Lucjan Pawlowski

Acidification: its impact on the environment and mitigation strategies

Abstract The effect of acidification on ecosystems is reviewed. About 30% of the world land area is acidified mostly by natural processes. Only a small part of it is acidified from pollution which leads to extensive forest and surface water deterioration in Europe and North America. The damage is especially visible in areas of poor soil quality. The acid deposition pattern is characterized, with a special emphasis on Poland. It was shown that strategies for mitigation of ecosystem acidification lead to a decrease of SO 2 emissions due to the use of lower sulphur content fuels and application of desulphurisation methods. Also, a decrease in NO x emissions is observed due to use of catalysts and application of NO x removal technologies. However, since about 50% of NO x emission is from vehicles, this improvement is offset by a continuously increasing vehicle population. The application of liming, forest fertilisation and suitable land use for mitigation of ecosystem acidification is also reviewed.

Potential acidification of soil and soil water: a monitoring study in the Janow Forest, southeastern Poland

Abstract A field study was established in the Janow National Forest south of Lublin to study the impact of acidic precipitation and dry deposition on soil and soil water in Poland. The sulphur deposition (about 2.7 g S m−2 yr−1) at the site is typical for large areas in Europe, but considerably less than in the most affected regions. Concentrations of all major ions have been determined in precipitation, throughfall, soil- and groundwater; in addition soils have been analysed. The soils are acidic with pH less than 4 in the upper layers and with aluminium saturation (AIS) above 80% in the illuvial (Bhs) horizon. The soil- and groundwater are quite acid; in groundwater pH is about 4.3, with concentrations of inorganic monomeric aluminium (Ali)5–6 mg/l. Deposition of basic components seems to mitigate effects of acid deposition.

Environmental problems of Poland during economic and political transformation

Abstract The main environmental problems in Poland are presented, including geographic, economic and political effects, and unexpected and predicted ecological problems caused by the transformation from a communist into a capitalist system. Problems of transforming peoples consciousness and goals for the future are presented.

Phosphorus recovery from biogas slurry by ultrasound/H2O2 digestion coupled with HFO/biochar adsorption process

Phosphorus (P) recovery from biogas slurry has recently attracted considerable interest. In this work, ultrasound/H2O2 digestion coupled with ferric oxide hydrate/biochar (HFO/biochar) adsorption process was performed to promote P dissolution, release, and recovery from biogas slurry. The results showed that the optimal total phosphorus release efficiency was achieved at an inorganic phosphorus/total phosphorus ratio of 95.0% at pH 4, 1mL of added H2O2, and ultrasonication for 30min. The P adsorption by the HFO/biochar followed pseudo second-order kinetics and was mainly controlled by chemical processes. The Langmuir-Freundlich model matched the experimental data best for P adsorption by HFO/biochar at 298 and 308K, whereas the Freundlich model matched best at 318K. The maximum amount of P adsorbed was 220mg/g. The process was endothermic, spontaneous, and showed an increase in disorder at the solid-liquid interface. The saturated adsorbed HFO/biochar continually releases P and is most suitable for use in an alkaline environment. The amount of P released reached 29.1mg/g after five extractions. P mass balance calculation revealed that 11.3% of the total P can be made available.

Management of Pollutant Emission from Landfills and Sludge

Mitigation of gas emission from landfills. Pathway of POPs in the waste, wastewater and landfill leachate. Migration of heavy metals from waste disposal sites and sewage sludge. Minimization of the impact of waste and sewage sludge on the environment. Chemical composition and treatment of landfill leachate. Possibility of practical utilization of waste and sewage sludge. Miscellanea.

