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Energy transition is one of the basic actions taken to counteract and prevent climate change. The basic assumption of energy-related changes is its sustainable use according to the closed-loop model, as well as moving away from fossil fuels, in particular from coal, the combustion of which contributes to excessive harmful carbon dioxide emissions. One of the most popular solutions towards green energy is nuclear energy. Its use allows for a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions harmful to the environment and climate, but it also involves the generation of radioactive waste that requires appropriate processing. This paper presents the results of the flotation removal of barium(II) ions from a dilute aqueous solution using ionized acyclic polyethers. The basic factors determining the efficiency and kinetics of the process were defined. It has been shown that as the acidity of the attached polyether molecules increases: the flotation rate constant 1 (0.1667 min−1) < 3 (0.2468 min−1) < 2 (0.3616 min−1) and the separation degree Ba2+: 1 (86.8%) < 3 (99.3%) < 2 (99.4%). The presented results of ion flotation tests may facilitate the collective or selective separation of radioactive isotopes, i.e., Cs-137, Sr-90, Ba-133 and Co-60, from radioactive wastewater in the future. The results of the experimental work described in the article can also be used to develop individual processes for separating mixtures of radioactive isotopes (radioactive wastewater) into individual components (isotopes) and subjecting them to subsequent transformation processes. The obtained results allow us to claim that the tested organic compounds can be used in the future in the selective treatment of hazardous wastewater, which will translate into a reduction in unit costs of industrial processes. The selective recovery of individual pollutants is the basis for the next step in waste management, i.e., designing a cheap method of waste disposal, which also directly affects the economics of the process and its use in industrial conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This publication presents the chemical compositions of carbon reducers used in the production of ferroalloys, with particular emphasis on the content of Al, Ca, Mg, Mn, Cr, Ti, P, or S in their mineral substances. A certain amount of these elements is transferred to the produced alloys, creating inclusions and precipitations in the metal structure. Most of them are undesirable and adversely affect the final effect of the production process. The work includes sample images of the microstructure of alloys, the chemical compositions of the samples at the test point, and diffragrams. On the basis of the obtained metallographic data, technological observations are made, especially of the crushing process and the amount of grain fractions obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, the course of post-reaction gas afterburning generated during the metallurgical process where the reduction of metal and semi-metal oxides is performed with the use of carbon is presented. Process waste gases can be an alternative source of energy to be used in the same process or converted to another. The participation of chemical enthalpy in the total energy stream of the post-reaction gas is 93 %, the rest is physical enthalpy. In the study, particular attention was paid to the proper mixing of fuel and oxidizer and to maintaining an appropriate ratio of excess combustion air λa. The dynamics of the post-reaction gas combustion processes was calculated according to several popular models but the best results were obtained using the two-step mechanism with reaction constants according to Westbrook-Dryer.

In this paper, a system which uses hot furnace gases from a metallurgical process to heat compressed air necessary for another energy process is presented. The applied construction of the recuperator ensures high temperatures of the heated air needed for its utilisation in a separate process. Their levels depend on the processes in the reactor. A limitation to the construction of the installation is creep resistance of the materials used to assemble the recuperator modules which operate under high-temperature regimes. The well-prepared gas dynamic design of the recuperator ensured low pressure loss for the flowing air. Furnace gases leaving the recuperation system still have a high energy potential which can be utilised. As it is not possible to manage such large amounts of additional energy, the problem will be solved in the future when necessary.

The authors of the study focused on the problem of hydrogasifying coal extracted from a particular location. Since hydrogen is transparent to radiation, it can only be heated by convection. To achieve this, we developed a swirler and utilized Fluent software (version 19.0) to simulate the primary flow vectors and the temperature distribution of hydrogen in the hydrogasification reactor. The process was carried out under varying conditions, including temperatures ranging up to 1173 K, pressures of up to 8 MPa, and gas flow rates between 0.5 and 5 dmn3 min−1. The results showed that the carbon reactivity of the char was high up to a certain level of carbon conversion. In this study, the kinetic equations of the hydrogasification process were developed based on the theory of active centers. The researchers also evaluated the kinetic constants at the maximum reaction rate for the analyzed chars. The analysis was conducted for four extreme cases of process parameters, which included temperatures of 973 and 1173 K as well as pressures of 6 and 8 MPa. The results showed that the maximum hydrogasification reactivity of chars could be accurately described using equations for both the first- and second-order reactions toward hydrogen. This was likely due to the use of a narrow pressure range of 6–8 MPa during the experiments. The kinetic equations developed in the study could be used to model the process on a technical scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]