine the size of the precipitated product grains. An application sample of the product obtained by the double decomposition method from iron (III) sulphate as the iron carrier has successfully passed the application tests in the polyethylene packaging film.

The antifungal activity of four commercial photocatalytic paints (KEIM Ecosil ME, Titanium FA, Photo Silicate and Silicate D) in natural indoor light was investigated. The paints contained TiO₂ in rutile and anatase crystalline forms as evidenced by means of the X-ray diffraction analysis. In most cases the paints inhibited growth of fungi viz. Trichoderma viride, Aspergillus niger, Coonemeria crustacea, Eurotium herbariorum, and Dactylomyces sp. The KEIM Ecosil ME paint displayed the highest antifungal effect in the light, which could be explained with the highest anatase content. The paint antifungal activity and the fungal sensitivity to the TiO₂-mediated photocatalytic reaction both decreased in the following orders: KEIM Ecosil ME > Titanium FA > Photo Silicate > Silicate D and T. viride > Dactylomyces sp. > A. niger > E. herbariorum.

The target of this article is to show the preparation of new generation of UV-crosslinkable warm-melt acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) and the experimental test of their adhesive properties in comparison with typical conventional hot-melts adhesives. New generation of UV-crosslinkable acrylic warm-melts PSAs containing unsaturated photoinitiator, incorporated during polymerization process into polymer chain, and photoreactive diluents added to PSA systems after polymerization allows producing of wide range of self-adhesive materials, such as labels, mounting tapes, masking and splicing tapes, and sign and marking films.

The influence of the particle size on the surface sensitivity in XPS analysis was investigated. Previous reports about such influence were qualitatively only. In this report there are given mathematical description of XPS sensitivity and quantitative results. It was found that influence due to nanometric size on XPS analysis can be noticeable for particles below 15 nm of diameter and increases dramatically with reduction of the size.

The application of the three-phase fluidization technology in wastewater treatment and other biochemical processes has been regularly addressed in the past decades. For the design and development of the three-phase fluidized bed reactors, knowledge of the hydrodynamic parameter such as gas holdup is essential and hence in this paper an attempt has been made to study the effect of fundamental and operating variables on gas holdup. On the basis of the experimental results, a unified correlation has been developed to predict gas holdup in the fluidized bed using the Newtonian and the non-Newtonian liquids. The experimental results showed good agreement with those predicted according to the developed correlation.

A kinetic investigation of the slurry phase epoxidation of styrene with hydrogen peroxide has been carried out, for the first time, over nanoporous Au doped TS-1 catalyst, in a batch reactor, in the temperature range of 313-333 K. It was found that product selectivity and the rate of reaction are greatly influenced by concentrations of styrene and hydrogen peroxide. Kinetics studies reveal that the mechanism of the reaction is of the "Redox" type. The rate equation, r = k₁ k₂ P_O P_H / (k₁ P_O + k₂ P_H) deduced, assuming a steady state involving two stage oxidation-reduction process, represent the data most satisfactorily for the conversion of styrene to styrene oxide. A tentative mechanism of the process has also been suggested.