Mobilization of aluminium in soil columns exposed to acids or salt solutions

Abstract Mobilization of aluminium due to acid precipatation was studied in laboratory experiments using soil columns. Podzol soils were collected from the Janow forest south of Lublin, Poland, a site where field studies have been performed. The experiments were carried out with synthetic solutions of mineral acids (H 2 SO 4 , HNO 3 ) and fertilizer salts ((NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 and NH 4 NO 3 ) with concentrations of ionic species in the range 10 −6 −10 −3 eq/l. In agreement with observations in the field, it was found that the greatest amounts of aluminium were mobilized from the illuvial (Bhs) and spodic (Bs) soil horizons. Mobilization of aluminium by HNO 3 was in most cases higher than by H 2 SO 4 for the same concentrations. The two salt solutions gave similar results; for the most concentrated solutions the mobilization from the B-horizons was between that observed for H 2 SO 4 and HNO 3 . The acids mobilized greater amounts of Al from the C-horizon.

An Attempt to Estimate the PCDF/PCDD Emissions from Waste Incinerated in Cement Kilns

This paper gathers the current state of knowledge on waste incineration in cement kilns with special respect to emissions of organic hazardous compounds such as PCDF/PCDDs, which tend be a crucial point, causing the strongest local opposition to the location of waste incinerator.

EFFECT OF BIOFUELS ON ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract Nowadays world faces crisis caused by growing energy demand. Threat of climate change caused by the increased emission of CO2 from burning of fossil fuels exerts pressure on wider use of renewable energy resources. It is believed that one of important resources of renewable energy are biofuels. In the paper we present that in the most cases it is not true. Wide use of biofuel, especially in European Union, poses threat to sustainable development of today’s world. It is going to be presented that the production of biofuels from agricultural crops is, in many cases, unsustainable due to the fact that it reduces the access to food by devoting cultivatable land to crops designated for the production of biofuels. What is more, it has also negative influence on the environment, namely it reduces biodiversity, pollute water and, what is curious, not in all cases the use of biofuels leads to the reduction of CO2 emission. Abstrakt Jednym z ważnych zagrożeń we współczesnym świecie jest rosnące zużycie surowców energetycznych. Obawy dotyczące zmian klimatu, jak się wydaje powodowanego przez wzrost emisji CO2 pochodzącego ze spalania paliw kopalnianych, powodują wzrost zainteresowania szerszym zastosowaniem odnawialnych źródeł energii. Panuje przekonanie, że jednym z ważnych źródeł energii odnawialnych są ciekłe biopaliwa. W artykule staramy się udowodnić, że to przekonanie jest błędne. Szerokie stosowanie biopaliw prowadzi do zagrożenia zrównoważonego rozwoju współczesnego świata. Wykazujemy, że produkcję biopaliw z roślin uprawowych jest w wielu przypadkach niezgodna ze zrównoważonym rozwojem, ponieważ redukuje dostęp do żywności poprzez przeznaczanie pól uprawnych na uprawę roślin wykorzystywanych do produkcji biopaliw. Ponadto, ma to negatywny wpływ na środowisko, gdyż prowadzi do redukcji bioróżnorodności, zanieczyszczenia wody, a także nierzadko nie powoduje redukcji emisji CO2.

Prospects of Fibrous Ion Exchangers in Technology of Water Purification

The possibilities and advantages of fibrous ion exchangers in different water treatment processes have been discussed in comparison with their granular analogues. The main advantage of fibrous ion exchangers is a unique combination of an extremely high rate of ion exchange process (like microspheric resins) and a low hydrodynamic resistance of the filtering layer (like conventional industrial resins). This allows using fibrous ion exchangers in shallow filtering beds (1–3 cm) at high flow rates of the purified water. A high efficiency of fibrous ion exchangers is demonstrated on several practically important examples: water softening, water purification from trace amounts of led, copper, cadmium and zinc and nitrates. Data on the properties of commercially available fibrous ion exchangers of FIBAN® type are presented. Alternative technologies of water treatment processes are discussed in comparison with the conventional fixed bed ion exchange technology. Fibrous ion exchangers can be a good supplement to traditional ion exchangers, especially in wastewater purification because they allow treatment of large volumes of water in a short period of time.

Neutralisation of Wastes in a Cement Kiln

Application of a cement kiln for incineration of wastes is reviewed and impact of incineration on the environment is presented.